1966 British League season

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1966 British League season
LeagueBritish League
Season1966
No. of competitors19
ChampionsHalifax Dukes
Knockout CupHalifax Dukes
IndividualBarry Briggs
London CupWest Ham Hammers
Midland CupCoventry Bees
Highest averageBarry Briggs

The 1966 British League season was the 32nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second season known as the British League.[1] Halifax Dukes won the league and then secured the league and cup double.[2]

Summary[edit]

The League expanded to 19, with a new team, the King's Lynn Stars.[3] Halifax Dukes won the league after 36 games and finished three points clear of Coventry Bees. The Halifax team success was due to the consistency of their riders, in particular Eric Boocock, Eric Boothroyd, Dave Younghusband and Tommy Roper who all scored heavily throughout the season. Halifax also completed the double winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final, they easily beat Wimbledon Dons.[4]

The four times world champion Barry Briggs topped the averages for Swindon Robins during the same season in which he sealed his fourth world title. The dangers of speedway were highlighted once again however when Welshman Ivor Hughes was killed during the league match riding for Cradley Heath Heathens against Sheffield Tigers on 20 August.[5]

Final table[edit]

M W D L F A Pts
1 Halifax Dukes 36 27 0 9 1574 1229 54
2 Coventry Bees 36 25 1 10 1548 1255 51
3 Swindon Robins 36 23 0 13 1553 1248 46
4 Wimbledon Dons 36 22 0 14 1485 1314 44
5 Newcastle Diamonds 36 20 0 16 1491.5 1304.5 40
6 Poole Pirates 36 19 2 15 1443 1356 40
7 West Ham Hammers 36 19 1 10 1499.5 1304.5 39
8 Glasgow Tigers 36 18 0 18 1395 1394 36
9 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 17 2 17 1340.5 1461.5 36
10 Exeter Falcons 36 17 1 18 1392.5 1403.5 35
11 Sheffield Tigers 36 17 0 19 1410 1394 34
12 Edinburgh Monarchs 35 17 0 18 1310.5 1413.5 34
13 Belle Vue Aces 36 16 0 20 1362 1443 32
14 Hackney Hawks 36 15 1 20 1347.5 1456.5 31
15 Oxford Cheetahs 36 14 2 20 1291 1510 30
16 King's Lynn Stars 36 15 0 21 1275 1524 30
17 Newport Wasps 36 12 1 23 1319 1486 25
18 Long Eaton Archers 36 12 1 23 1286 1516 25
19 Cradley Heath Heathens 35 10 0 25 1196 1506 20

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon 11.08
2 Nigel Boocock England Coventry 10.67
3 Gote Nordin Sweden Newport 10.53
4 Eric Boocock England Halifax 10.41
5 Olle Nygren Sweden Wimbledon 10.32
6 Colin Pratt England Hackney 9.93
7 Ken McKinlay Scotland West Ham 9.78
8 Mike Broadbank England Swindon 9.77
9 Sverre Harrfeldt Norway West Ham 9.76
10 Trevor Hedge England Wimbledon 9.64

Knockout Cup[edit]

Halifax Dukes won the cup and therefore secured the league and cup double.[6]

Main article: British League Knockout Cup 1966

Riders' Championship[edit]

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the second consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 22 October.[7]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 New Zealand Barry Briggs 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 Sweden Olle Nygren 2 3 3 3 3 14
3 England Norman Hunter 3 2 3 2 2 12
4 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 3 2 0 3 3 11
5 England Ray Wilson 3 3 2 2 exc 10
6 England Nigel Boocock 1 3 1 3 - 8
7 Scotland George Hunter 0 1 1 2 3 7
8 New Zealand Bill Andrew 0 ef 3 1 2 6
9 England Jimmy Gooch 1 1 2 1 1 6
10 Australia Peter Vandenberg 1 1 ef 1 2 5
11 England Terry Betts 2 1 2 ef ef 5
12 Australia Charlie Monk 2 F 2 1 ef 5
13 England Cyril Maidment 0 2 1 2 ef 5
14 England Tommy Sweetman 2 0 ef 0 2 4
15 England Eric Boocock 1 2 ef ef ef 3
16 England Colin Pratt 0 0 1 0 1 2
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

London Cup[edit]

West Ham successfully defended their London Cup title but once again there were just three teams competing.[8]

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 West Ham Hammers 4 3 0 1 216 168 6
2 Wimbledon Dons 4 3 0 1 192.5 191.5 6
3 Hackney Hawks 4 0 0 4 167.5 216.5 0

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney 47–49 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 49–47 West Ham
West Ham 53–43 Wimbledon
Hackney 43–53 West Ham
Wimbledon 52–44 Hackney
West Ham 63–33 Hackney
Hackney 47.5–48.5 Wimbledon

Final leading average[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon 11.12
2 Nigel Boocock England Coventry 10.54
3 Eric Boocock England Halifax 10.46
4 Göte Nordin Sweden Newport 10.44
5 Olle Nygren Sweden Wimbledon 10.40
6 Colin Pratt England Hackney 10.00
7 Sverre Harrfeldt Norway West Ham 9.89
8 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Newcastle 9.82
9 Ken McKinlay Scotland West Ham 9.67
10 Mike Broadbank England Swindon 9.60
11 Trevor Hedge England Wimbledon 9.39
12 Cyril Maidment England Belle Vue 9.55
13 Arne Pander Denmark Oxford 9.53
14 Norman Hunter England West Ham 9.42
15 Terry Betts England King's Lynn 9.41
16 Trevor Hedge England Wimbledon 9.39
17 Eric Boothroyd England Halifax 9.29
18 Ron Mountford England Coventry 9.29
19 Charlie Monk Australia Glasgow 9.27
20 Rick France England Coventry 9.22

Midland Cup[edit]

Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams.[9]

First round group 1

Team one Team two Score
Wolverhampton Cradley 44–34, 41–37
Wolverhampton Swindon 43–35, 26–52
Cradley Swindon 40–38, 17–61

First round group 2

Team one Team two Score
Long Eaton Coventry 37–41, 31–47
Oxford Coventry 40–37, 33–45
Long Eaton Oxford 32–46, 28–50

Final[edit]

First leg

Wolverhampton
Peter Vandenberg 10
Gordon Guasco 9
Cyril Francis 7
Brian Maxted 6
Alan Cowland 5
Dave Hemus 2
Pete Jarman 1		39–39Coventry
Nigel Boocock 14
Rick France 13
Col Cottrell 5
Jim Lightfoot 5
Roger Hill 1
Chris Harrison 1
Tom Ridley 0
Ron Mountford r/r

Second leg

Coventry
Col Cottrell 12
Jim Lightfoot 12
Rick France 9
Nigel Boocock 8
Les Owen 6
Roger Hill 2
Chris Harrison 0
Ron Mountford r/r		49–29Wolverhampton
Gordon Guasco 8
Brian Maxted 6
Peter Vandenberg 5
Dave Hemus 4
Cyril Francis 4
Alan Cowland 2
Pete Jarman 0

Coventry won on aggregate 88–68

Riders and final averages[edit]

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Halifax

King's Lynn

Long Eaton

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Ivor Hughes". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  6. ^ "HALIFAX DUKES". Greyhound Derby.com. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Briggs keeps rider's title despite rain". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 October 1966. Retrieved 31 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "West Ham Hammers 1966" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Coventry Win Midland Cup". Birmingham Daily Post. 20 September 1966. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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