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1966 British League season

British speedway season

Field	Value
competition	British League
season	1966
competitors	19
domesticcup1	Champions
domesticcup1 winners	Halifax Dukes
domesticcup2	Knockout Cup
domesticcup2 winners	Halifax Dukes
domesticcup3	Individual
domesticcup3 winners	Barry Briggs
domesticcup4	London Cup
domesticcup4 winners	West Ham Hammers
domesticcup5	Midland Cup
domesticcup5 winners	Coventry Bees
domesticcup6	Northern Cup
domesticcup6 winners	Halifax Dukes
highest average	Barry Briggs
prevseason	1965
nextseason	1967

The 1966 British League season was the 32nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second season known as the British League. Halifax Dukes won the league and then secured the league and cup double.

Summary

The League expanded to 19, with a new team, the King's Lynn Stars. Halifax Dukes won the league after 36 games and finished three points clear of Coventry Bees. The Halifax team success was due to the consistency of their riders, in particular Eric Boocock, Eric Boothroyd, Dave Younghusband and Tommy Roper who all scored heavily throughout the season. Halifax also completed the double winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final, they easily beat Wimbledon Dons.

The four times world champion Barry Briggs topped the averages for Swindon Robins during the same season in which he sealed his fourth world title. The dangers of speedway were highlighted once again however when Welshman Ivor Hughes was killed during the league match riding for Cradley Heath Heathens against Sheffield Tigers on 20 August.

Coventry won the Midland Cup, West Ham the London Cup and Halifax Dukes the Northern Cup.

Final table

M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Halifax Dukes	36	27	0	9	1574
2	Coventry Bees	36	25	1	10	1548
3	Swindon Robins	36	23	0	13	1553
4	Wimbledon Dons	36	22	0	14	1485
5	Newcastle Diamonds	36	20	0	16	1491.5
6	Poole Pirates	36	19	2	15	1443
7	West Ham Hammers	36	19	1	10	1499.5
8	Glasgow Tigers	36	18	0	18	1395
9	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	17	2	17	1340.5
10	Exeter Falcons	36	17	1	18	1392.5
11	Sheffield Tigers	36	17	0	19	1410
12	Edinburgh Monarchs	35	17	0	18	1310.5
13	Belle Vue Aces	36	16	0	20	1362
14	Hackney Hawks	36	15	1	20	1347.5
15	Oxford Cheetahs	36	14	2	20	1291
16	King's Lynn Stars	36	15	0	21	1275
17	Newport Wasps	36	12	1	23	1319
18	Long Eaton Archers	36	12	1	23	1286
19	Cradley Heath Heathens	35	10	0	25	1196

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

Fixtures & results

Top ten riders (league averages)

Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
	1	Barry Briggs	NZL	Swindon
2	Nigel Boocock	ENG	Coventry
3	Gote Nordin	SWE	Newport
4	Eric Boocock	ENG	Halifax
5	Olle Nygren	SWE	Wimbledon
6	Colin Pratt	ENG	Hackney
7	Ken McKinlay	SCO	West Ham
8	Mike Broadbank	ENG	Swindon
9	Sverre Harrfeldt	NOR	West Ham
10	Trevor Hedge	ENG	Wimbledon

Knockout Cup

Halifax Dukes won the Knockout Cup and therefore secured the league and cup double. Main article: British League Knockout Cup 1966

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the second consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 22 October.

Pos.		width=200px	Rider		width=70px	Heat Scores		width=50px	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

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

London Cup

West Ham successfully defended their London Cup title but once again there were just three teams competing.

Pos	Team	P	W	L	F	A	Pts
1	West Ham Hammers	4	3	1	216	168	6
2	Wimbledon Dons	4	3	1	192.5	191.5	6
3	Hackney Hawks	4	0	4	167.5	216.5	0

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams.

Midland Cup (group 1)

M	W	D	L
1	Wolverhampton	4	3
2	Swindon	4	2
3	Cradley Heath	4	1

Midland Cup (group 2)

M	W	D	L
1	Coventry	4	3
2	Oxford	4	3
3	Long Eaton	4	0

Final

First leg Peter Vandenberg 10 Gordon Guasco 9 Cyril Francis 7 Brian Maxted 6 Alan Cowland 5 Dave Hemus 2 Pete Jarman 1 Nigel Boocock 14 Rick France 13 Col Cottrell 5 Jim Lightfoot 5 Roger Hill 1 Chris Harrison 1 Tom Ridley 0 Ron Mountford r/r

Second leg Col Cottrell 12 Jim Lightfoot 12 Rick France 9 Nigel Boocock 8 Les Owen 6 Roger Hill 2 Chris Harrison 0 Ron Mountford r/r Gordon Guasco 8 Brian Maxted 6 Peter Vandenberg 5 Dave Hemus 4 Cyril Francis 4 Alan Cowland 2 Pete Jarman 0

Coventry won on aggregate 88–68

Northern Cup

Due to the late entry of Edinburgh and Glasgow, several British league results doubled for the Northern Cup.

