1977 British League season

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The 1977 Gulf British League season was the 43rd season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom[1] and the 13th season known as the British League.[2]

Summary

Newport had dropped down to the National League but their riders transferred to the Bristol Bulldogs so the league retained 19 teams. Cradley Heath reverted to their nickname of Heathens after four years of being called United.[3] The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a third season.[4]

White City Rebels won the title in only their second season of existence. The London team caused a surprise with their consistent form throughout the season with heavy scoring of Gordon Kennett leading the team. The success came from a group of five other riders hitting around a seven average to support Kennett. The five were Englishmen Mike Sampson, Steve Weatherley and Trevor Geer, Pole Marek Cieślak and Finn Kai Niemi.[5] Wolverhampton Wolves signed 18 year-old Danish rider Hans Nielsen.

Kevin Holden of Poole Pirates had started the season in great form for his new club, following his move from Exeter Falcons. He was hitting over a 9-point average but sadly was killed during the home match against Reading on 27 April. After sliding into the fence he ruptured a blood vessel of the heart.[6]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 White City Rebels 36 27 1 8 55
2 Exeter Falcons 36 25 3 8 53
3 Reading Racers 36 25 3 8 53
4 Ipswich Witches 36 25 1 10 51
5 Belle Vue Aces 36 19 3 14 41
6 King's Lynn Stars 36 19 2 15 40
7 Cradley Heathens 36 20 0 16 40
8 Coventry Bees 36 19 1 16 39
9 Wimbledon Dons 36 17 2 17 36
10 Poole Pirates 36 17 2 17 36
11 Swindon Robins 36 17 1 18 35
12 Bristol Bulldogs 36 17 0 19 34
13 Sheffield Tigers 36 16 2 18 34
14 Hull Vikings 36 15 0 21 30
15 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 14 0 22 28
16 Hackney Hawks 36 13 1 22 27
17 Halifax Dukes 36 12 0 24 24
18 Birmingham Brummies 36 8 0 28 16
19 Leicester Lions 36 6 0 30 12

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

Fixtures and results

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Top ten riders (league averages)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Michael Lee Template:Flagicon King's Lynn 10.64
2 Ivan Mauger Template:Flagicon Exeter 10.62
3 Peter Collins Template:Flagicon Belle Vue 10.49
4 Gordon Kennett Template:Flagicon White City 10.41
5 Ole Olsen Template:Flagicon Coventry 10.40
6 Billy Sanders Template:Flagicon Ipswich 10.39
7 Anders Michanek Template:Flagicon Cradley 10.35
8 Dave Jessup Template:Flagicon Reading 10.27
9 Malcolm Simmons Template:Flagicon Poole 10.22
10 John Davis Template:Flagicon Reading 9.84

British League Knockout Cup

The 1977 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 39th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
18/05 Poole 41-37 Reading
25/04 Exeter 50-28 Swindon
25/04 Reading 43-35 Poole
15/04 Wolverhampton 51-27 Leicester
12/04 Leicester 40-38 Wolverhampton

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/07 Halifax 38-40 Reading
22/07 Wolverhampton 41-37 Kings Lynn
28/06 White City 51-27 Birmingham
20/06 Birmingham 34-44 White City
18/06 Coventry 57-21 Exeter
18/06 Kings Lynn 55-23 Wolverhampton
17/06 Bristol 56-22 Wimbledon
16/06 Wimbledon 48-30 Bristol
13/06 Exeter 38-40 Coventry
09/06 Sheffield 46-32 Hackney
08/06 Hull 46-32 Cradley Heath
11/06 Cradley Heath 42-36 Hull
03/06 Hackney 49-29 Sheffield
02/06 Ipswich 38-40 Belle Vue
30/05 Reading 53-25 Halifax

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
22/08 Reading 51-27 Belle Vue
08/08 White City 50-28 Coventry
06/08 Kings Lynn 42-36 Hackney
05/08 Bristol 52-26 Hull
03/08 Coventry 43-35 White City
03/08 Hull 49-29 Bristol
29/07 Hackney 34-44 Kings Lynn

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
14/10 Bristol 42-36 Reading
10/10 Reading 47-31 Bristol
24/09 Kings Lynn 44-34 White City
21/09 White City 42-34 Kings Lynn

