1970 British League season

The 1970 British League season was the 36th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the sixth season known as the British League.[1][2]

1970 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors19
ChampionsBelle Vue Aces
Knockout CupWimbledon Dons
IndividualBarry Briggs
London CupWimbledon Dons
Midland CupCoventry Bees
Highest averageIvan Mauger
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

Summary

Wembley Lions under the promotion of Trevor Redmond and Bernard Cottrel entered the British league having bought the licence - and inherited the riders - from the Coatbridge Monarchs.[3] It was the first time since 1956 that Wembley would compete in the league.[4]

Belle Vue Aces secured their first British League title. The Manchester team were once again led by the brilliant Ivan Mauger who would secure a third consecutive world champion title before the end of the season. He topped the averages with 11.18 as the team finished ten points ahead of their nearest rivals Wimbledon Dons. The Dons found some consolation when winning their third consecutive British League Knockout Cup.[5]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Belle Vue Aces 36 27 2 7 56
2 Wimbledon Dons 36 22 2 12 46
3 Coventry Bees 36 22 1 13 45
4 Leicester Lions 36 21 0 15 42
5 Poole Pirates 36 20 0 16 40
6 Halifax Dukes 36 19 1 16 39
7 Sheffield Tigers 36 18 3 15 39
8 Glasgow Tigers 36 18 1 17 37
9 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 16 2 18 34
10 Exeter Falcons 36 16 1 19 34
11 Hackney Hawks 36 15 2 19 33
12 King's Lynn Stars 36 16 0 20 32
13 Oxford Cheetahs 36 16 0 20 32
14 Wembley Lions 36 15 2 19 32
15 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 15 1 20 31
16 Swindon Robins 36 14 2 20 30
17 Newcastle Diamonds 36 15 0 21 30
18 West Ham Hammers 36 14 2 20 30
19 Newport Wasps 36 12 0 24 24

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.23
2 Anders Michanek Newcastle 10.91
3 Jim Airey Sheffield 10.82
4 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.77
5 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.67
6 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.59
7 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.56
8 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.27
9 Jim McMillan Glasgow 10.26
10 Martin Ashby Exeter 10.14

British League Knockout Cup

The 1970 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 32nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon Dons were the winners for the third consecutive year.[6] It was the first time that the competition was sponsored by the Speedway Star.

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/04Wimbledon44-34Hackney
21/04Exeter51-27King's Lynn
21/04West Ham29-49Belle Vue

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
06/06Halifax43-35Coventry
06/06Swindon44-34Wolverhampton
05/06Newport35-43Leicester
01/06Newcastle41-37Wembley
28/05Oxford38-40Poole
28/05Sheffield44-34Glasgow
28/05Wimbledon49-29Cradley Heath
23/05Belle Vue49-29Exeter
07/05Romford48-30Reading

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
25/07Belle Vue56-22Poole
22/07Swindon46-32Leicester
02/07Sheffield41-37Halifax
25/06Wimbledon46-32Newcastle

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
24/09Wimbledon44-34Swindon
23/09Belle Vue40-38Sheffield

Final

First leg

Wimbledon Dons
Trevor Hedge 12
Ronnie Moore 11
Cyril Maidment 6
Jim Tebby 6
Reg Luckhurst 5
Bob Dugard 4
Peter Murray 4		46 - 31Belle Vue Aces
Tommy Roper 10
Ivan Mauger 8
Chris Pusey 6
Sören Sjösten 4
Ken Eyre 2
Steve Waplington 1
Mike Hiftle 0
[7]

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces
Ivan Mauger 12
Sören Sjösten 10
Tommy Roper 6
Mike Hiftle 6
Dave Hemus 4
Chris Pusey 3
Ken Eyre 3		44 - 34Wimbledon Dons
Ronnie Moore 13
Trevor Hedge 10
Reg Luckhurst 5
Cyril Maidment 2
Jim Tebby 2
Bob Dugard 1
Peter Murray 1
[7]

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 80-75.

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the sixth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 17 October. He won a three way run off for the title.[8]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Barry Briggs3 3 1 3 313+3
2 Anders Michanek3 2 3 3 213+2
3 Eric Boocock2 3 2 3 313+1
4 Ronnie Moore3 2 3 3 112
5 Ivan Mauger3 1 3 ex 310
6 Nigel Boocock2 3 1 2 210
7 Jim Airey2 3 2 1 19
8 Martin Ashby0 1 1 2 37
9 Reidar Eide2 1 2 1 17
10 Ray Wilson0 2 0 2 15
11 Bernt Persson1 1 0 1 25
12 Ole Olsen1 2 2 0 05
13 Terry Betts0 0 0 2 24
14 Charlie Monk1 0 3 0 04
15 Olle Nygren0 0 1 0 01
16 Hasse Holmqvist1 0 0 0 01
17 Sándor Lévai (res)1 - - - -1
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.18
2 Anders Michanek Newcastle 10.88
3 Jim Airey Sheffield 10.86
4 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.80
5 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.66
6 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.54
7 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.53
8 Jim McMillan Glasgow 10.27
9 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.25
10 Martin Ashby Exeter 10.09
11 Trevor Hedge Wimbledon 9.97
12 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 9.95
13 Bob Kilby Swindon 9.68
14 Sören Sjösten Belle Vue 9.66
15 Bengt Jansson Hackney 9.49
16 Bruce Cribb Exeter 9.47
17 Olle Nygren West Ham 9.36
18 John Boulger Leicester 9.34
19 Bernt Persson Cradley Heath 9.29
20 Terry Betts King's Lynn 922

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup for the third consecutive year.[9]

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1Wimbledon Dons43011781336
2Hackney Hawks42021741384
3West Ham Hammers41031291822

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney56–22West Ham
Hackney37–41Wimbledon
West Ham33–45Hackney
West Ham32–46Wimbledon
Wimbledon35–42West Ham
Wimbledon42–36Hackney

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.[10]

First round

Team one Team two Score
WolverhamptonCradley42–36, 35–43
OxfordSwindon37–41, 32–46

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
CradleyCoventry43–35, 29–49
SwindonLeicester36–41, 33–45

Final

First leg

Coventry
Nigel Boocock 10
Ken McKinlay 9
Rick France 9
Col Cottrell 8
Les Owen 6
Roger Hill 2
Tony Lomas 2		46–32Leicester
Ray Wilson 10
John Boulger 9
Graham Plant 6
John Hart 6
Norman Storer 1
Malcolm Brown 0
Alan Cowland 0

Second leg

Leicester
John Boulger 12
Ray Wilson 11
Graham Plant 6
John Hart 5
Malcolm Brown 4
Norman Storer 3
Alan Cowland 0		41–37Coventry
Tony Lomas 10
Ken McKinlay 8
Nigel Boocock 7
Les Owen 5
Col Cottrell 5
Roger Hill 2
John Harrhy 0

Coventry won on aggregate 83–73

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Halifax

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

  • Barry Briggs 10.53
  • Bob Kilby 9.68
  • Clive Hitch 5.58
  • Barry Duke 5.26
  • Pete Munday 4.57
  • Mike Keen 4.34
  • John Bishop 3.45

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. Jacobs, Norman (2001). Speedway in London. ISBN 0-7524-2221-9
  5. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  6. "1970 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. "Season 1970" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  8. "Briggs keeps the Crown". Sunday Mirror. 18 October 1970. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Wimbledon 1970" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  10. "Boulger on form for Lions". Nottingham Evening Post. 14 October 1970. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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