1991 British League season

The 1991 British League season was the 57th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 27th known as the British League.[1][2]

1991 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors13
ChampionsWolverhampton Wolves
Knockout CupBradford Dukes
IndividualSam Ermolenko
Highest averageSam Ermolenko
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

Summary

Wolverhampton Wolves won the league for the first time in their history. The club which was first founded in 1928 had only ever won the Provincial Midland League in 1962 and the Provincial League in 1963. They were led by their American star Sam Ermolenko, who became the first rider to push Hans Nielsen from the top of the averages after eight consecutive years at the top. The Wolves team relied on two more American riders, Ronnie Correy and Sam's younger brother Charles Ermolenko, in addition to Englishman Graham Jones to seal the title from Bradford. Bradford gained consolation by winning the Knockout Cup, led by English international pair Simon Wigg and Gary Havelock.[3][4]

Wimbledon Dons started the season but only ran until June before withdrawing from the league. Eastbourne Eagles stepped in to replace Wimbledon and complete the Wimbledon fixtures for the remainder of the season.[5]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 19 1 4 10 49
2 Bradford Dukes 24 15 4 5 9 43
3 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 15 1 8 10 41
4 Belle Vue Aces 24 12 3 9 6 33
5 Berwick Bandits 24 13 0 11 6 32
6 Ipswich Witches 24 12 1 11 7 32
7 Coventry Bees 24 12 0 12 6 30
8 King's Lynn Stars 24 12 1 11 5 30
9 Oxford Cheetahs 24 8 3 13 6 25
10 Poole Pirates 24 8 2 14 5 23
11 Reading Racers 24 9 0 15 3 21
12 Eastbourne Eagles 24 6 3 15 3 18
13 Swindon Robins 24 5 1 18 2 13

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1991 British League Knockout Cup was the 53rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Bradford Dukes were the winners.[6][4]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/05Cradley Heath50-39Ipswich
22/05Wimbledon52-38Kings Lynn
20/05Reading48-42Poole
16/05Ipswich46-44Cradley Heath
13/05Wolverhampton50-40Oxford
10/05Oxford49-41Wolverhampton
30/04Poole47-43Reading
27/04Kings Lynn40-50Wimbledon
27/04Swindon46-44Belle Vue
26/04Belle Vue55-35Swindon
26/04Berwick47-43Coventry
20/04Coventry46-44Berwick

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
07/09Cradley Heath50-39Reading
02/09Reading46-43Cradley Heath
02/08Berwick43-47Bradford
02/08Eastbourne50-40Reading
16/07Bradford50-40Berwick
01/07Reading56-34Eastbourne
14/06Belle Vue44-46Wolverhampton
10/06Wolverhampton42.5-47.5Belle Vue

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
02/09Reading46-43Cradley
07/09Cradley50-39Reading
05/10Bradford56-34Belle Vue
11/10Belle Vue51-39Bradford

Final

First leg

Bradford Dukes
Simon Wigg 14
Gary Havelock 10
Glenn Doyle 10
Craig Hodgson 8
Paul Thorp 7
Sean Wilson 1
Michael Graves 0		50 - 40Cradley Heath
Jan O. Pedersen 10
Billy Hamill 8
Alan Grahame 7
Simon Cross 7
Greg Hancock 3
Scott Smith 3
Wayne Garratt 2

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Jan O. Pedersen 11
Billy Hamill 10
Greg Hancock 9
Wayne Garratt 6
Simon Cross 5
Alan Grahame 2
Scott Smith 0		43 - 47Bradford Dukes
Simon Wigg 14
Gary Havelock 10
Paul Thorp 8
Glenn Doyle 5
Michael Graves 4
Craig Hodgson 3
Sean Wilson 3

Bradford Dukes were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 97-83.

Riders' Championship

Sam Ermolenko won the British League Riders' Championship, sponsored by Dunlop Tyres. It was the held at Odsal Stadium on 20 October.[7]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Sam Ermolenko3 3 3 3 315
2 Hans Nielsen3 3 3 3 214
3 Joe Screen2 3 2 2 312
4 Ronnie Correy3 1 3 2 211
5 Kelvin Tatum1 3 3 2 110
6 Marvyn Cox0 2 2 3 310
7 Jan Staechmann2 2 2 1 29
8 Gary Havelock2 2 0 3 18
9 Jan O. Pedersen3 1 0 0 37
10 Henka Gustafsson1 0 1 2 15
11 Dave Bargh2 1 1 0 04
12 Les Collins0 2 0 1 14
13 Leigh Adams1 0 0 0 23
14 Alan Grahame0 1 2 0 03
15 Shane Parker1 0 1 1 03
16 Tommy Knudsen0 0 1 1 02
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Leading final averages
Rider Team Average
Sam ErmolenkoWolverhampton10.74
Hans NielsenOxford10.50
Kelvin TatumBerwick9.92
Gary HavelockBradford9.89
Jimmy NilsenBerwick9.63
Ronnie CorreyWolverhampton9.58
Jan O. PedersenCradley Heath9.54
Andy GrahameEastbourne9.44
Martin DugardOxford9.12
Henrik GustafssonKings Lynn9.06

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Berwick

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne/Wimbledon

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Poole

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. "1991 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. "1991 Season Review". Cradley Speedway.
  5. "1991 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  6. "1991 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. "Speedway". Nottingham Evening Post. 21 October 1991. Retrieved 6 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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