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1977 British League season

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]

1977 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors19
ChampionsWhite City Rebels
Knockout CupKing's Lynn Stars
IndividualOle Olsen
PairsIpswich Witches
Midland CupCoventry Bees
London CupWhite City Rebels
Highest averageMichael Lee
Division/s below1977 National League

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

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1White City Rebels36271855
2Exeter Falcons36253853
3Reading Racers36253853
4Ipswich Witches362511051
5Belle Vue Aces361931441
6King's Lynn Stars361921540
7Cradley Heathens362001640
8Coventry Bees361911639
9Wimbledon Dons361721736
10Poole Pirates361721736
11Swindon Robins361711835
12Bristol Bulldogs361701934
13Sheffield Tigers361621834
14Hull Vikings361502130
15Wolverhampton Wolves361402228
16Hackney Hawks361312227
17Halifax Dukes361202424
18Birmingham Brummies36802816
19Leicester Lions36603012

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Michael Lee King's Lynn10.64
2Ivan Mauger Exeter10.62
3Peter Collins Belle Vue10.49
4Gordon Kennett White City10.41
5Ole Olsen Coventry10.40
6Billy Sanders Ipswich10.39
7Anders Michanek Cradley10.35
8Dave Jessup Reading10.27
9Malcolm Simmons Poole10.22
10John Davis Reading9.84

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

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
18/05Poole41-37Reading
25/04Exeter50-28Swindon
25/04Reading43-35Poole
15/04Wolverhampton51-27Leicester
12/04Leicester40-38Wolverhampton

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
23/07Halifax38-40Reading
22/07Wolverhampton41-37Kings Lynn
28/06White City51-27Birmingham
20/06Birmingham34-44White City
18/06Coventry57-21Exeter
18/06Kings Lynn55-23Wolverhampton
17/06Bristol56-22Wimbledon
16/06Wimbledon48-30Bristol
13/06Exeter38-40Coventry
09/06Sheffield46-32Hackney
08/06Hull46-32Cradley Heath
11/06Cradley Heath42-36Hull
03/06Hackney49-29Sheffield
02/06Ipswich38-40Belle Vue
30/05Reading53-25Halifax

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
22/08Reading51-27Belle Vue
08/08White City50-28Coventry
06/08Kings Lynn42-36Hackney
05/08Bristol52-26Hull
03/08Coventry43-35White City
03/08Hull49-29Bristol
29/07Hackney34-44Kings Lynn

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
14/10Bristol42-36Reading
10/10Reading47-31Bristol
24/09Kings Lynn44-34White City
21/09White City42-34Kings Lynn

Final

First leg

Reading Racers
John Davis 10
Dave Jessup 8
Hans Wassermann 7
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
Bob Humphreys 3
Ian Gledhill 2		40 - 38King's Lynn Stars
Michael Lee 15
Terry Betts 12
Carl Glover 5
Ian Turner 5
Richard Hellsen 1
Billy Spiers 0
David Gagen 0
[8]

Second leg

King's Lynn Stars
Terry Betts 10
Michael Lee 7
Richard Hellsen 7
David Gagen 6
Ian Turner 6
Billy Spiers 3
Carl Glover 2		41 - 37Reading Racers
Dave Jessup 15
John Davis 8
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
Bob Humphreys 3
Hans Wassermann 1
Ian Gledhill 0
[8]

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.[9]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Ole Olsen3333315
2 Peter Collins3332314
3 Michael Lee3223313
4 Ivan Mauger3222312
5 Ila Teromaa2313211
6 Edward Jancarz213219
7 Jim McMillan131128
8 Doug Wyer102227
9 Bob Kilby023117
10 Dave Jessup202105
11 Phil Herne110305
12 Chris Pusey021014
13 Gordon Kennett111014
14 Ray Wilson0EF0123
15 Billy SandersEF10001
16 Graham Drury200002
  • 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.[10]

PosTeamPtsRiders
1Ipswich Witches26Billy Sanders 14, John Louis 12
2King's Lynn Stars23Michael Lee 18, David Gagen 5
3White City Rebels20Gordon Kennett 13, Steve Weatherley 7
4Wolverhampton Wolves17Jim McMillan 10, Finn Thomsen 7
5Reading Racers17Dave Jessup 10, John Davis 7
6Belle Vue Aces12Alan Wilkinson 8, Chris Morton 4
7Sheffield Tigers11Craig Pendlebury 6, Doug Wyer 5

Final leading averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Michael Lee King's Lynn10.59
2Ole Olsen Coventry10.52
3Ivan Mauger Exeter10.50
4Peter Collins Belle Vue10.46
5Gordon Kennett White City10.41
6Anders Michanek Cradley10.35
7Dave Jessup Reading10.32
8Malcolm Simmons Poole10.27
9Billy Sanders Ipswich10.18
10John Davis Reading9.80

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.[11]

First round

Team oneTeam twoScore
BirminghamSwindon36–42, 26–52
LeicesterCradley38–40, 31–47

Semi final round

Team oneTeam twoScore
CoventrySwindon54–24, 48–29
CradleyWolverhampton51–27, 38–40

Final

First leg

Coventry
Mitch Shirra 11
Ole Olsen 10
Tommy Nilsson 8
Mick Bell 6
Alan Molyneux 5
Frank Smith 4
Alf Busk 3		47–31Cradley Heath
Bruce Cribb 11
Bob Valentine 8
Steve Bastable 5
Larry Ross (guest) 4
Arthur Price 2
Dave Perks 1
Anders Michanek r/r

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Bruce Cribb 12
Steve Bastable 6
Bob Valentine 5
Les Collins (guest) 5
Arthur Price 4
Dave Perks 4
Bernt Persson r/r		36–42Coventry
Mitch Shirra 13
Ole Olsen 12
Alan Molyneux 9
Tommy Nilsson 6
Mick Bell 1
Alf Busk 1
Frank Smith 0

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.[12]

PosTeamPWDLFAPts
1White City43011611506
2Wimbledon42111701415
3Hackney40131361761

Results

TeamScoreTeam
White City42–36Wimbledon
White City46–32Hackney
Wimbledon51–27Hackney
Wimbledon44–33White City
Hackney38–40White City
Hackney39–39Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bristol

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

White City

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

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