1978 British League season

The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 14th season known as the British League.[1]

1978 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsCoventry Bees
No. of competitors19
Knockout CupIpswich Witches
IndividualOle Olsen
PairsCradley Heath &
Coventry Bees
Midland CupCoventry Bees
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageMalcolm Simmons
Division/s below1978 National League

Summary

The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previous season. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fourth season.[2]

Coventry Bees won their second title and their first for ten years. Belle Vue Aces were runners-up for the fourth time in five seasons and would receive a double blow when losing in the final of the Knockout Cup. Two time world champion Ole Olsen was in sensational form for Coventry and made the difference throughout the season. Olsen would also seal his third world individual crown by the end of the season. The Coventry side consisted of an array of overseas riders including Olsen and fellow Dane Alf Busk, New Zealander Mitch Shirra, Australian Gary Guglielmi and Jiří Štancl from Czechoslovakia.[3]

League table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 36270954
2 Belle Vue Aces 362601052
3 Hull Vikings 362221246
4 Wimbledon Dons 362211345
5 Cradley Heathens 362111443
6 Ipswich Witches 362111443
7 Exeter Falcons 362011541
8 Sheffield Tigers 361921540
9 Bristol Bulldogs 361901738
10 Poole Pirates 361731637
11 Leicester Lions 361701934
12 Halifax Dukes 361431931
13 King's Lynn Stars 361422030
14 Reading Racers 361332029
15 White City Rebels 361232127
16 Swindon Robins 361232127
17 Wolverhampton Wolves 361112423
18 Birmingham Brummies 361112423
19 Hackney Hawks 361012521

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Malcolm Simmons England Poole 10.78
2 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry 10.71
3 Scott Autrey United States Exeter 10.45
4 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.44
5 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.40
6 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.31
7 Dave Jessup England Reading 10.24
8 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich 10.23
9 Phil Crump Australia Bristol 9.99
10 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Hull 9.91

British League Knockout Cup

The 1978 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 40th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.[4]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/04Kings Lynn40-38Hull
26/04Hull39-39Kings Lynn
10/04Exeter44-34Coventry
08/04Coventry44-34Exeter
17/04Birmingham37-41Poole
12/04Poole48-30Birmingham
15/06Coventry37.5-40.5Exeter
01/06Exeter48-30Coventry

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
19/07Poole49-29Swindon
15/07Swindon37-41Poole
09/06Hackney51-26Kings Lynn
03/06Kings Lynn31-46Hackney
06/07Sheffield45-33Exeter
Exeter52-26Sheffield
10/06Swindon36-42Poole
21/06Poole36-42Swindon
03/06Belle Vue44-34Wimbledon
08/06Wimbledon41-37Belle Vue
23/06Bristol35-43Leicester
06/06Leicester39-39Bristol
10/06Cradley Heath38-40Reading
05/06Reading37-41Cradley Heath
13/06White City52-26Halifax
10/06Halifax43-34White City
09/06Wolverhampton40-38Ipswich
08/06Ipswich43-34Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
09/08White City23-54Ipswich
05/08Belle Vue44-34Poole
04/08Poole34-43Belle Vue
29/07Cradley Heath48-30Leicester
27/07Ipswich52-26White City
21/07Hackney34-44Exeter
11/07Leicester39-39Cradley Heath
17/07Exeter58-20Hackney

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
14/09Ipswich44-34Cradley Heath
13/09Cradley Heath40-38Ipswich
26/08Belle Vue57-21Exeter
25/08Exeter51-27Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 15
Chris Morton 14
Les Collins 5
Chris Turner 2
Steve Finch 1
Jim Brett 1
Uno Johansson 1		39 - 39Ipswich Witches
Mike Lanham 9
John Louis 8
Tony Davey 7
Colin Cook 6
Kevin Jolly 5
Billy Sanders 4
Tim Hunt 0

