1975 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsIpswich Witches
No. of competitors18
Knockout CupBelle Vue Aces
IndividualPeter Collins
Midland CupOxford Rebels
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageIvan Mauger
Division/s below1975 National League

The 1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League.[1]

Summary

The league was sponsored for the first time by Gulf Oil. Reading Racers returned after a one-season absence to increase the size of the league back to eighteen teams and the ban on overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad was lifted.[2]

The Ipswich Witches won their first title, defeating Belle Vue Aces by a solitary point. John Louis and Billy Sanders scored heavily throughout the season for Ipswich. Belle Vue found consolation by winning the Knockout Cup.[3][4]

In their last season at the Cowley track, Oxford Rebels won the Midland Cup, beating Wolverhampton Wolves[5][6] but the competition was overshadowed by the death of rider Gary Peterson.[7]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Ipswich Witches 34 26 1 7 53
2 Belle Vue Aces 34 25 2 7 52
3 Newport 34 24 1 9 49
4 Exeter Falcons 34 20 3 11 45
5 Sheffield Tigers 34 21 0 13 42
6 Reading Racers 34 21 0 13 42
7 Oxford Rebels 34 18 0 16 36
8 Leicester Lions 34 16 4 14 36
9 Wimbledon Dons 34 16 2 16 34
10 Halifax Dukes 34 15 3 16 33
11 Cradley United 34 15 2 17 32
12 King's Lynn Stars 34 14 3 17 31
13 Wolverhampton Wolves 34 13 1 20 27
14 Hull Vikings 34 10 4 20 24
15 Poole Pirates 34 10 3 21 23
16 Coventry Bees 34 9 2 23 20
17 Hackney Hawks 34 9 1 24 19
18 Swindon Robins 34 8 0 26 16

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter 11.45
2 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 11.27
3 Phil Crump Australia Newport 11.17
4 Anders Michanek Sweden Reading 11.03
5 Ole Olsen Denmark Wolverhampton 10.79
6 John Louis England Ipswich 10.67
7 Dave Jessup England Leicester 10.45
8 Malcolm Simmons England Poole 10.37
9 Dag Lövaas Norway Oxford 10.22
10 Reg Wilson England Sheffield 10.18

British League Knockout Cup

The 1975 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 37th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue Aces were the winners.[8]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
22/05Sheffield44-34Exeter
19/04Belle Vue49-29Wolverhampton
18/04Wolverhampton37-41Belle Vue
14/04Exeter47-31Sheffield

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
01/07Leicester47-31Hackney
27/06Hackney40-38Leicester
23/06Cradley Heath46-32Kings Lynn
21/06Kings Lynn42-36Cradley Heath
19/06Oxford60-18Coventry
19/06Ipswich42-36Belle Vue
16/06Exeter43-35Poole
16/06Reading38-40Newport
14/06Swindon47-31Hull
14/06Coventry33-45Oxford
11/06Poole41-37Exeter
11/06Hull46-32Swindon
07/06Halifax58-20Wimbledon
06/06Newport46-32Reading
05/06Wimbledon49-29Halifax
04/06Belle Vue49-28Ipswich

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
09/08Cradley Heath51-27Newport
09/08Belle Vue45-33Oxford
08/08Newport49-29Cradley Heath
07/08Oxford36-42Belle Vue
02/08Swindon32-46Leicester
29/07Leicester42-36Swindon
17/07Exeter43-35Halifax
05/07Halifax47-31Exeter

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
05/10Belle Vue44-34Cradley Heath
27/09Halifax37-40Leicester
26/09Leicester47-31Halifax
22/09Cradley Heath32-45Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Leicester Lions
Dave Jessup 11
Ila Teromaa 10
Ray Wilson 9
Frank Auffret 6
Doug Underwood 2
Tony Lomas 0
Keith White 0		38 - 40Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 12
Chris Morton 9
Sören Sjösten 7
Geoff Pusey 4
Alan Wilkinson 4
Russ Hodgson 3
Paul Tyrer 1
[9]

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 12
Sören Sjösten 8
Paul Tyrer 8
Alan Wilkinson 8
Chris Morton 7
Russ Hodgson 2
Geoff Pusey 1		46 - 32Leicester Lions
Dave Jessup 8
Ray Wilson 7
Frank Auffret 6
Doug Underwood 6
Tony Lomas 3
Ila Teromaa 1
Keith White 1
[9]

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.