Final

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King's Lynn Stars were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-77.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time, it was held at Hyde Road on 15 October and sponsored by Leyland Cars.[8]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Template:Flagicon Ole Olsen 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 Template:Flagicon Peter Collins 3 3 3 2 3 14
3 Template:Flagicon Michael Lee 3 2 2 3 3 13
4 Template:Flagicon Ivan Mauger 3 2 2 2 3 12
5 Template:Flagicon Ila Teromaa 2 3 1 3 2 11
6 Template:Flagicon Edward Jancarz 2 1 3 2 1 9
7 Template:Flagicon Jim McMillan 1 3 1 1 2 8
8 Template:Flagicon Doug Wyer 1 0 2 2 2 7
9 Template:Flagicon Bob Kilby 0 2 3 1 1 7
10 Template:Flagicon Dave Jessup 2 0 2 1 0 5
11 Template:Flagicon Phil Herne 1 1 0 3 0 5
12 Template:Flagicon Chris Pusey 0 2 1 0 1 4
13 Template:Flagicon Gordon Kennett 1 1 1 0 1 4
14 Template:Flagicon Ray Wilson 0 EF 0 1 2 3
15 Template:Flagicon Billy Sanders EF 1 0 0 0 1
16 Template:Flagicon Graham Drury 2 0 0 0 0 2
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Foxhall Stadium on 29 September and was won by Ipswich Witches for the second consecutive year.[9]

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Ipswich Witches 26 Billy Sanders 14, John Louis 12
2 King's Lynn Stars 23 Michael Lee 18, David Gagen 5
3 White City Rebels 20 Gordon Kennett 13, Steve Weatherley 7
4 Wolverhampton Wolves 17 Jim McMillan 10, Finn Thomsen 7
5 Reading Racers 17 Dave Jessup 10, John Davis 7
6 Belle Vue Aces 12 Alan Wilkinson 8, Chris Morton 4
7 Sheffield Tigers 11 Craig Pendlebury 6, Doug Wyer 5

Final leading averages

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Michael Lee Template:Flagicon King's Lynn 10.59
2 Ole Olsen Template:Flagicon Coventry 10.52
3 Ivan Mauger Template:Flagicon Exeter 10.50
4 Peter Collins Template:Flagicon Belle Vue 10.46
5 Gordon Kennett Template:Flagicon White City 10.41
6 Anders Michanek Template:Flagicon Cradley 10.35
7 Dave Jessup Template:Flagicon Reading 10.32
8 Malcolm Simmons Template:Flagicon Poole 10.27
9 Billy Sanders Template:Flagicon Ipswich 10.18
10 John Davis Template:Flagicon Reading 9.80

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.[10]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Birmingham Swindon 36–42, 26–52
Leicester Cradley 38–40, 31–47

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Coventry Swindon 54–24, 48–29
Cradley Wolverhampton 51–27, 38–40

Final

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Coventry won on aggregate 89–67

London Cup

White City Rebels won the London Cup. Two of their fixtures doubled up as League and Knockout Cup matches.[11]

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 White City 4 3 0 1 161 150 6
2 Wimbledon 4 2 1 1 170 141 5
3 Hackney 4 0 1 3 136 176 1

Results

Team Score Team
White City 42–36 Wimbledon
White City 46–32 Hackney
Wimbledon 51–27 Hackney
Wimbledon 44–33 White City
Hackney 38–40 White City
Hackney 39–39 Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

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Birmingham

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Bristol

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Coventry

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Cradley Heath

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Exeter

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Hackney

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Halifax

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Hull

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Ipswich

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King's Lynn

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  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Michael Lee 10.59
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Terry Betts 9.78
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Ian Turner 7.36
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". David Gagen 5.93
  • SwedenScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Richard Hellsen 5.17
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Carl Glover 4.48
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Paul Tyrer 4.07
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Billy Spiers 3.25
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Billy Burton 2.17

Leicester

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Poole

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Reading

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Sheffield

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  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Doug Wyer 9.15
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Reg Wilson 8.84
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Craig Pendlebury 6.56
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Arnold Haley 5.43
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Keith Evans 5.05
  • AustraliaScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Tony Boyle 4.31
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Carl Glover 3.95
  • EnglandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Billy Burton 3.25

Swindon

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White City

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Wimbledon

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Wolverhampton

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See also

References

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