Second leg

Ipswich Witches
Georg Hack 10
Billy Sanders 9
John Louis 9
Tony Davey 9
Mike Lanham 7
Kevin Jolly 6
Colin Cook 4		53 - 25Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 10
Chris Morton 8
Les Collins 4
Chris Turner 1
Eric Dugard (guest) 1
Derek Richardson 1
Uno Johansson 0

Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the fourth time (and third in a row), it was held at Hyde Road on 21 October and sponsored by British Leyland Cars.[5]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1Denmark Ole Olsen1 3 3 3 313
2England Peter Collins2 2 3 3 212+3
3England Steve Bastable3 2 3 3 112+2
4New Zealand Larry Ross1 3 3 1 311
5United States Scott Autrey2 3 2 2 110
6England Malcolm Simmons3 3 0 1 310
7Australia Billy Sanders2 1 1 2 39
8Australia John Titman3 1 2 3 09
9England Ian Cartright0 2 1 2 27
10Australia Phil Crump0 2 2 1 27
11England Doug Wyer3 0 1 1 27
12New Zealand Ivan Mauger2 1 0 2 EF5
13Australia Phil Herne0 0 2 R 13
14England Andy Heyes (res)0 1 F R 0 1 02
15England Michael Lee1 R - - -1
16Denmark Hans NielsenFX 1 0 0 -1
17England Dave JessupR - - - -0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship sponsored by Gauloises, was held at Foxhall Stadium on 12 October and was jointly won by Cradley Heath Heathens and Coventry Bees. The meeting was abandoned after 14 heats due to fog but the result stood.[6][7]

PosTeamPtsRiders
1Cradley Heath Heathens18Steve Bastable 10, Bruce Penhall 8
1Coventry Bees18Ole Olsen 10, Mitch Shirra 8
3Belle Vue Aces12Peter Collins 10, Chris Morton 2
4Ipswich Witches11Billy Sanders 8, Tony Davey 3
5Exeter Falcons10Scott Autrey 5, Reidar Eide 5
6Reading Racers8Dave Jessup 5, John Davis 3
7King's Lynn Stars7Terry Betts 4, Michael Lee 3

Leading final averages
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Malcolm Simmons England Poole 10.77
2 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry 10.56
3 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.41
4 Scott Autrey United States Exeter 10.40
5 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.23
6 Dave Jessup England Reading 10.20
7 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.11
8 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich 9.94
9 Phil Crump Australia Bristol 9.92
10 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Hull 9.77

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.[8]

First round

Team one Team two Score
SwindonLeicester16–26, 27–51
WolverhamptonBirmimgham38–40, 47–30

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
CradleyLeicester44–34, 26–52
WolverhamptonCoventry36–42, 36–42

Final

First leg

Leicester
John Boulger 10
John Titman 9
Ila Teromaa 9
John McNeill 5
Jerzy Rembas 2
Tom Godal 2
Chris Sully 0		37–41Coventry
Mitch Shirra 10
Ole Olsen 9
Mick Bell 6
Gary Guglielmi 6
Alf Buck 4
Martin Yeates (guest) 4
Alan Molyneux 2

Second leg

Coventry
Ole Olsen 12
Mitch Shirra 12
Jiri Stancl 9
Alan Molyneux 8
Alf Buck 5
Mick Bell 5
Stuart Cope 1		52–26Leicester
John Titman 7
Jerzy Rembas 7
John Boulger 5
John McNeill 4
Tom Godal 2
Chris Sully 1
Ila Teromaa r/r

Coventry won on aggregate 93–63

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup but White City did not compete and therefore the competition consisted of just two teams.[9]

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney39–38Wimbledon
Wimbledon55–23Hackney

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bristol

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

White City

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. "1978 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. "Immaculate Olsen roars to title". Sandwell Evening Mail. 23 October 1978. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Sport in Brief". Birmingham Daily Post. 30 September 1977. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "1978 Complete season records" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  8. "Bees live up to double glory". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 16 October 1978. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "1978 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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