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1972 British League season

British speedway season

British speedway season

FieldValue
competitionBritish League
competitors18
domesticcup1Champions
domesticcup1 winnersBelle Vue Aces
domesticcup2Knockout Cup
domesticcup2 winnersBelle Vue Aces
domesticcup3Individual
domesticcup3 winnersOle Olsen
domesticcup4Midland Cup
domesticcup4 winnersLeicester Lions
domesticcup5Spring Gold Cup
domesticcup5 winnersReading Racers
highest averageOle Olsen
leagues belowBritish League (Div 2)
prevseason1971
nextseason1973

The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.

Summary

Ipswich Witches moved up from Division Two but London lost two clubs, when the Wembley Lions closed due to extra football fixtures and West Ham Hammers withrew during the early part of the season, reducing the league to eighteen teams.

Belle Vue Aces won their third consecutive title. Their team was littered with great riders including Ivan Mauger, Sören Sjösten and the young Peter Collins; they were backed up by the consistency of Chris Pusey, Eric Broadbelt, Alan Wilkinson and Ken Eyre, which led to a comfortable title win by a clear 12 points.

Oxford Cheetahs had a bizarre season when they were rebranded as Oxford Rebels following a takeover by a new consortium, which included former riders Bob Dugard and Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image. To make matters worse they signed a new Norwegian rider Svein Kaasa, who was quickly transferred to Glasgow following poor results. He died riding for Glasgow towards the end of the season (on 29 September) at Hampden Park. Kasa clipped Martin Ashby's bike in a race and hit the wooden fence receiving fatal injuries.

Leicester won the Midland Cup and Reading won the Spring Gold Cup. There was no London Cup due to there being only two teams following the demise of West Ham and Wembley.

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Belle Vue Aces34311263
2Reading Racers34251851
3King's Lynn Stars34243751
4Sheffield Tigers34233849
5Leicester Lions341751239
6Ipswich Witches341711635
7Poole Pirates341521732
8Hackney Hawks341601832
9Wolverhampton Wolves341601830
10Coventry Bees341421828
11Exeter Falcons341321928
12Halifax Dukes341321928
13Wimbledon Dons341402026
14Glasgow Tigers341222025
15Swindon Robins341212125
16Cradley Heath Heathens341132025
17Oxford Rebels341002420
18Newport Wasps34902518

Fixtures and results

Top ten riders (league averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Ivan MaugerNZLBelle Vue
2Ole OlsenDENWolverhampton
3Eric BoocockENGHalifax
4Anders MichanekSWEReading
5Bernt PerssonSWECradley Heath
6Terry BettsENGKing's Lynn
7Barry BriggsNZLSwindon
8Ronnie MooreNZLWimbledon
9Ray WilsonENGLeicester
10Martin AshbyENGSwindon

British League Knockout Cup

The 1972 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners.

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
09/05Ipswich46–32Sheffield
08/05Exeter48–30Swindon
06/05Halifax42–36Leicester

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
03/07Exeter50–28Wimbledon
26/06Hackney52–26Cradley Heath
21/06Poole52–26Halifax
16/06Newport42–36Coventry
16/06Wolverhampton38–40Reading
15/06Oxford35–42Kings Lynn
10/06Cradley Heath39–39Hackney
03/06Belle Vue41–37Glasgow

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
31/08Ipswich38–40Reading
05/08Belle Vue58–20Newport
05/08Kings Lynn56–22Exeter
04/08Hackney45–33Poole

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
27/09Kings Lynn38–40Belle Vue
22/09Hackney40–38Reading

Final

First leg Bengt Jansson 12 Barry Thomas 9 Geoff Maloney 7 Dave Kennett 6 Eddie Reeves 4 Laurie Etheridge 2 Hugh Saunders 0 Alan Wilkinson 11 Ivan Mauger 10 Peter Collins 6 Sören Sjösten 6 Chris Pusey 3 Eric Broadbelt 1 Ken Eyre 0

Second leg Sören Sjösten 10 Chris Pusey 9 Ivan Mauger 8 Ken Eyre 7 Peter Collins 5 Alan Wilkinson 4 Eric Broadbelt 2 Bengt Jansson 12 Geoff Maloney 10 Barry Thomas 6 Dave Kennett 3 Hugh Saunders 2 Eddie Reeves 0 Laurie Etheridge 0

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82-73.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 21 October.

Pos.width=200pxRiderwidth=70pxHeat Scoreswidth=50pxTotal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
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17
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, ex=excluded

Final leading averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Ole OlsenDENWolverhampton
2Ivan MaugerNZLBelle Vue
3Terry BettsENGKing's Lynn
4Anders MichanekSWEReading
5Barry BriggsNZLSwindon
6Eric BoocockENGHalifax
7Ronnie MooreNZLWimbledon
8Bernt PerssonSWECradley
9Ray WilsonENGLeicester
10Martin AshbyENGSwindon
11Bob KilbyENGExeter
12John BoulgerAUSLeicester
13John LouisENGIpswich
14Bengt JanssonSWEHackney
15Garry MiddletonAUSOxford
16Nigel BoocockENGCoventry
17Howard Cole (a.k.a. Kid Brodie)WALKing's Lynn
18Sören SjöstenSWEBelle Vue
19Christer LöfqvistSWEPoole
20Jim McMillanSCOGlasgow