M	W	L	Pts	BP	Total
1	Halifax	10	7	3	7
2	Sheffield	10	6	4	6
3	Newcastle	10	5	5	5
4	Glasgow	9	5	4	5
5	Edinburgh	9	3	6	4
5	Middlesbrough	8	2	6	2

Final leading averages

Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Barry Briggs	NZL	Swindon
2	Nigel Boocock	ENG	Coventry
3	Eric Boocock	ENG	Halifax
4	Göte Nordin	SWE	Newport
5	Olle Nygren	SWE	Wimbledon
6	Colin Pratt	ENG	Hackney
7	Sverre Harrfeldt	NOR	West Ham
8	Ivan Mauger	NZL	Newcastle
9	Ken McKinlay	SCO	West Ham
10	Mike Broadbank	ENG	Swindon
11	Trevor Hedge	ENG	Wimbledon
12	Cyril Maidment	ENG	Belle Vue
13	Arne Pander	DEN	Oxford
14	Norman Hunter	ENG	West Ham
15	Terry Betts	ENG	King's Lynn
16	Trevor Hedge	ENG	Wimbledon
17	Eric Boothroyd	ENG	Halifax
18	Ron Mountford	ENG	Coventry
19	Charlie Monk	AUS	Glasgow
20	Rick France	ENG	Coventry

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue

9.55
7.79
7.54
5.86
5.35
5.01
4.27
0.36

Coventry

10.54
9.29
9.22
8.81
5.52
4.31
3.06
2.74
2.12

Cradley Heath

7.88
6.51
6.32
6.10
5.65
(Kid Brodie) 5.48
3.64
3.58
2.40
2.33
2.00

Edinburgh

8.17
7.65
7.42
5.83
5.27
5.20
4.81
4.55

Exeter

9.11
8.23
7.32
6.61
6.23
5.37
4.80
4.77
2.40

Glasgow

9.27
7.47
7.06
6.75
6.35
5.30
4.95
3.54

Hackney

10.00
8.63
6.81
5.40
5.25
4.58
3.44
2.86
2.00

Halifax

10.46
9.29
8.82
7.54
6.00
5.38
4.98
4.00
2.33

King's Lynn

9.41
9.18
6.20
4.90
4.73
3.75
3.55
2.61
2.61
2.17

Long Eaton

9.64
8.63
7.68
6.72
5.14
4.97
4.96
4.44
4.12
4.00

Newcastle

9.82
8.05
7.74
6.37
6.11
5.82
4.57
5.20

Newport

10.44
7.23
6.03
5.54
5.43
5.34
4.75
3.68

Oxford

9.53
8.14
5.96
5.86
5.04
4.10
3.93
1.00

Poole

9.12
8.83
8.22
6.18
5.76
5.48
5.43
4.20

Sheffield

8.12
7.81
7.27
7.16
6.86
5.93
5.70
5.68
4.82

Swindon

11.12
9.60
9.01
5.88
5.67
5.29
4.48
2.48

West Ham

9.89
9.67
9.42
6.14
5.89
4.30
3.53
3.00
2.32

Wimbledon

10.40
9.39
8.68
6.95
3.97
3.23
3.20
2.88

Wolverhampton

8.67
7.77
6.57
5.47
5.46
5.46
5.31
5.14

References

"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
Rogers, Martin. (1978). "The Illustrated History of Speedway". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
"HISTORY ARCHIVE".
"Ivor Hughes".
(7 October 1966). "No Cup if Dukes win title". Halifax Evening Courier.
(22 October 1966). "Final tables". Bristol Evening Post.
"1966 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
"HALIFAX DUKES".
(24 October 1966). "Briggs keeps rider's title despite rain". Coventry Evening Telegraph.
"West Ham Hammers 1966".
"1966 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
(20 September 1966). "Coventry Win Midland Cup". Birmingham Daily Post.
"1966 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
"1966 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
(June 1966). "Every point is vital to Dukes". Halifax Evening Courier.
"1966 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.

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