1983 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Cradley Heathens |
Knockout Cup | Cradley Heathens |
League Cup | Belle Vue Aces |
Individual | Erik Gundersen |
Midland Cup | Cradley Heathens |
London Cup | Wimbledon Dons |
Highest average | Hans Nielsen |
Division/s below | 1983 National League |
The 1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as the British League.[1]
Summary
[edit]Cradley Heath Heathens won the league and cup double.[2] Despite losing their double world champion Bruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well. Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg and Lance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up by Phil Collins, Alan Grahame and Peter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from Denmark Jan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future.[3]
Final table
[edit]Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 28 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
2 | Ipswich Witches | 28 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 45 |
3 | Coventry Bees | 28 | 19 | 0 | 9 | 38 |
4 | Reading Racers | 28 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 34 |
5 | Belle Vue Aces | 28 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 33 |
6 | Wimbledon Dons | 28 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 31 |
7 | Hackney Hawks | 28 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
8 | King's Lynn Stars | 28 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 25 |
9 | Birmingham Brummies | 28 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 24 |
10 | Sheffield Tigers | 28 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 22 |
11 | Halifax Dukes | 28 | 10 | 1 | 17 | 21 |
12 | Leicester Lions | 28 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 20 |
13 | Poole Pirates | 28 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 18 |
14 | Eastbourne Eagles | 28 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 15 |
15 | Swindon Robins | 28 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 14 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
[edit]Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Dennis Sigalos | ![]() |
Ipswich Witches | 10.99 |
2 | Hans Nielsen | ![]() |
Birmingham Brummies | 10.77 |
3 | Erik Gundersen | ![]() |
Cradley Heathens | 10.59 |
4 | Mitch Shirra | ![]() |
Reading Racers | 10.38 |
5 | Michael Lee | ![]() |
Poole Pirates | 10.36 |
6 | Kenny Carter | ![]() |
Halifax Dukes | 10.34 |
7 | Billy Sanders | ![]() |
Ipswich Witches | 10.27 |
8 | Chris Morton | ![]() |
Belle Vue Aces | 10.17 |
9 | Phil Crump | ![]() |
Swindon Robins | 9.88 |
10 | Jan Andersson | ![]() |
Reading Racers | 9.61 |
British League Knockout Cup
[edit]The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.[4]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
09/07 | Belle Vue | 56-22 | Halifax |
30/06 | Wimbledon | 46-32 | Swindon |
25/06 | Halifax | 41-37 | Belle Vue |
25/06 | Swindon | 34-44 | Wimbledon |
19/06 | Eastbourne | 34-43 | Kings Lynn |
11/06 | Coventry | 45-33 | Sheffield |
11/06 | Cradley Heath | 46-32 | Hackney |
11/06 | Kings Lynn | 47-31 | Eastbourne |
09/06 | Sheffield | 37-41 | Coventry |
30/05 | Birmingham | 43-35 | Reading |
30/05 | Reading | 44-34 | Birmingham |
27/05 | Hackney | 35-43 | Cradley Heath |
24/05 | Leicester | 40-38 | Ipswich |
19/05 | Ipswich | 43-34 | Leicester |
Quarter-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
21/08 | Kings Lynn | 45-33 | Belle Vue |
20/08 | Belle Vue | 58-20 | Kings Lynn |
23/07 | Coventry | 44-34 | Wimbledon |
21/07 | Wimbledon | 38-40 | Coventry |
18/07 | Reading | 40-38 | Ipswich |
13/07 | Poole | 35-43 | Cradley Heath |
09/07 | Cradley Heath | 53-25 | Poole |
07/07 | Ipswich | 39-39 | Reading |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
09/10 | Belle Vue | 38-40 | Coventry |
08/10 | Coventry | 44-34 | Belle Vue |
24/09 | Cradley Heath | 47-31 | Reading |
19/09 | Reading | 32-46 | Cradley Heath |
Final
First leg=
Coventry Bees Ole Olsen 10 Gary Guglielmi 8 Sam Nikolajsen 7 Steve Bastable 5 Rick Miller4 Finn Thomsen (guest) 3 Kevin Hawkins 2 | 39 - 39 | Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 13 Simon Wigg 11 Phil Collins 8 Alan Grahame 3 Peter Ravn 2 Jan O. Pedersen 2 Lance King R/R |
---|---|---|
[5] |
Second leg
Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 13 Alan Grahame 9 Peter Ravn 7 Simon Wigg 7 Phil Collins 6 Jan O. Pedersen 5 Lance King R/R | 47 - 31 | Coventry Bees Ole Olsen 10 Gary Guglielmi 10 Bo Petersen (guest) 7 Steve Bastable 2 Rick Miller 1 Kevin Hawkins 1 Sam Nikolajsen 0 |
---|---|---|
[5] |
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.
