1973 British League season

1973 British League season

League	British League
Season	1973
Champions	Reading Racers
No. of competitors	18
Knockout Cup	Belle Vue Aces
Division/s below	British League (Div 2)

The 1973 British League season was the ninth season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

Summary

Glasgow Tigers relocated to become Coatbridge Tigers. The Reading Racers won their first title.

Final table

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Reading Racers	34	25	1	8	51
Sheffield Tigers	34	22	3	9	47
King's Lynn Stars	34	20	3	11	43
Leicester Lions	34	21	0	13	42
Ipswich Witches	34	19	2	12	41
Belle Vue Aces	34	19	1	14	39
Wolverhampton Wolves	34	18	1	15	37
Exeter Falcons	34	16	3	15	35
Halifax Dukes	34	16	2	16	34
Newport Wasps	34	16	0	18	32
Oxford Rebels	34	14	2	18	30
Wimbledon Dons	34	14	1	19	29
Swindon Robins	34	13	3	18	29
Poole Pirates	34	13	2	19	28
Coventry Bees	34	13	0	21	26
Hackney Hawks	34	11	4	19	26
Coatbridge Tigers	34	12	1	21	25
Cradley United	34	7	4	23	18

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Top Ten Riders

Both Michanek and Mauger recorded perfect 12 point average scores at home for the season, meaning they were unbeaten by any opposing rider on their own track in League competition.

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Anders Michanek		Reading Racers	11.55
2	Ivan Mauger		Exeter Falcons	11.30
3	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton Wolves	11.10
4	Eric Boocock		Halifax Dukes	10.52
5	Dag Lövaas		Reading Racers	10.37
6	Malcolm Simmons		King's Lynn Stars	10.33
7	John Boulger		Leicester Lions	10.25
8	Chris Pusey		Belle Vue Aces	10.24
9	Martin Ashby		Swindon Robins	10.11
10	John Louis		Ipswich Witches	10.07

British League Knockout Cup

The 1973 British League Knockout Cup was the 35th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners after Peter Collins of Belle Vue defeated Anders Michanek of Reading in a race-off because the tie had finished 78-78 on aggregate.

First Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
28/04	Belle Vue	48-30	Oxford
28/04	Coventry	44-34	Reading
27/04	Hackney	43-35	Swindon
26/04	Oxford	41-37	Belle Vue

Second Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
25/06	Reading	56-22	Coatbridge
22/06	Coatbridge	41-37	Reading
15/06	Wolverhampton	43-35	Exeter
14/06	Sheffield	29-49	Belle Vue
12/06	Leicester	36-42	Kings Lynn
02/06	Belle Vue	43-35	Sheffield
02/06	Halifax	49-29	Wimbledon
30/05	Poole	40-38	Cradley Heath
26/05	Kings Lynn	42-36	Leicester
18/05	Newport	45-33	Ipswich
17/05	Ipswich	41-37	Newport
17/05	Wimbledon	37-41	Halifax
12/05	Cradley Heath	37-41	Poole
12/05	Swindon	43-35	Hackney
07/05	Exeter	37-41	Wolverhampton
28/07	Swindon	52-25	Hackney
15/06	Hackney	43-35	Swindon

Quarter Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
01/09	Swindon	39-39	Wolverhampton
17/08	Newport	45-33	Reading
17/08	Wolverhampton	43-35	Swindon
13/08	Halifax	41-37	Belle Vue
10/08	Poole	39-39	Kings Lynn
30/07	Reading	55-23	Newport
18/07	Belle Vue	57-21	Halifax
23/06	Kings Lynn	47-31	Poole

Semi Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
26/09	Belle Vue	48-30	Wolverhampton
14/09	Wolverhampton	42-36	Belle Vue
05/09	Kings Lynn	40-38	Reading
03/09	Reading	52-26	Kings Lynn

Final

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
01/10	Reading	47-31	Belle Vue
24/10	Belle Vue	47-31	Reading

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions