Wikipedia

1979 British League season

The 1979 Gulf British League season was the 45th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 15th season known as the British League.[1][2]

1979 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors18
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
IndividualJohn Louis
Midland CupCoventry Bees
London CupHackney Hawks
Highest averageScott Autrey
Division/s below1979 National League

Summary

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The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fifth season. It comprised 18 teams - one fewer than the previous season.[3] White City Rebels had folded and their riders became Eastbourne Eagles assets as Eastbourne were promoted from the National League. Bristol Bulldogs also dropped out after only two seasons back in the top flight.[4]

Coventry Bees won the league for the second year running. Hull Vikings' second place was their best ever finish. The Coventry Bees team was similar to the previous season with a young 18 year-old Danish newcomer Tommy Knudsen replacing Jiří Štancl from the previous season. Alan Molyneux once again backed up the Coventry overseas contingent with a solid average.[5] Cradley Heath won the Knockout Cup mainly thanks to their USA superstar Bruce Penhall. The Cradley team also had their own young Danish newcomer in 20 year-old Erik Gundersen and 20 year-old Hans Nielsen posted a 10 plus average for the season riding for Wolves. The future looked extremely bright for Denmark.

During the new British League Fours tournament a horrific accident took place at Hackney Wick Stadium on Friday 8 June. In the final heat between Hackney and Eastbourne all four riders were competing when Hackney's Vic Harding and Eastbourne's Steve Weatherley touched and their bikes became locked together. They were both thrown from their bikes into the fence and the metal post supporting one of the track lights. Both riders were taken to hospital but Harding died later that night and Weatherley was left paralysed.[6][7] Further bad news filtered though in December after the season had finished, when Poole Pirate's Christer Sjösten died following serious injuries sustained in a race in Australia.

Final table

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Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 34 26 0 8 52
2 Hull Vikings 34 24 2 8 50
3 Cradley Heath Heathens 34 24 0 10 48
4 King's Lynn Stars 34 22 1 11 45
5 Exeter Falcons 33 20 0 13 40
6 Halifax Dukes 34 18 0 16 36
7 Reading Racers 34 17 0 17 34
8 Swindon Robins 33 15 3 15 33
9 Wimbledon Dons 34 16 1 17 33
10 Belle Vue Aces 34 14 4 16 32
11 Wolverhampton Wolves 34 15 1 18 31
12 Poole Pirates 34 14 3 17 31
13 Sheffield Tigers 34 14 2 18 30
14 Birmingham Brummies 34 13 2 19 28
15 Ipswich Witches 34 12 2 20 26
16 Eastbourne Eagles 34 10 2 22 22
17 Leicester Lions 34 10 0 24 20
18 Hackney Hawks 34 9 1 24 19

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

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Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Scott Autrey   Exeter 10.91
2 Ivan Mauger   Hull 10.54
3 Phil Crump   Swindon 10.36
4 Michael Lee   King's Lynn 10.29
5 John Davis   Reading 10.22
6 Hans Nielsen   Wolverhampton 10.16
7 Gordon Kennett   Eastbourne 10.13
8 Ole Olsen   Coventry 10.03
9 Bruce Penhall   Cradley 10.02
10 Dave Jessup   King's Lynn 9.80

British League Knockout Cup

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The 1979 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.[8]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
16/06 Cradley Heath 66-42 Leicester
29/05 Leicester 40-68 Cradley Heath
20/04 Eastbourne 65-43 Ipswich
19/04 Ipswich 53-54 Eastbourne

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
10/09 Cradley Heath 78-29 Wimbledon
09/08 Wimbledon 54-53 Cradley Heath
06/07 Eastbourne 65-43 Reading
18/06 Birmingham 59-49 Swindon
16/06 Coventry 74-34 Poole
16/06 King's Lynn 53-55 Wolverhampton
16/06 Swindon 62-46 Birmingham
15/06 Poole 59-48 Coventry
15/06 Wolverhampton 56-52 King's Lynn
11/06 Reading 77-31 Eastbourne
02/06 Belle Vue 61-47 Exeter
01/06 Hull 81-25 Sheffield
31/05 Exeter 70-38 Belle Vue
31/05 Sheffield 60-48 Hull

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
24/09 Cradley Heath 71-37 Wolverhampton
21/09 Wolverhampton 52-56 Cradley Heath
20/08 Reading 53-55 Halifax
14/07 Halifax 79-29 Reading
03/08 Exeter 56-52 Swindon
18/07 Hull 75-34 Coventry
14/07 Coventry 60-48 Hull
14/07 Swindon 46-62 Exeter

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
07/10 Halifax 49-59 Cradley Heath
06/10 Cradley Heath 43-23 Halifax
19/09 Hull 70-38 Exeter
17/09 Exeter 60-48 Hull

Final

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First leg

Cradley Heath
Bruce Penhall 11
Alan Grahame 11
Phil Collins 9
Erik Gundersen 9
Dave Perks 9
Bobby Schwartz 6
Kristian Praestbro 4
John Hack 3		62 - 46Hull Vikings
Ivan Mauger 14
Bobby Beaton 13
Joe Owen 6
Dennis Sigalos 6
Frank Auffret 6
Nigel Close 1
Brian Havelock 0
Graham Drury 0

Second leg

Hull Vikings
Dennis Sigalos 13
Kelly Moran 8
Louis Carr 7
Bobby Beaton 6
Joe Owen 5
Frank Auffret 4
Nigel Close 4
Ivan Mauger 3		50 - 58Cradley Heath
Bruce Penhall 13
Bobby Schwartz 11
Kristian Praestbro 9
Phil Collins 9
Alan Grahame 6
Erik Gundersen 5
John Hack 5
Dave Perks 0

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 120-96.

Riders' Championship

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John Louis won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).[9]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1   John Louis 2 3 3 3 3 14
2   Bruce Penhall 3 2 3 3 2 13
3   Michael Lee 3 3 2 1 3 12
4   Peter Collins 2 3 2 3 1 11
5   Larry Ross 3 2 1 1 3 10
6   Phil Crump 0 3 3 3 0 9
7   Hans Nielsen 2 2 1 2 2 9
8   Scott Autrey 1 1 3 1 2 8
9   Ole Olsen 2 2 0 2 1 7
10   Ivan Mauger 1 R 2 0 1 6
11   Malcolm Simmons 3 0 0 1 1 5
12   John Titman 0 1 0 2 2 5
13   Ian Cartright 1 1 1 2 0 5
14   John Davis 0 1 2 0 1 4
15   Andy Grahame 0 0 1 0 0 1
16   Gordon Kennett 1 0 0 0 0 1
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages

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The top ten averages recorded at the end of the season.[10]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Scott Autrey   Exeter 10.83
2 Ivan Mauger   Hull 10.38
3 Phil Crump   Swindon 10.34
4 John Davis   Reading 10.32
5 Hans Nielsen   Wolverhampton 10.29
6 Michael Lee   King's Lynn 10.21
7 Ole Olsen   Coventry 9.92
8 Gordon Kennett   Eastbourne 9.91
9 Bruce Penhall   Cradley 9.88
10 Dave Jessup   King's Lynn 9.72

Midland Cup

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Coventry won the Midland Cup for the fourth consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.[11]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Birmingham Swindon 32–46, 31–47
Wolverhampton Cradley 39–38, 32–46

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Swindon 44.5–33.5, 38–40
Coventry Cradley 46–32, 34–44

Final

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First leg

Leicester
Mike Farrell 12
John Boulger 8
John Titman 7
Chris Turner 4
Dave Gooderham 2
Tom Godal 2
Colin Cook 0		35–43Coventry
Ole Olsen 12
Alf Busk 12
Tommy Knudsen 7
Gary Guglielmi 7
Mick Bell 4
Mitch Shirra 1
Kevin Hawkins 0
Alan Molyneux r/r

Second leg

Coventry
Ole Olsen 13
Mitch Shirra 8
Alf Busk 8
Tommy Knudsen 8
Gary Guglielmi 5
Mick Bell 5
Kevin Hawkins 3
Alan Molyneux r/r		50–28Leicester
John Titman 9
Colin Cook 7
John Boulger 6
Rob Henry 4
Ian Clark 1
Tom Godal 1
Mike Farrell 0

Coventry won on aggregate 93–63

London Cup

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Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.[12]

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney 44–34 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 43–35 Hackney

Riders & final averages

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Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 94. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  5. ^ "1979 league tables". Speedway GB.
  6. ^ "Vic Harding killed". Reading Evening Post. 9 June 1979. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Vic Harding". Speedway Museum Online. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ "1979 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  9. ^ "Speedway". The People. 21 October 1979. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  11. ^ "...and they're cup kings, too!". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 15 October 1979. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "1979 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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