League Cup
[edit]The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Belle Vue Aces beating Coventry Bees in the final 86-70 on aggregate.
South Group
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Wimbledon Dons | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
2 | Ipswich Witches | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 |
3 | Reading Racers | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
4 | Poole Pirates | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
5 | Hackney Hawks | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
6 | King's Lynn Stars | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
7 | Eastbourne Eagles | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
8 | Swindon Robins | 13 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
North Group
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Coventry Bees | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
3 | Cradley Heathens | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
4 | Halifax Dukes | 11 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
5 | Leicester Lions | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
6 | Sheffield Tigers | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
7 | Birmingham Brummies | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Final
[edit]Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
22/10 | Coventry | 39–39 | Belle Vue |
23/10 | Belle Vue | 47–31 | Coventry |
Leading final averages
[edit]Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Birmingham | 10.82 |
![]() |
Ipswich | 10.75 |
![]() |
Belle Vue | 10.30 |
![]() |
Halifax | 10.28 |
![]() |
Cradley Heath | 10.23 |
![]() |
Poole | 10.16 |
![]() |
Swindon | 10.03 |
![]() |
Reading | 10.02 |
![]() |
Coventry | 9.87 |
![]() |
Ipswich | 9.70 |
![]() |
Coventry | 9.56 |
Riders' Championship
[edit]Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 15 October.[6]
Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 3 3 2 3 | 14 |
2 | ![]() |
0 3 3 3 3 | 12 |
3 | ![]() |
2 3 3 2 2 | 12 |
4 | ![]() |
1 1 2 3 3 | 10 |
5 | ![]() |
0 3 1 2 3 | 9 |
6 | ![]() |
3 1 1 3 1 | 9 |
7 | ![]() |
2 2 0 3 1 | 8 |
8 | ![]() |
3 2 1 0 2 | 8 |
9 | ![]() |
3 0 2 2 1 | 8 |
10 | ![]() |
1 2 2 0 2 | 7 |
11 | ![]() |
2 1 2 1 1 | 7 |
12 | ![]() |
2 2 0 1 0 | 5 |
13 | ![]() |
1 0 1 1 2 | 5 |
14 | ![]() |
1 1 3 0 0 | 5 |
15 | ![]() |
0 0 0 1 0 | 1 |
16 | ![]() |
0 0 0 - - | 0 |
17 | ![]() |
0 - - - - | 0 |
18 | ![]() |
0 - - - - | 0 |
- ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Midland Cup
[edit]Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams.[7]
First round
Team one | Team two | Score |
---|---|---|
Leicester | Swindon | 38–40, 32–46 |
Semi final round
Team one | Team two | Score |
---|---|---|
Coventry | Birmingham | 48–30, 38–40 |
Cradley | Swindon | 60–18, 40–38 |
Final
[edit]First leg
Coventry Seve Bastable 11 Rick Miller 7 Kevin Hawkins 6 Sam Nikolajsen 5 Gary Guglielmi 4 John Davis (guest) 4 Keith White 1 | 38–40 | Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 11 Simon Wigg 6 Alan Grahame 6 Phil Collins 6 Peter Ravn 5 Jan O Pedersen 3 Simon Cross 3 |
---|---|---|
Second leg
Cradley Heath Lance King 11 Erik Gundersen 10 Alan Grahame 9 Phil Collins 9 Peter Ravn 7 Simon Wigg 6 Jan O Pedersen 4 | 56–22 | Coventry Jan Andersson (guest) 12 Rick Miller 4 Gary Guglielmi 3 Seve Bastable 1 Kevin Hawkins 1 Sam Nikolajsen 1 Keith White 0 |
---|---|---|
Cradley won on aggregate 96–60
London Cup
[edit]Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.[8]
