1971 British League season

1971 British League season
League	British League
No. of competitors	19
Champions	Belle Vue Aces
Knockout Cup	Hackney Hawks
Individual	Ivan Mauger
London Cup	Hackney Hawks
Midland Cup	Coventry Bees
Highest average	Ivan Mauger
Division/s below	British League (Div 2)
	← 1970; 1972 →;

The 1971 British League season was the 37th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh season known as the British League.^[1]^[2]

Summary

Reading Racers moved up from Division 2 and Newcastle Diamonds dropped out.^[3] Belle Vue Aces retained their title to become the first team to win the title for the second time. The team included three time world champion Ivan Mauger, Swedish international Sören Sjösten, Tommy Roper, Eric Broadbelt, Chris Pusey and a 17 year old Peter Collins in his debut season.^[4]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Belle Vue Aces	36	25	1	10	51
2	Leicester Lions	36	22	3	11	47
3	Coventry Bees	36	23	0	13	46
4	Sheffield Tigers	36	21	1	14	43
5	Swindon Robins	36	19	3	14	40
6	Reading Racers	36	18	4	14	41
7	Hackney Hawks	36	17	4	15	38
8	Newport Wasps	36	19	0	17	37
9	Wembley Lions	36	17	3	16	37
10	Wimbledon Dons	36	18	1	17	36
11	Poole Pirates	36	17	2	17	35
12	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	17	1	18	34
13	King's Lynn Stars	36	16	2	18	34
14	Halifax Dukes	36	16	2	18	32
15	Exeter Falcons	36	16	0	20	31
16	Glasgow Tigers	36	15	1	20	25
17	Oxford Cheetahs	36	12	1	23	20
18	Cradley Heath Heathens	36	8	4	24	20
19	West Ham Hammers	36	9	1	26	19

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	11.42
2	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.97
3	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	10.96
4	Jim Airey		Sheffield	10.70
5	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.64
6	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	10.21
7	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.14
8	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.03
9	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	9.95
10	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.93

British League Knockout Cup

The 1971 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 33rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Hackney were the winners.^[5]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
08/05	Halifax	49-29	West Ham
08/05	Swindon	43-35	Wimbledon
06/05	Oxford	46-32	Poole

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/06	Wolverhampton	43-35	Belle Vue
21/06	Reading	38-40	Cradley Heath
17/06	Oxford	39-38	Exeter
12/06	King's Lynn	46-32	Newport
11/06	Glasgow	43-34	Leicester
10/06	Sheffield	48-30	Wembley
05/06	Halifax	42-36	Coventry
05/06	Swindon	36-42	Hackney

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
14/08	Halifax	43-35	Sheffield
06/08	Wolverhampton	45-32	Oxford
31/07	King's Lynn	39-39	Hackney
31/07	Cradley Heath	40-38	Glasgow
03/09	Hackney	49-29	King's Lynn

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
17/09	Hackney	50-27	Halifax
06/09	Cradley Heath	50-28	Wolverhampton

Final

First leg

4 October 1971

Cradley Heath Bernt Persson 11 Bob Andrews 9 Mick Handley 7 Pete Jarman 6 John Hart 5 Roy Trigg 3 Cyril Francis 0	41 - 37	Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 10 Barry Thomas 8 Hugh Saunders 8 Garry Middleton 7 Laurie Etheridge 2 Geoff Maloney 1 Eddie Reeves 1
	^[6]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Second leg

8 October 1971

Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Garry Middleton 10 Barry Thomas 9 Dave Kennett 9 Hugh Saunders 6 Eddie Reeves 3 Laurie Etheridge 2	51 - 27	Cradley Heath Howard Cole (guest) 13 Bob Andrews 5 Roy Trigg 3 John Hart 3 Pete Jarman 2 Mick Handley 1 Ralph Waller 0
	^[6]

Hackney Wick Stadium

Hackney Hawks were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 88-68.

Riders' Championship

Ivan Mauger won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.^[7]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ivan Mauger	33332	14
2	Barry Briggs	22323	12
3	Jim McMillan	13233	12
4	Bob Kilby	30223	10
5	Nigel Boocock	32130	9
6	Eric Boocock	22113	9
7	Ole Olsen	332ffx	8
8	Christer Löfqvist	21032	8
9	Jim Airey	11311	7
10	Ray Wilson	1311f	6
11	Reidar Eide	02301	6
12	Anders Michanek	21002	5
13	Ronnie Moore	01220	5
14	Sándor Lévai	00121	4
15	Terry Betts	00011	2
16	Bert Harkins (res)	2----	2
17	Bengt Jansson	10000	1

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

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger		Belle Vue	11.33
2	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	10.99
3	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.94
4	Jim Airey		Sheffield	10.74
5	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.67
6	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	10.26
7	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.19
8	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.05
9	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	9.95
10	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.89
11	Martin Ashby		Swindon	9.76
12	Bernt Persson		Cradley Heath	9.68
13	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	9.62
14	Malcolm Simmons		King's Lynn	9.22
15	Trevor Hedge		Wimbledon	9.18
16	Jim McMillan		Glasgow	9.18
17	Sören Sjösten		Belle Vue	9.11
18	Reidar Eide		Poole	9.10
19	Göte Nordin		Wembley	9.04
20	John Boulger		Leicester	8.99

London Cup

Hackney won the London Cup for only the second time, after previously winning it back in 1936.^[8]

