1974 British League season

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1974 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors17
ChampionsExeter Falcons
Knockout CupSheffield Tigers
IndividualPeter Collins
Midland CupLeicester Lions
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageOle Olsen
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

The 1974 British League season was the 40th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the tenth season known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary[edit]

The 1973 Champions Reading didn't compete as they no longer had a stadium, following the closure of Reading Stadium and Hull Vikings replaced them. The league was reduced to seventeen teams when the Coatbridge Tigers dropped down to Division Two. Overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad were banned which meant that top Swedish riders such as Anders Michanek, Bernt Persson, Tommy Jansson and Christer Löfqvist didn't compete.[3]

The Exeter Falcons won their first title. They were headed by the legendary four time world champion Ivan Mauger and backed up well by Scott Autrey (8.32), Tony Lomas (7.29) and Kevin Holden (7.26).

At the end of the season Oxford Rebels finished four points above the Hull Vikings courtesy of a protest over Hull's victory against the Rebels.[4] Hull were later re-awarded the points after a close season hearing and moved above the Rebels.

Final table[edit]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Exeter Falcons 32 25 1 6 51
2 Belle Vue Aces 32 23 0 9 46
3 Ipswich Witches 32 22 1 9 45
4 Sheffield Tigers 32 21 0 11 42
5 King's Lynn Stars 32 20 1 11 41
6 Newport 32 17 3 12 37
7 Halifax Dukes 32 14 3 15 31
8 Wimbledon Dons 32 14 1 17 29
9 Hackney Hawks 32 13 2 17 28
10 Leicester Lions 32 13 1 18 27
11 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 13 1 18 27
12 Swindon Robins 32 12 2 18 26
13 Cradley United 32 12 1 19 25
14 Poole Pirates 32 12 1 19 25
15 Coventry Bees 32 12 0 20 24
16 Hull Vikings 32 10 0 22 20
17 Oxford Rebels 32 10 0 22 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 Ole Olsen Denmark Wolverhampton 11.21
2 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter 11.15
3 Phil Crump Australia Newport 10.77
4 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.73
5 John Louis England Ipswich 10.73
6 Terry Betts England King's Lynn 10.26
7 Dag Lövaas Norway Hackney 10.15
8 Martin Ashby England Swindon 10.10
9 John Boulger Australia Cradley 9.94
10 Eric Boocock England Halifax 9.92

British League Knockout Cup[edit]

The 1974 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 36th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Sheffield were the winners.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
20/04 Cradley United 40-38 Wolverhampton
19/04 Ipswich 50-28 Oxford
12/04 Wolverhampton 48-30 Cradley United
21/03 Oxford 40-37 Ipswich

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
07/06 Wolverhampton 36-42 Kings Lynn
04/06 Wimbledon 38-40 Ipswich
30/05 Ipswich 52-26 Wimbledon
29/05 Hull 38-40 Sheffield
25/05 Coventry 42-36 Leicester
22/05 Belle Vue 53-25 Halifax
18/05 Kings Lynn 45-33 Wolverhampton
17/05 Hackney 40-38 Poole
15/05 Poole 42-36 Hackney
13/05 Halifax 35-43 Belle Vue
09/05 Sheffield 52-26 Hull
07/05 Leicester 43-35 Coventry
27/04 Swindon 40-38 Newport
26/04 Newport 42-36 Swindon

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
31/07 Poole 38-40 Kings Lynn
20/07 King's Lynn 38-40 Poole
16/07 Leicester 38-40 Ipswich
08/07 Sheffield 46-32 Newport
06/07 Belle Vue 44-32 Exeter
05/07 Newport 35-43 Sheffield
20/06 Ipswich 42-36 Leicester
10/06 Exeter 46-32 Belle Vue
24/08 Kings Lynn 42-36 Poole
21/08 Poole 45-32 Kings Lynn

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
09/09 Sheffield 46-32 Poole
04/09 Poole 37-40 Sheffield
29/08 Ipswich 50-28 Exeter
19/08 Exeter 42-36 Ipswich

Final[edit]

