1985 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsOxford Cheetahs
No. of competitors11
Knockout CupOxford Cheetahs
League CupCoventry Bees
IndividualErik Gundersen
PairsOxford Cheetahs
Midland CupOxford Cheetahs
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1985 National League

The 1985 British League season was the 51st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 21st known as the British League.[1][2]

Team changes

Wimbledon Dons dropped to the National league, this was the first time that Wimbledon would not compete in the top tier of speedway.

Summary

Oxford Cheetahs won the league and cup double.[3] The Oxford team, financed by the Oxford Stadium owners Northern Sports and headed by David Hawkins was the most expensive team assembled in the history of the league. The team included Danish international Hans Nielsen (signed for a record £30,000) in 1984. Nielsen had topped the previous season's averages on Oxford's return to the league and was imperious during 1985, finishing with an exceptional average, way ahead of any other rider. The team eased to the league title by a clear ten points, with Simon Wigg, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox, Jens Rasmussen and Melvyn Taylor all riding over 50 matches each during the season.[4][5]

Defending champions Ipswich Witches finished mid-table which was not surprising taking into account that just three matches into the season their leading rider Billy Sanders committed suicide on 23 April. The news shocked the club and the wider speedway world at the time.[6]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Oxford Cheetahs 20 16 1 3 10 43
2 Sheffield Tigers 20 13 1 6 6 33
3 Coventry Bees 20 11 2 7 7 31
4 Halifax Dukes 20 9 1 10 5 24
5 Ipswich Witches 20 9 2 9 4 24
6 Belle Vue Aces 20 10 0 10 4 24
7 Cradley Heath Heathens 19 10 0 9 4 24
8 Swindon Robins 20 8 1 11 6 23
9 Reading Racers 19 6 4 9 6 22
10 Wolverhampton Wolves 20 5 2 13 2 14
11 King's Lynn Stars 20 5 0 15 0 10

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


British League Knockout Cup

The 1985 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 47th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Oxford Cheetahs were the winners.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
19/07Oxford43-35Coventry
29/06Swindon36-42Ipswich
24/06Wolverhampton49-29Halifax
15/06Coventry35-43Oxford
30/05Ipswich45-33Swindon
25/05Halifax48-30Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
23/09Reading43-34Sheffield
22/08Sheffield39-39Reading
29/08Ipswich43-34Wolverhampton
19/08Wolverhampton39-39Ipswich
31/07Oxford47-31Belle Vue
20/07Belle Vue40-38Oxford
11/07Sheffield46-32Reading
08/07Reading46-32Sheffield
07/07Cradley Heath53-25Kings Lynn
06/07Kings Lynn39-39Cradley Heath

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
22/10Reading38-40Oxford
16/10Oxford41-36Reading
11/09Cradley Heath36-42Ipswich
19/09Ipswich43-35Cradley Heath

Final

First leg

Ipswich Witches
John Cook
Jeremy Doncaster
Richard Knight
Dennis Sigalos		41–37Oxford Cheetahs
Hans Nielsen 14
Simon Wigg 10
Jens Rasmussen
Troy Butler
[8]

Second leg

Oxford Cheetahs
Hans Nielsen 15
Simon Wigg 12
Troy Butler
Jens Rasmussen		42–35Ipswich Witches
John Cook 12
Richard Knight 9
Jeremy Doncaster
Dennis Sigalos

Oxford Cheetahs were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-76.

League Cup

The League Cup was contested as a league format. Coventry Bees won the final over two legs defeating Oxford Cheetahs 86-70 on aggregrate.[9][10][11]

Qualifying table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Cradley Heathens 20 13 1 6 34
2 Oxford Cheetahs 20 11 2 7 32
3 Ipswich Witches 20 12 1 7 32
4 Coventry Bees 20 10 1 7 30
5 Wolverhampton Wolves 20 10 1 9 27
6 Swindon Robins 20 11 0 9 26
7 Belle Vue Aces 20 9 2 9 24
8 Reading Racers 20 8 2 10 21
9 Halifax Dukes 20 8 0 12 20
10 Sheffield Tigers 20 4 1 15 19
11 King's Lynn Stars 20 4 1 15 10

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
15/08Ipswich37–41Oxford
25/09Cradley Heath40–38Coventry
27/09Oxford39–39Ipswich
02/10Coventry46–32Cradley Heath

