1980 British League season

The 1980 British League season was the 46th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 16th season known as the British League.[1][2]

1980 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsReading Racers
No. of competitors17
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
IndividualLes Collins
Midland CupCradley Heathens
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1980 National League

Summary

The league comprised 17 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Exeter Falcons had dropped down to the National League. Hackney Hawks underwent a dramatic transformation from being the bottom side in 1979 to title contenders in 1980, but their challenge faded in the last few weeks and Reading Racers were crowned champions for the second time.[3][4]

Reading's success came down to three strong heat leaders, Swedish champion Jan Andersson, their new American signing Bobby Schwartz and England international John Davis. All three produced season averages around the 10 mark, which enabled the team to constantly pick up victories.[5] Cradley Heathens successfully retained their Knockout Cup crown overcoming a huge first leg deficit in the final.

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Reading Racers 32 24 1 7 49
2 Hackney Hawks 32 23 0 9 46
3 Belle Vue Aces 32 21 1 10 43
4 Coventry Bees 32 20 2 10 42
5 Cradley Heath Heathens 32 20 0 12 40
6 Ipswich Witches 32 16 2 14 34
7 King's Lynn Stars 32 17 0 15 34
8 Swindon Robins 32 16 2 14 34
9 Poole Pirates 32 15 2 15 32
10 Halifax Dukes 32 15 1 16 31
11 Leicester Lions 32 14 0 18 28
12 Hull Vikings 32 11 5 16 27
13 Wimbledon Dons 32 12 2 18 26
14 Birmingham Brummies 32 11 1 20 23
15 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 9 2 21 20
16 Eastbourne Eagles 32 9 1 22 19
17 Sheffield Tigers 32 8 0 24 16

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.70
2 Hans Nielsen Denmark Wolverhampton 10.70
3 Dave Jessup England King's Lynn 10.52
4 Bo Petersen Denmark Hackney 10.46
5 Bruce Penhall United States Cradley 10.46
6 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.17
7 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.11
8 Jan Andersson Sweden Reading 10.08
9 Scott Autrey United States Swindon 9.97
10 Bobby Schwartz United States Reading 9.95

British League Knockout Cup

The 1980 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 42nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
06/05Leicester59-49Poole
05/05Poole53-55Leicester

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
17/07Coventry54-54Birmingham
09/07Cradley Heath60-48Kings Lynn
04/07Wolverhampton53-55Sheffield
09/06Birmingham56-51Coventry
06/06Eastbourne52.5-55.5Swindon
05/06Sheffield56-52Wolverhampton
03/06Hull67-41Hackney
31/05Belle Vue60-48Wimbledon
31/05Halifax57-50Reading
31/05Swindon62-46Eastbourne
30/05Hackney45-63Hull
29/05Wimbledon57-51Belle Vue
29/05Ipswich66-42Leicester
27/05Leicester54-54Ipswich
25/05Kings Lynn58-50Cradley Heath
21/04Reading62-46Halifax

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
03/09Birmingham76-30Sheffield
23/08Belle Vue68-40Hull
21/08Cradley Heath54-54Reading
21/08Sheffield49-58Birmingham
04/08Reading53-55Cradley Heath
19/07Swindon63-45Ipswich
17/07Ipswich55-53Swindon
09/07Hull66-42Belle Vue

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/10Cradley Heath67-41Birmingham
24/09Belle Vue59-49Swindon
15/09Birmingham56-52Cradley Heath
30/08Swindon56-52Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Chris Morton 14
Rob Maxfield 14
Peter Collins 13
Pekka Hautamaki 10
Louis Carr 5
Steve Wilcock 5
Dave Allen 4
Derek Richardson 2		67 - 41Cradley Heath
Phil Collins 13
Alan Grahame 13
Erik Gundersen 7
Ila Teromaa 6
John Hack 1
Steve Lawson 1
Craig Featherby 0
Bruce Penhall R/R

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Bruce Penhall 15
Erik Gundersen 13
Phil Collins 12
Alan Grahame 11
Andy Reid 9
Ila Teromaa 8
Steve Lawson 5
Craig Featherby 5		75 - 33Belle Vue Aces
Pekka Hautamaki 10
Louis Carr 10
Tony Boyle 6
John Williams 4
Chris Morton 2 (inj)
Peter Collins 1 (inj)
Dave Allen 0
Mark Lohmann R/R

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-100.

Riders' Championship

Les Collins won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 18 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).[7]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1England Les Collins3 3 3 3 214
2United States Bruce Penhall1 2 3 3 312
3New Zealand Larry Ross3 3 1 2 211
4Sweden Jan Andersson2 1 3 3 110
5England Peter Collins2 1 2 2 310
6Denmark Hans Nielsen3 2 2 1 210
7England Kenny Carter3 3 0 0 39
8United States Scott Autrey2 2 1 0 38
9Denmark Ole Olsen2 3 1 1 07
10United States Dennis Sigalos0 0 2 2 26
11England Steve Bastable0 1 1 2 15
12England John Louis1 1 3 0 05
13Denmark Bo Petersen0 0 0 3 14
14England Michael Lee1 2 0 - -3
15England Malcolm Simmons1 0 2 0 03
16England Bernie Collier (res)1 1 - - -2
17England Gordon Kennett0 0 0 1 -1
18England Mike Wilding (res)0 - - - -0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Hans Nielsen Denmark Wolverhampton 10.69
2 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.67
=3 Dave Jessup England King's Lynn 10.39
=3 Bruce Penhall United States Cradley 10.39
5 Bo Petersen Denmark Hackney 10.27
6 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.14
7 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.09
8 Jan Andersson Sweden Reading 10.04
9 Bobby Schwartz United States Reading 10.00
10 Scott Autrey United States Swindon 9.92

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup, sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank. The competition consisted of six teams.[8]

First round

Team one Team two Score
SwindonWolverhampton43–35, 39–39
CradleyBirmingham51–27, 48–30

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
SwindonCoventry41–37, 36–42
LeicesterCradley35–43, 30–48

Final

First leg

Coventry
Ole Olsen 13
Tommy Knudsen 8
Mitch Shirra 7
Alf Busk 5
Rob Henry 3
Alan Molyneux 1
Kevin Hawkins 1		38–40Cradley Heath
Bruce Penhall 12
Alan Grahame 7
Phil Collins 6
Ila Teromaa 6
Erik Gundersen 6
John Hack 2
Andy Reid 1

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Phil Collins 12
Erik Gundersen 11
Bobby Schwartz (guest) 10
Alan Grahame 9
Steve Lawson 4
Ila Teromaa 2
John Hack 0		48–30Coventry
Mitch Shirra 9
Ole Olsen 8
Kevin Hawkins 5
Tommy Knudsen 4
Alf Busk 2
Rob Hollingworth 2
Alan Molyneux 0

Cradley Heath won on aggregate 88–68

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.[9]

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon43–35Hackney
Hackney42–36Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

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. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. "1979 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. "1980 league tables". Speedway GB.
  5. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  6. "1980 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. "Speedway". The People. 21 October 1979. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Schwartz is a cup hit for Cradley". Sandwell Evening Mail. 10 October 1980. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "1980 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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