Riders' Championship

Peter Collins won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held at Hyde Road on 18 October.[10]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1England Peter Collins3 3 3 3 315
2Australia Phil Crump2 3 3 1 312
3England Martin Ashby3 1 2 3 211
4England John Louis3 2 0 3 311
5England Doug Wyer3 2 1 2 210
6England Malcolm Simmons2 3 1 2 19
7England Chris Pusey1 0 3 3 29
8England Dave Jessup2 0 2 2 28
9Sweden Anders Michanek2 1 2 R 38
10New Zealand Ivan Mauger1 0 3 1 16
11Sweden Tommy Jansson0 3 1 1 16
12England Terry Betts1 1 2 0 15
13Scotland Jim McMillan2 0 2 0 04
14Australia Bob Valentine0 1 1 1 EF3
15Norway Dag Lövaas1 2 0 0 03
16Australia John Boulger0 0 0 0 00
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded

Leading final averages

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter 11.52
2 Phil Crump Australia Newport 11.15
3 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 11.13
4 Anders Michanek Sweden Reading 10.90
5 Ole Olsen Denmark Wolverhampton 10.79
6 John Louis England Ipswich 10.58
7 Dave Jessup England Leicester 10.41
8 Malcolm Simmons England Poole 10.41
9 Martin Ashby England Swindon 10.13
10 Tommy Jansson Sweden Wimbledon 10.12
11 Dag Lövaas Norway Oxford 10.04
12 Ray Wilson England Wolverhampton 9.90
13 Reg Wilson England Sheffield 9.79
14 Jim McMillan Scotland Hull 9.69
15 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich 9.58
16 Doug Wyer England Sheffield 9.37
17 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 9.27
18 Barry Briggs New Zealand Wimbledon 9.23
19 Scott Autrey United States Exeter 9.19
20 Reidar Eide Norway Newport 8.98

Midland Cup

Oxford won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.[7]

First round

Team one Team two Score
OxfordSwindon39–39, 39–39
OxfordSwindon53–25, 33–44
CoventryCradley40–37, 35–43

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
WolverhamptonCradley42–35, 44–34
OxfordLeicester46–32, 35–43

Final

First leg

Oxford
Dag Lovaas 10
Gordon Kennett 9
John Dews 6
Richard Greer 6
Trevor Geer 5
Paul Gachet 2
Richard Hellsen 2		40–38Wolverhampton
Martin Ashby (guest) 13
Finn Thomsen 10
George Hunter 10
Malcolm Shakespeare 4
Colin Meredith 1
Gary Peterson 0
Leif Berlin r/r

Second leg

Wolverhampton
Ole Olsen 11
Malcolm Shakespeare 7
Finn Thomsen 6
Leif Berlin 6
Gary Peterson 4
Keith Anderson 3
Colin Meredith 1		38–39Oxford
Alan Grahame 12
Dag Lovaas 9
Gordon Kennett 7
Richard Greer 7
John Dews 3
Richard Hellsen 1
Brian Clark 0

Oxford won on aggregate 79–76

London Cup

Wimbledon retained the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.[11]

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon48–30Hackney
Hackney46–32Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. ↑ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”. ISBN 978-0-244-99725-0
  6. ↑ Bamford,R & Shailes,G (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway". ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0
  7. 1 2 "Speedway rider Gary Peterson killed". Reading Evening Post. 18 October 1975. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "1975 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  9. 1 2 "Season 1975" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Collins keeps his title". Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 19 October 1975. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "1975 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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