First leg

Ipswich Witches
John Louis 11
Billy Sanders 10
Tony Davey 6
Mick Hines 5
Ted Howgego 3
Alan Sage 2
Trevor Jones 0		37 - 41Sheffield Tigers
Arnie Haley 13
Bob Valentine 11
Doug Wyer 8
Reg Wilson 6
Craig Pendlebury 2
Bob Paulson 1
Carl Glover 0
[6]

Second leg

Sheffield Tigers
Bob Valentine 11
Arnie Haley 8
Doug Wyer 8
Craig Pendlebury 8
Reg Wilson 7
Carl Glover 6
Bob Paulson 1		49 - 29Ipswich Witches
John Louis 13
Tony Davey 9
Billy Sanders 3
Mick Hines 2
Ted Howgego 1
Mike Lanham 1
Alan Sage 0
[7]

Sheffield Tigers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-65.

Riders' Championship[edit]

Peter Collins won the British League Riders' Championship held at Hyde Road on 19 October.[8]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 England Peter Collins 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 2 2 3 3 2 12
3 Australia Phil Crump 1 3 2 3 3 12
4 England John Louis 3 2 1 2 3 11
5 Australia Bob Valentine 3 1 2 2 3 11
6 England Dave Jessup 2 3 1 2 2 10
7 England Martin Ashby 1 2 2 1 2 8
8 Scotland George Hunter 2 0 3 2 0 7
9 New Zealand Barry Briggs 0 2 EF 3 2 7
10 Scotland Jim McMillan 1 3 0 1 1 6
11 Australia John Boulger 2 1 2 EF 1 6
12 England Eric Boocock 0 1 3 0 1 5
13 England Bob Kilby 3 F R 1 0 4
14 Norway Dag Lövaas 0 0 1 1 1 3
15 England Terry Betts 1 0 1 0 0 2
16 England Nigel Boocock 0 1 0 0 EF 1
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded

Final leading averages[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ole Olsen Denmark Wolverhampton 11.39
2 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.98
3 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter 10.88
4 Phil Crump Australia Newport 10.79
5 John Louis England Ipswich 10.79
6 Terry Betts England King's Lynn 10.32
7 Dag Lövaas Norway Hackney 10.17
8 Martin Ashby England Swindon 10.09
9 John Boulger Australia Cradley 10.06
10 Bob Valentine Australia Sheffield 9.92
11 Malcolm Simmons England King's Lynn 9.78
13 Sören Sjösten Sweden Belle Vue 9.72
14 Jim McMillan Scotland Hull 9.71
15 Dave Jessup England Leicester 9.66
15 Eric Boocock England Halifax 9.61
17 Reidar Eide Norway Newport 9.42
18 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich 9.34
19 Ray Wilson England Leicester 9.34
20 Barry Briggs New Zealand Wimbledon 9.30

Midland Cup[edit]

Leicester won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.[9]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Oxford Swindon 41–37, 34–44
Coventry Cradley 39–39, 28–50

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Swindon 41–37, 41–37
Cradley Wolverhampton 32–46, 38–40

Final[edit]

First leg

Leicester
Ray Wilson 11
Dave Jessup 9
Frank Auffret 9
Bob Coles (guest) 4
Malcolm Brown 4
Mick Bell 3
Norman Storer 2		42–36Wolverhampton
John Boulger (guest) 14
George Hunter 10
Malcolm Shakespeare 8
Bengt Andersson 3
Colin Meredith 1
Tom Leadbitter 0
Tony Featherstone 0

Second leg

Wolverhampton
Eric Broadbelt (guest) 12
George Hunter 9
Malcolm Shakespeare 6
Tom Leadbitter 4
Bengt Andersson 2
Colin Meredith 2
Finn Thomsen 0		35–43Leicester
Dave Jessup 10
Ray Wilson 9
Arthur Price (guest) 8
Frank Auffret 6
Norman Storer 5
Mick Bell 5
Malcolm Brown 0

Leicester won on aggregate 85–71

London Cup[edit]

Wimbledon won the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.[10]

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon 46–32 Hackney
Hackney 39–39 Wimbledon

Riders & final averages[edit]

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. ^ "1974 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ "Hero Haley puts Ipswich on the rack". Daily Mirror. 7 October 1974. Retrieved 7 December 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Season 1974" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Speedway". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 21 October 1974. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Wolves beaten in cup final". Birmingham Daily Post. 12 October 1974. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "1974 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
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