Pos	Team	P	W	L	F	A	Pts
1	Hackney Hawks	4	4	0	177	135	8
2	West Ham Hammers	4	1	3	156	156	2
3	Wimbledon Dons	4	1	3	135	177	2

Results

Team	Score	Team
Hackney	40–38	West Ham
West Ham	45–33	Wimbledon
Hackney	53–25	Wimbledon
Wimbledon	41–37	West Ham
West Ham	36–42	Hackney
Wimbledon	36–42	Hackney

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.^[9]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Wolverhampton	Swindon	41–36, 41–35
Oxford	Cradley	38–40, 33–45

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Wolverhampton	41–37, 42–36
Cradley	Coventry	33–45, 27–51

Final

First leg

9 October 1971

Coventry Tony Lomas 11 Nigel Boocock 10 Ron Mountford 7 Jan Simensen 7 John Haarhy 5 Roger Hill 4 Les Owen 1	45–33	Leicester Ray Wilson 12 John Boulger 11 Alan Cowland 3 Graham Plant 2 Norman Storer 2 Tom Leadbitter 2 Malcolm Brown 1

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

12 October 1971

Leicester John Boulger 12 Ray Wilson 8 Graham Plant 6 Malcolm Shakespeare 6 Norman Storer 5 Alan Cowland 4 Malcolm Brown 0	41–37	Coventry Tony Lomas 8 Ron Mountford 8 Jan Simensen 8 Nigel Boocock 5 Roger Hill 5 Les Owen 3 John Haarhy 0

Leicester Stadium

Coventry won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Bernt Persson 9.68
Bob Andrews 7.73
Roy Trigg 7.25
Mick Handley 6.00
Pete Jarman 5.57
Jimmy Squibb 4.66
John Hart 4.25
Barry Duke 3.60
Bengt Andersson 2.10
Richard Eslick 1.54

Exeter

Bruce Cribb 8.92
Bob Kilby 8.87
Peter Ingram 6.42
Wayne Briggs 5.94
Chris Julian 5.28
Tommy Bergqvist 5.10
Phil Woodcock 4.42
Bob Coles 4.10

Glasgow

Jimmy McMillan 9.18
George Hunter 8.29
Bobby Beaton 7.27
Charlie Monk 6.99
Willie Templeton 4.80
Doug Templeton 4.69
Bill McMillan 3.46

Hackney

Bengt Jansson 10.26
Garry Middleton 8.97
Barry Thomas 7.28
Laurie Etheridge 5.44
Hugh Saunders 4.88
Eddie Reeves 4.81
Dave Kennett 4.65
Geoff Maloney 4.49
Graham Miles 4.36
Preben Rosenkilde 4.00

Halifax

Eric Boocock 10.19
Dave Younghusband 8.80
Alan Jay 6.11
Greg Kentwell 6.09
Paul O'Neal 5.01
Malcolm MacKay 4.56
Mike Hiftle 4.46
Chris Bailey 4.24
Terry Lee 3.75

King's Lynn

Terry Betts 9.62
Malcolm Simmons 9.22
Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 8.11
Clive Featherby 5.49
Ian Turner 5.15
Barry Crowson 4.93
Bob Humphreys 4.38
Jim Ryman 3.91
Arthur Price 3.79

Leicester

Newport

Sándor Lévai 8.76
Tommy Johansson 8.03
Edgar Stangeland 7.87
Bill Andrew 7.24
Ted Laessing 4.84
Bob Hughes 4.53
Bengt Brannefors 4.42
Ronnie Genz 4.38
Dave O'Connor 2.11

Oxford

Poole

Reidar Eide 9.10
Odd Fossengen 7.76
Pete Smith 7.76
Bo Wirebrand 6.03
John Langfield 6.01
Mike Cake 4.93
Derek Cook 3.14

Reading

Anders Michanek 10.05
Dag Lövaas 7.74
Geoff Mudge 7.23
Geoff Curtis 6.74
Richard May 6.13
Mick Bell 5.25
Bernie Leigh 4.75
Josef Angermüller 3.30

Sheffield

Jim Airey 10.74
Arnold Haley 7.58
Bengt Larsson 7.04
Bob Paulson 6.60
Bob Valentine 6.03
Doug Wyer 5.92
Reg Wilson 5.11
Brian Maxted 4.60

Swindon

Barry Briggs 10.67
Martin Ashby 9.76
Mike Keen 6.63
Mike Broadbank 4.98
Clive Hitch 4.78
Jimmy Gallacher 3.80
Pete Munday 3.79
James Bond 3.43

Wembley

West Ham

Christer Löfqvist 8.73
Olle Nygren 8.14
Reg Luckhurst 6.51
Preben Rosenkilde 4.93
Barry Duke 4.44
Mick Handley 3.82
Alan Bellham 3.66
Alan Sage 3.13
Stan Stevens 2.98

Wimbledon

Ronnie Moore 9.89
Trevor Hedge 9.18
Cyril Maidment 6.25
John Dews 5.31
Jim Tebby 5.13
Peter Murray 4.69
John Bishop 4.19

Wolverhampton

Ole Olsen 10.99
Norman Hunter 7.61
Gary Peterson 6.87
Dave Baugh 6.56
Jon Erskine 5.06
Bill Powell .4.97
Geoff Ambrose 4.80
Niels Weiss 4.75
Bengt Brannefors 3.43
George Devonport 2.67

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Search

1971 British League season

Contents

Summary

Final table

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

British League Knockout Cup

Final

Riders' Championship

Final leading averages

London Cup

Midland Cup

Final

Riders & final averages

See also

References