Midland Cup

Leicester won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round

Team oneTeam twoScore
OxfordSwindon44–34, 34–44
WolverhamptonCradley40–38, 39–39
SwindonOxford39–39, 36–41

Semi final round

Team oneTeam twoScore
SwindonLeicester42–36, 30–48
CoventryWolverhampton41–37, 37–41
CoventryWolverhampton42–36, 33–45

Final

First leg Ole Olsen 14 Jon Erskine 10 Dave Gifford 8 George Hunter 6 Dave Baugh 2 Tom Leadbitter 1 Jan Simensen r/r John Boulger 11 Malcom Shakespeare 8 Ray Wilson 5 Norman Storer 5 Alan Cowland 4 Dave Jessup 4 Malcolm Brown 0

Second leg John Boulger 10 Ray Wilson 9 Malcom Shakespeare 6 Alan Cowland 6 Norman Storer 5 Dave Jessup 5 Malcolm Brown 4 Jan Simensen 10 Ole Olsen 9 Jon Erskine 7 Dave Gifford 4 Dave Baugh 2 Tom Leadbitter 1 George Hunter r/r

Leicester won on aggregate 82–74

Spring Gold Cup

MWDLPts
1Reading870
2King's Lynn850
3Hackney840
4Wimbledon830
5Ipswich810

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue

  • 11.36
  • 8.92
  • 8.44
  • 8.20
  • 6.72
  • 6.68
  • 5.56
  • 5.11

Coventry

  • 9.23
  • 8.10
  • 7.07
  • 6.85
  • 5.61
  • 5.33
  • 5.19
  • 4.52
  • 4.14

Cradley Heath

  • 10.27
  • 7.30
  • 6.95
  • 4.90
  • 4.61
  • 4.57
  • 3.73
  • 2.00
  • 0.91

Exeter

  • 9.89
  • 8.23
  • 6.29
  • 6.06
  • 5.85
  • 5.75
  • 5.28
  • 4.89
  • 4.00
  • 1.18

Glasgow

  • 8.86
  • 8.58
  • 8.41
  • 6.91
  • 4.94
  • 4.00
  • 3.72
  • 3.47
  • 2.09
  • 1.82

Hackney

  • 9.38
  • 7.79
  • 6.38
  • 6.32
  • 6.27
  • 6.24
  • 5.78
  • 4.00
  • 3.20

Halifax

  • 10.36
  • 8.16
  • 7.39
  • 5.87
  • 5.70
  • 5.36
  • 4.03
  • 3.57
  • 3.53

Ipswich

  • 9.39
  • 7.78
  • 7.67
  • 6.96
  • 5.07
  • 4.61
  • 4.46
  • 4.35

King's Lynn

  • 10.51
  • (Kid Bodie) 8.94
  • 8.36
  • 7.30
  • 6.21
  • 5.72
  • 5.47
  • 4.75
  • 4.33

Leicester

  • 10.14
  • 9.46
  • 8.68
  • 4.98
  • 4.81
  • 4.47
  • 3.93
  • 3.25

Newport

  • 7.45
  • 7.15
  • 6.41
  • 5.28
  • 4.49
  • 4.36
  • 3.75
  • 3.49

Oxford

  • 9.24
  • 7.97
  • 6.49
  • 6.25
  • 5.14
  • 4.81
  • 4.37
  • 3.64
  • 3.00

Poole

  • 8.90
  • 8.00
  • 6.71
  • 6.47
  • 5.75
  • 5.42
  • 4.66

Reading

  • 10.51
  • 8.78
  • 7.73
  • 7.07
  • 6.38
  • 6.24
  • 5.02
  • 3.77

Sheffield

  • 8.85
  • 8.81
  • 7.46
  • 7.34
  • 7.15
  • 7.15
  • 6.33

Swindon

  • 10.38
  • 10.08
  • 6.08
  • 4.88
  • 4.62
  • 4.21
  • 3.88
  • 3.56
  • 2.00

Wimbledon

  • 10.34
  • 8.13
  • 7.45
  • 5.02
  • 4.45
  • 3.96
  • 3.53
  • 3.26
  • 1.71

Wolverhampton

  • 11.39
  • 7.76
  • 6.67
  • 5.88
  • 4.59
  • 4.04
  • 3.75
  • 1.65

References

References

  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. (29 February 1972). "Wembley Lions split".
  3. Rogers, Martin. (1978). "The Illustrated History of Speedway". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
  4. (24 January 1971). "Don't Panic, Hammers".
  5. Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
  6. "HISTORY ARCHIVE".
  7. "Svein Kasa".
  8. Bamford, R & Shailes, G (2007). “The Story of Oxford Speedway”. {{ISBN. 978-0-7524-4161-0
  9. (27 July 1972). "Reading win Spring Cup". Reading Evening Post.
  10. "1972 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
  11. "1972 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  12. "Season 1972".
  13. (23 October 1972). "Michanek fifth". Reading Evening Post.
  14. (25 October 1972). "Speedway". Daily Mirror.
  15. "1972 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
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