Wikipedia

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

Summary

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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

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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)

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

British League Knockout Cup

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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
06/05 Leicester 59-49 Poole
05/05 Poole 53-55 Leicester

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
17/07 Coventry 54-54 Birmingham
09/07 Cradley Heath 60-48 Kings Lynn
04/07 Wolverhampton 53-55 Sheffield
09/06 Birmingham 56-51 Coventry
06/06 Eastbourne 52.5-55.5 Swindon
05/06 Sheffield 56-52 Wolverhampton
03/06 Hull 67-41 Hackney
31/05 Belle Vue 60-48 Wimbledon
31/05 Halifax 57-50 Reading
31/05 Swindon 62-46 Eastbourne
30/05 Hackney 45-63 Hull
29/05 Wimbledon 57-51 Belle Vue
29/05 Ipswich 66-42 Leicester
27/05 Leicester 54-54 Ipswich
25/05 Kings Lynn 58-50 Cradley Heath
21/04 Reading 62-46 Halifax

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
03/09 Birmingham 76-30 Sheffield
23/08 Belle Vue 68-40 Hull
21/08 Cradley Heath 54-54 Reading
21/08 Sheffield 49-58 Birmingham
04/08 Reading 53-55 Cradley Heath
19/07 Swindon 63-45 Ipswich
17/07 Ipswich 55-53 Swindon
09/07 Hull 66-42 Belle Vue

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/10 Cradley Heath 67-41 Birmingham
24/09 Belle Vue 59-49 Swindon
15/09 Birmingham 56-52 Cradley Heath
30/08 Swindon 56-52 Belle Vue

Final

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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

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

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1   Les Collins 3 3 3 3 2 14
2   Bruce Penhall 1 2 3 3 3 12
3   Larry Ross 3 3 1 2 2 11
4   Jan Andersson 2 1 3 3 1 10
5   Peter Collins 2 1 2 2 3 10
6   Hans Nielsen 3 2 2 1 2 10
7   Kenny Carter 3 3 0 0 3 9
8   Scott Autrey 2 2 1 0 3 8
9   Ole Olsen 2 3 1 1 0 7
10   Dennis Sigalos 0 0 2 2 2 6
11   Steve Bastable 0 1 1 2 1 5
12   John Louis 1 1 3 0 0 5
13   Bo Petersen 0 0 0 3 1 4
14   Michael Lee 1 2 0 - - 3
15   Malcolm Simmons 1 0 2 0 0 3
16   Bernie Collier (res) 1 1 - - - 2
17   Gordon Kennett 0 0 0 1 - 1
18   Mike Wilding (res) 0 - - - - 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages

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

Midland Cup

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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
Swindon Wolverhampton 43–35, 39–39
Cradley Birmingham 51–27, 48–30

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Swindon Coventry 41–37, 36–42
Leicester Cradley 35–43, 30–48

Final

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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

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

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon 43–35 Hackney
Hackney 42–36 Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

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Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  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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