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

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]

Summary

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] 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

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 34260852
2 Hull Vikings 34242850
3 Cradley Heath Heathens 342401048
4 King's Lynn Stars 342211145
5 Exeter Falcons 332001340
6 Halifax Dukes 341801636
7 Reading Racers 341701734
8 Swindon Robins 331531533
9 Wimbledon Dons 341611733
10 Belle Vue Aces 341441632
11 Wolverhampton Wolves 341511831
12 Poole Pirates 341431731
13 Sheffield Tigers 341421830
14 Birmingham Brummies 341321928
15 Ipswich Witches 341222026
16 Eastbourne Eagles 341022222
17 Leicester Lions 341002420
18 Hackney Hawks 34912419

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

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

British League Knockout Cup

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.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
16/06Cradley Heath66-42Leicester
29/05Leicester40-68Cradley Heath
20/04Eastbourne65-43Ipswich
19/04Ipswich53-54Eastbourne

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
10/09Cradley Heath78-29Wimbledon
09/08Wimbledon54-53Cradley Heath
06/07Eastbourne65-43Reading
18/06Birmingham59-49Swindon
16/06Coventry74-34Poole
16/06King's Lynn53-55Wolverhampton
16/06Swindon62-46Birmingham
15/06Poole59-48Coventry
15/06Wolverhampton56-52King's Lynn
11/06Reading77-31Eastbourne
02/06Belle Vue61-47Exeter
01/06Hull81-25Sheffield
31/05Exeter70-38Belle Vue
31/05Sheffield60-48Hull

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
24/09Cradley Heath71-37Wolverhampton
21/09Wolverhampton52-56Cradley Heath
20/08Reading53-55Halifax
14/07Halifax79-29Reading
03/08Exeter56-52Swindon
18/07Hull75-34Coventry
14/07Coventry60-48Hull
14/07Swindon46-62Exeter

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
07/10Halifax49-59Cradley Heath
06/10Cradley Heath43-23Halifax
19/09Hull70-38Exeter
17/09Exeter60-48Hull

Final

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

John Louis won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).[8]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1England John Louis2 3 3 3 314
2United States Bruce Penhall3 2 3 3 213
3England Michael Lee3 3 2 1 312
4England Peter Collins2 3 2 3 111
5New Zealand Larry Ross3 2 1 1 310
6Australia Phil Crump0 3 3 3 09
7Denmark Hans Nielsen2 2 1 2 29
8United States Scott Autrey1 1 3 1 28
9Denmark Ole Olsen2 2 0 2 17
10New Zealand Ivan Mauger1 R 2 0 16
11England Malcolm Simmons3 0 0 1 15
12Australia John Titman0 1 0 2 25
13England Ian Cartright1 1 1 2 05
14England John Davis0 1 2 0 14
15England Andy Grahame0 0 1 0 01
16England Gordon Kennett1 0 0 0 01
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages

The top ten averages recorded at the end of the season.[9]

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

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the fourth consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.[10]

First round

Team one Team two Score
BirminghamSwindon32–46, 31–47
WolverhamptonCradley39–38, 32–46

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
LeicesterSwindon44.5–33.5, 38–40
CoventryCradley46–32, 34–44

Final

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

Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.[11]

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney44–34Wimbledon
Wimbledon43–35Hackney

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  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". Speedway Museum Online. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "1979 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. ↑ "Speedway". The People. 21 October 1979. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  10. ↑ "...and they're cup kings, too!". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 15 October 1979. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "1979 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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