Results
Team | Score | Team |
---|---|---|
Wimbledon | 50–28 | Hackney |
Hackney | 43–35 | Wimbledon |
Riders & final averages
[edit]Belle Vue
-
Chris Morton 10.30
-
Peter Collins 9.13
-
Larry Ross 7.37
-
Peter Carr 5.62
-
Louis Carr 5.38
-
Peter Ravn 4.95
-
Andy Smith 4.48
-
Kenny McKinna 4.30
-
Martin Scarisbrick 1.09
Birmingham
-
Hans Nielsen 10.82
-
Andy Grahame 8.29
-
Neil Evitts 6.88
-
Shawn McConnell 5.71
-
Karl Maier 5.63
-
Petr Ondrašík 5.36
-
John Jørgensen 5.01
-
Kent Noer 4.85
-
Paul Thorp 3.13
-
Mike Wilding 2.07
Coventry
-
Tommy Knudsen 9.87
-
Ole Olsen 9.56
-
Gary Guglielmi 8.07
-
Steve Bastable 6.79
-
Kevin Hawkins 5.44
-
Sam Nikolajsen 5.23
-
Rick Miller 4.87
Cradley Heath
-
Erik Gundersen 10.23
-
Simon Wigg 8.86
-
Lance King 8.74
-
Alan Grahame 8.69
-
Phil Collins 7.98
-
Peter Ravn 7.97
-
Jan O. Pedersen 6.78
-
Simon Cross 6.00
-
Andy Reid 2.54
-
David Cheshire 2.33
Eastbourne
-
Paul Woods 8.73
-
John Eskildsen 6.53
-
Mike Lanham 4.18
-
Dave Kennett 3.87
-
Anders Eriksson 3.79
-
Lillebror Johansson 3.79
-
Piotr Pyszny 3.75
-
Denzil Kent 3.65
-
Trevor Geer 3.56
-
Ottaviano Righetto 2.55
-
Rene Christiansen 1.93
-
Peter Schroeck 0.27
Hackney
-
Bo Petersen 8.47
-
Finn Thomsen 7.94
-
Jens Rasmussen 6.74
-
Sean Willmott 6.30
-
John Titman 6.25
-
Martin Hagon 4.83
-
Antonín Kasper Jr. 4.39
-
Bob Garrad 4.30
Halifax
-
Kenny Carter 10.28
-
Steve Baker 6.60
-
Doug Wyer 6.17
-
Steve Finch 5.77
-
Martin Dixon 5.59
-
Craig Pendlebury 5.41
-
Gianni Famari 3.52
-
Eric Boocock 2.40
Ipswich
-
Dennis Sigalos 10.75
-
Billy Sanders 9.70
-
Jeremy Doncaster 6.79
-
Preben Eriksen 6.72
-
Nigel Flatman 4.82
-
Andy Hines 4.51
-
Carl Baldwin 4.08
-
Andy Hibbs 4.06
-
Andy Nightingale 0.35
King's Lynn
-
John Louis 8.45
-
Gordon Kennett 8.39
-
Richard Hellsen 7.02
-
Colin Richardson 6.29
-
Kevin Jolly 6.21
-
Melvyn Taylor 5.95
-
Keith Bloxsome 5.25
Leicester
-
Mark Courtney 8.66
-
Les Collins 8.24
-
Neil Collins 7.17
-
Steve Regeling 5.95
-
Finn Jensen 5.11
-
Colin Cook 5.10
-
Mike Lanham 4.98
-
Eric Monaghan 4.76
-
Steen Mastrup 3.85
-
Phil Herne 3.81
Poole
-
Michael Lee 10.16
-
John Davis 7.72
-
Kevin Smith 6.95
-
Václav Verner 6.06
-
Neil Middleditch 5.38
-
Andy Campbell 4.74
-
Stan Bear 4.41
-
Sam Ermolenko 4.25 (4 matches only)
-
Brian Jakobsen 4.23
-
Erik Stenlund 3.56
-
Keith Millard 2.96
Reading
-
Mitch Shirra 10.02
-
Jan Andersson 9.47
-
Bobby Schwartz 9.02
-
Pierre Brannefors 7.28
-
Tim Hunt 4.31
-
Peter Glanz 3.85
-
Stanislav Urban 3.24
-
John Grahame 2.74
Sheffield
-
Shawn Moran 9.43
-
David Bargh 7.03
-
Phil White 6.26
-
Dave Morton 5.84
-
Reg Wilson 5.09
-
Eric Monaghan 3.97
-
Alan Mason 3.26
-
Gerald Short 2.13
Swindon
-
Phil Crump 10.03
-
Bjorn Andersson 7.01
-
Phil Herne 5.65
-
Martin Yeates 5.23
-
Steve Gresham 5.14
-
Malcolm Holloway 4.99
-
Alf Busk 4.31
-
Steen Mastrup 3.57
-
Per Sorensen 2.88
-
Milan Špinka 1.93
Wimbledon
-
Dave Jessup 9.25
-
Malcolm Simmons 7.86
-
Kai Niemi 7.67
-
Ari Koponen 6.55
-
Kelvin Tatum 6.19
-
Mike Ferreira 5.95
-
Roger Johns 5.18
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ "1983". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ "1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "Coventry Bees 1983 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- ^ "Dane wins". Sunday Mirror. 16 October 1983. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Cradley's treble glory!". Birmingham Mail. 25 October 1983. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1983 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.