1983 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsCradley Heathens
Knockout CupCradley Heathens
League CupBelle Vue Aces
IndividualErik Gundersen
Midland CupCradley Heathens
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1983 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

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

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)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Dennis Sigalos United States Ipswich Witches 10.99
2 Hans Nielsen Denmark Birmingham Brummies 10.77
3 Erik Gundersen Denmark Cradley Heathens 10.59
4 Mitch Shirra New Zealand Reading Racers 10.38
5 Michael Lee England Poole Pirates 10.36
6 Kenny Carter England Halifax Dukes 10.34
7 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich Witches 10.27
8 Chris Morton England Belle Vue Aces 10.17
9 Phil Crump Australia Swindon Robins 9.88
10 Jan Andersson Sweden Reading Racers 9.61

British League Knockout Cup

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
09/07Belle Vue56-22Halifax
30/06Wimbledon46-32Swindon
25/06Halifax41-37Belle Vue
25/06Swindon34-44Wimbledon
19/06Eastbourne34-43Kings Lynn
11/06Coventry45-33Sheffield
11/06Cradley Heath46-32Hackney
11/06Kings Lynn47-31Eastbourne
09/06Sheffield37-41Coventry
30/05Birmingham43-35Reading
30/05Reading44-34Birmingham
27/05Hackney35-43Cradley Heath
24/05Leicester40-38Ipswich
19/05Ipswich43-34Leicester

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
21/08Kings Lynn45-33Belle Vue
20/08Belle Vue58-20Kings Lynn
23/07Coventry44-34Wimbledon
21/07Wimbledon38-40Coventry
18/07Reading40-38Ipswich
13/07Poole35-43Cradley Heath
09/07Cradley Heath53-25Poole
07/07Ipswich39-39Reading

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
09/10Belle Vue38-40Coventry
08/10Coventry44-34Belle Vue
24/09Cradley Heath47-31Reading
19/09Reading32-46Cradley 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 - 39Cradley 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 - 31Coventry 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

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

Date Team one Score Team two
22/10Coventry39–39Belle Vue
23/10Belle Vue47–31Coventry

Leading final averages

Rider Team Average
Denmark Hans NielsenBirmingham10.82
United States Dennis SigalosIpswich10.75
England Chris MortonBelle Vue10.30
England Kenny CarterHalifax10.28
Denmark Erik GundersenCradley Heath10.23
England Michael LeePoole10.16
Australia Phil CrumpSwindon10.03
New Zealand Mitch ShirraReading10.02
Denmark Tommy KnudsenCoventry9.87
Australia Billy SandersIpswich9.70
Denmark Ole OlsenCoventry9.56

Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 15 October.[6]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1Denmark Erik Gundersen3 3 3 2 314
2England Michael Lee0 3 3 3 312
3Denmark Hans Nielsen2 3 3 2 212
4England Kenny Carter1 1 2 3 310
5England John Louis0 3 1 2 39
6Australia Billy Sanders3 1 1 3 19
7New Zealand Mitch Shirra2 2 0 3 18
8Denmark Bo Petersen3 2 1 0 28
9Australia Phil Crump3 0 2 2 18
10Denmark Ole Olsen1 2 2 0 27
11Sweden Jan Andersson2 1 2 1 17
12England Paul Woods2 2 0 1 05
13New Zealand David Bargh1 0 1 1 25
14England Chris Morton1 1 3 0 05
15England Mark Courtney0 0 0 1 01
16Finland Kai Niemi0 0 0 - -0
17England Martin Scarisbrick (res)0 - - - -0
18England David Wild (res)0 - - - -0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams.[7]

First round

Team one Team two Score
LeicesterSwindon38–40, 32–46

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
CoventryBirmingham48–30, 38–40
CradleySwindon60–18, 40–38

Final

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		38–40Cradley 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		56–22Coventry
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

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.[8]

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon50–28Hackney
Hackney43–35Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ↑ "1983". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. 1 2 "Coventry Bees 1983 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "Dane wins". Sunday Mirror. 16 October 1983. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Cradley's treble glory!". Birmingham Mail. 25 October 1983. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "1983 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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