1969 British League season

The 1969 British League season was the 35th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fifth season known as the British League.

Summary
The 19 competitors were the same as the previous season.

Poole Pirates won their first title. The Pirates were extremely consistent and despite their riders not coming in the top 18 league averages they won the league by a clear 6 points. Pete Smith was their top rider with an average of 9.34 but aided by four other riders (Geoff Mudge (9.05), Odd Fossengen (7.73), Bruce Cribb (7.31) and Gordon Guasco (7.26)) they were able to claim the title. Wimbledon Dons had a much better season than the last, finishing third and managed to retain their British League Knockout Cup crown. Belle Vue Aces finished runner-up, mainly due to the performances of their outstanding World champion rider Ivan Mauger; the New Zealander finished with an average of 11.67 and would also seal his second world title before the end of the season.

British League Knockout Cup
The 1969 British League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals

Final
First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-62.

Riders' Championship
Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the fifth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 18 October.


 * ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

London Cup
Wimbledon retained the London Cup.

Results

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

First round

Semi final round

Final
First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages
Belle Vue


 * 🇳🇿 Ivan Mauger 11.67
 * 🇸🇪 Sören Sjösten 10.09
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tommy Roper 8.58
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chris Pusey 6.41
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Steve Waplington 5.92
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Hemus 4.60
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norman Nevitt 4.33
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bill Powell 4.30
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ken Eyre 4.14
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Eric Broadbelt 3.84
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ken Moss 3.56
 * 🇳🇿 Bill Moulin 3.24

Coatbridge


 * 🇳🇴 Reidar Eide 10.01
 * Bert Harkins 7.94
 * George Hunter 7.14
 * 🇳🇿 Wayne Briggs 6.39
 * Brian Collins 5.93
 * Doug Templeton 5.17
 * Alec Hughson 4.24
 * Alistair Brady 3.82

Coventry


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Nigel Boocock 10.78
 * 🇨🇿 Antonín Kasper Sr. 7.55
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Col Cottrell 7.36
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Roger Hill 6.81
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rick France 6.67
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tom Ridley 5.54
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Les Owen 5.41
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Harrhy 4.83
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tony Lomas 4.74
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Callington 3.28

Cradley Heath


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Roy Trigg 9.27
 * 🇸🇪 Bernt Persson 9.11
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bob Andrews 7.93
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chris Bass 5.29
 * 🇳🇿 Graham Coombes 4.90
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mike Gardner 4.31
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ken Wakefield 4.15
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chris Hawkins 1.29

Exeter


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Martin Ashby 9.97
 * 🇨🇿 Jan Holub I 8.12
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jimmy Squibb 7.31
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alan Cowland 5.22
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mike Cake 5.15
 * 🇨🇦 Chris Blewett 4.95
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tim Bungay 4.75
 * Ross Gilbertson 4.55
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Phil Woodcock 4.27

Glasgow


 * Jimmy McMillan 10.01
 * 🇦🇺 Charlie Monk 9.56
 * 🇳🇴 Oyvind Berg 8.09
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russ Dent 5.61
 * Willie Templeton 5.01
 * 🇳🇿 Alf Wells 4.25
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mike Hiftle 3.41
 * Bobby Beaton 2.91

Hackney


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Colin Pratt 7.35
 * 🇦🇺 Garry Middleton 7.05
 * 🇦🇺 Jack Biggs 6.33
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jimmy Gooch 6.17
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Les McGillivray 5.45
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Laurie Etheridge 5.10
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Brian Leonard 5.03
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Des Lukehurst 4.88
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tommy Sweetman 4.50
 * 🇳🇿 Graeme Smith 3.10

Halifax


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Eric Boocock 11.08
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Younghusband 9.38
 * 🇦🇺 Greg Kentwell 7.67
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alan Jay 7.16
 * 🇦🇺 Dennis Gavros 6.23
 * 🇦🇺 Les Sharpe 5.33
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Terry Lee 4.00
 * 🇦🇺 Bob Jameson 3.76

King's Lynn


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Terry Betts 9.35
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Malcolm Simmons 8.14
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 7.72
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Clive Featherby 6.44
 * 🇳🇿 Allan Brown 4.95
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alan Bellham 4.89
 * 🇦🇺 Peter Bradshaw 4.19

Leicester


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ray Wilson 10.56
 * 🇦🇺 John Boulger 8.76
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Hart 6.47
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norman Storer 6.44
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Graham Plant 6.21
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Malcolm Brown 5.16
 * 🇺🇸 DeWayne Keeter 4.88

Newcastle


 * Ole Olsen 10.39
 * 🇳🇿 Dave Gifford 7.34
 * 🇳🇿 Gary Peterson 4.80
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mike Watkin 4.63
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alan Knapkin 4.00
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Schofield 3.47
 * 🇳🇿 Murray Burt 3.23

Newport


 * 🇭🇺 Sandor Levai 8.34
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norman Strachan 6.29
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chris Julian 6.06
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alby Golden 5.95
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Bob Hughes 5.92
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jon Erskine 5.83
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Cyril Francis 4.67
 * 🇳🇿 Terry Shearer 3.74
 * 🇳🇴 Einar Egedius 2.73

Oxford


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Eddie Reeves 8.08
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Colin Gooddy 8.03
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Leo McAuliffe 7.24
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pete Jarman 7.00
 * 🇳🇿 Rick Timmo 6.65
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 George Major 5.27
 * 🇸🇪 Conny Samuelsson 4.17
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mick Bell 4.00
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 David Crane 4.00
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Bishop 3.61

Poole


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pete Smith 9.34
 * 🇦🇺 Geoff Mudge 9.05
 * 🇳🇴 Odd Fossengen 7.73
 * 🇳🇿 Bruce Cribb 7.31
 * 🇦🇺 Gordon Guasco 7.26
 * 🇳🇿 Frank Shuter 5.55
 * 🇵🇱 Ted Laessing 4.50

Sheffield


 * 🇦🇺 Jim Airey 9.90
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Arnold Haley 8.62
 * 🇸🇪 Bengt Larsson 8.43
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bob Paulson 6.00
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Brian Maxted 5.85
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Dews 5.59
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Billy Bales 5.42
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Dave Baugh 3.80
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Reg Wilson 0.50

Swindon


 * 🇳🇿 Barry Briggs 11.12
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bob Kilby 7.78
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mike Keen 6.71
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mike Broadbank 6.13
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Clive Hitch 5.43
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pete Munday 4.87
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Barry Duke 4.76
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mac Woolford 2.04

West Ham


 * 🇳🇴 Sverre Harrfeldt 9.78
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tony Clarke 8.49
 * 🇸🇪 Olle Nygren 7.91
 * Ken McKinlay 7.69
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Stan Stevens 5.30
 * 🇦🇺 John Langfield 5.03
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Barry Crowson 4.07
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Martyn Piddock 3.63
 * Bent Nörregaard 3.62
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 George Barclay 2.20
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Brian Leonard 1.87

Wimbledon


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Trevor Hedge 10.33
 * 🇳🇿 Ronnie Moore 9.74
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Reg Luckhurst 9.39
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cyril Maidment 6.56
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bob Dugard 6.34
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jim Tebby 6.10
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gary Everett 5.57
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Peter Murray 3.30

Wolverhampton


 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norman Hunter 10.35
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Bond 7.38
 * Peter Vandenberg 7.27
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Geoff Ambrose 6.11
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Mick Handley 5.98
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tommy Sweetman 5.70
 * 🇸🇪 Bengt Andersson 5.22
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Peter Jackson 3.76
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Cyril Francis 3.26