Final

First leg

Oxford Cheetahs
Simon Wigg 14
Hans Nielsen 13
Marvyn Cox 9
Nigel De'ath 3
Jens Rasmussen 2
Troy Butler 1
Andy Grahame r/r		42–36Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 11
Kelvin Tatum 9
Rick Miller 5
David Bargh 4
Steve Bastable 3
Frank Andersen 3
John Jorgensen 1
Oxford Stadium

Second leg

Coventry Bees
Kelvin Tatum 12
Rick Miller 10
Tommy Knudsen 9
John Jorgensen 6
Steve Bastable 5
David Bargh 4
Frank Andersen 4		50–28Oxford Cheetahs
Hans Nielsen 14
Simon Wigg 6
Jens Rasmussen 4
Troy Butler 2
Marvyn Cox 1
Melvyn Taylor 1
Andy Grahame r/r
Brandon Stadium

Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, the final was held at Hyde Road on 20 October.[12]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1Denmark Erik Gundersen3 3 3 2 314
2England Peter Collins3 3 1 2 312+3
3England Chris Morton2 2 3 3 212+2
4Denmark Tommy Knudsen0 3 3 3 211
5England Kelvin Tatum3 3 2 1 211
6Denmark Hans Nielsen2 1 2 3 311
7United States Shawn Moran1 2 3 2 311
8England Neil Evitts3 2 1 1 18
9United States John Cook1 1 2 1 16
10Denmark Bo Petersen0 0 1 3 15
11Sweden Jan Andersson1 2 0 2 05
12England Simon Wigg2 1 1 1 05
13England Dave Jessup0 1 2 0 03
14England Phil Collins2 0 0 0 02
15England Jeremy Doncaster0 0 0 0 22
16Denmark Peter Ravn1 0 0 0 12
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Monmore Green Stadium on 30 June and was won by Oxford.[13]

PosTeamPtsRiders
1Oxford35Nielsen 23, Wigg 12
2Reading34Davis 20, Shirra 14
3Cradley33Gundersen 18, Collins P 15
4Sheffield26Moran S 20, Collins N 6
5Belle Vue23Morton 17, Collins P 6
6Coventry17Tatum 11, Knudsen 6
7Swindon15Petersen 15, Simmons 0

Leading final averages

Rider Team Average
Denmark Hans NielsenOxford11.35
United States Shawn MoranSheffield10.39
Denmark Erik GundersenCradley Heath10.38
England Kenny CarterHalifax10.13
Denmark Tommy KnudsenCoventry10.13
United States Bobby SchwartzWolverhampton9.80
England Chris MortonBelle Vue9.77
Sweden Jan AnderssonReading9.43
Denmark Bo PetersenSwindon9.35
United States John CookIpswich9.33

Midland Cup

Oxford won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.[14]

First round

Team one Team two Score
WolverhamptonOxford32–46, 31–47
CoventryReading38–40, 34–44

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
CradleyReading44–34, 37–41
OxfordSwindon42–36, 39–39

Final

First leg

Oxford
Simon Wigg 12
Andy Grahame 9
Jens Rasmussen 8
Marvyn Cox 6
Hans Nielsen 4
Troy Butler 4
Nigel De'ath 2		45–33Cradley Heath
Alan Grahame 10
Erik Gundersen 8
Jan O Pedersen 5
Phil Collins 5
Simon Cross 2
Finn Jensen 2
Nigel Leaver 1

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Phil Collins 10
Erik Gundersen 8
Simon Cross 7
Jan O Pedersen 5
Alan Grahame 5
Finn Jensen 3
Nigel Leaver 0		38–40Oxford
Andy Grahame 10
Simon Wigg 9
Hans Nielsen 8
Marvyn Cox 6
Troy Butler 5
Nigel De'ath 1
Alastair Stevens 1

Oxford won on aggregate 85–71

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Halifax

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "1985 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ↑ "SPEEDWAY: Nielsen regret at Oxford". Oxford Mail.
  5. ↑ Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 128–135. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  6. ↑ "NOT FORGOTTEN – BILLY SANDERS". AMCN. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "1985 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. ↑ "Hans takes a grip". Daily Mirror. 28 October 1985. Retrieved 18 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  10. ↑ "Coventry Bees results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "League Cup table". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Ace Erik is King of the track". Daily Mirror. 21 October 1985. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Racers are edged out by Oxford pair". Reading Evening Post. 1 July 1985. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "Grahame's glory". Birmingham Mail. 1 November 1985. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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