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1989 British League season
British motorcycle speedway season
British motorcycle speedway season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| competition | Sunbrite British League |
| domesticcup1 | Champions |
| domesticcup1 winners | Oxford Cheetahs |
| domesticcup2 | Knockout Cup |
| domesticcup2 winners | Cradley Heathens |
| domesticcup3 | Individual |
| domesticcup3 winners | Shawn Moran |
| domesticcup4 | Gold Cup |
| domesticcup4 winners | Oxford Cheetahs |
| highest average | Hans Nielsen |
| leagues below | 1989 National League |
| prevseason | 1988 |
| nextseason | 1990 |
The 1989 British League season (also known as the Sunbrite British League for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 25th known as the British League.
Summary
The Coventry Bees were the defending champions from 1988. The league was once again run over a 15-heat formula, with 7 riders per team.
Oxford Cheetahs bounced back to winning ways claiming their third title in five years. The team was led by their double world champion Hans Nielsen who by the end of the season would be world champion for the third time and top the averages for an incredible seventh season running. He was backed up by Simon Wigg, Martin Dugard, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox and Troy Butler, all of whom averaged from about 6 to 8 points for the season. The defending champions Coventry could only finish 5th after losing Tommy Knudsen for the season. Cradley Heath won their 8th Knockout Cup in 11 years (it would also be their last).
Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 32 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 58 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 52 |
| 3 | Cradley Heathens | 32 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 51 |
| 4 | Belle Vue Aces | 32 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 50 |
| 5 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 41 |
| 6 | Swindon Robins | 32 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 33 |
| 7 | Reading Racers | 32 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 32 |
| 8 | Bradford Dukes | 32 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 23 |
| 9 | King's Lynn Stars | 32 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 3 | 20 |
Fixtures and results
A fixtures
B fixtures
British League Knockout Cup
The 1989 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 51st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the fourth successive year if including the tied 1986 final.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21/04 | Belle Vue | 57-33 | King's Lynn |
| 08/04 | King's Lynn | 38-52 | Belle Vue |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26/06 | Reading | 51-39 | Belle Vue |
| 10/06 | Cradley Heath | 50-40 | Oxford |
| 09/06 | Belle Vue | 45.5-44.5 | Reading |
| 09/06 | Oxford | 45-45 | Cradley Heath |
| 13/05 | Coventry | 45-45 | Bradford |
| 06/05 | Bradford | 46-44 | Coventry |
| 22/04 | Swindon | 45-45 | Wolverhampton |
| 10/04 | Wolverhampton | 49-41 | Swindon |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26/08 | Bradford | 57-33 | Wolverhampton |
| 19/08 | Cradley Heath | 42-48 | Reading |
| 07/08 | Wolverhampton | 60-30 | Bradford |
| 31/07 | Reading | 40-50 | Cradley Heath |
Final
First leg Ronnie Correy 9 Robert Pfetzing 8 Andy Phillips 7 Graham Jones 7 Jan Stæchmann 3 Brian Karger (guest) 3 Neil Collins 3 Kelvin Tatum (guest) 13 Greg Hancock 11 Jimmy Nilsen (guest) 10 Gert Handberg 6 Alan Grahame 6 Simon Cross 2 John Bostin 1 Second leg Shawn Moran (guest) 14 Simon Cross 12 Kelvin Tatum (guest) 7 Gert Handberg 5 Greg Hancock 5 Alan Grahame 3 John Bostin 0 Jimmy Nilsen (guest) 10 Graham Jones 9 Andy Phillips 6 Robert Pfetzing 6 Ronnie Correy 5 Neil Collins 4 Jan Stæchmann 4
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-85.
Riders' Championship
Shawn Moran won the British League Riders' Championship. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 1 October.
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- ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Leading final averages
Gold Cup
North Group
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cradley Heath | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | Bradford | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | Belle Vue | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | Wolverhampton | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
** South Group**
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oxford | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 2 | Reading | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 3 | Coventry | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | King's Lynn | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Swindon | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
North Group
South Group
Final
| Team one | Team two | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cradley | Oxford | 42–48, 36–54 |
Riders and final averages
Belle Vue
- USA Shawn Moran 9.68
- USA Kelly Moran 8.29
- DEN Peter Ravn 7.54
- USA Gary Hicks 7.17
- ENG Chris Morton 6.75
- ENG Joe Screen 6.40
- ENG Carl Stonehewer 5.50
- ENG Gordon Whitaker 3.41
- ENG Paul Smith 2.09
- ENG Mike Lewthwaite 1.85
Bradford
- ENG Paul Thorp 7.79
- ENG Neil Evitts 7.51
- ENG Andy Smith 7.27
- ENG Bryan Larner 5.40
- DEN Henrik Kristensen 4.94
- AUS Glenn Doyle 4.76
- HUN Antal Kocso 4.60
- ENG Michael Graves 4.17
Coventry
- ENG Kelvin Tatum 9.49
- USA Rick Miller 6.93
- ENG Sean Wilson 6.52
- DEN John Jørgensen 6.39
- ENG Andy Hackett 5.49
- CZE Roman Matoušek 5.27
- FIN Kai Niemi 4.69
- ENG Mike Bacon 2.95
- ENG Paul Smith 2.55
Cradley Heath
- DEN Jan O. Pedersen 10.22
- DEN Erik Gundersen 9.97
- ENG Simon Cross 9.13
- DEN Gert Handberg 6.52
- USA Greg Hancock 6.06
- ENG Alan Grahame 5.78
- ENG John Bostin 3.00
Kings Lynn
- ENG Richard Knight 7.83
- USA Lance King 7.67
- ENG John Davis 6.74
- DEN Allan Johansen 6.65
- ITA Armando Dal Chiele 5.03
- AUS Stephen Davies 4.93
- SWE Dennis Löfqvist 4.82
- ENG Adrian Stevens 3.56
- ENG Paul Smith 3.14
- ENG Roger Horspool 1.50
Oxford
- DEN Hans Nielsen 10.91
- ENG Simon Wigg 7.69
- ENG Martin Dugard 7.61
- ENG Andy Grahame 6.91
- ENG Marvyn Cox 6.80
- AUS Troy Butler 5.96
- ENG Paul Dugard 2.56
- ENG Kevin Pitts 1.64
Reading
- ENG Jeremy Doncaster 8.61
- NZL Mitch Shirra 7.62
- SWE Tony Olsson 6.49
- ENG Carl Blackbird 5.52
- ITA Armando Castagna 5.47
- ENG Dave Mullett 5.09
- ENG Malcolm Holloway 4.38
- RSA David Steen 2.56
Swindon
- SWE Jimmy Nilsen 8.41
- DEN Brian Karger 8.09
- ENG Andrew Silver 7.38
- ENG John Davis 6.67
- SWE Peter Nahlin 6.24
- USA Bart Bast 5.05
- ENG Gary Chessell 4.88
- DEN Tom P. Knudsen 4.00 (2 matches only)
- ENG David Smart 3.72
Wolverhampton
- USA Sam Ermolenko 9.85
- USA Ronnie Correy 7.86
- ENG Neil Collins 6.88
- USA Robert Pfetzing 6.61
- ENG Graham Jones 6.60
- DEN Jan Staechmann 6.54
- ENG Andy Phillips 5.73
References
References
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- "1990 league tables". Speedway GB.
- "HISTORY ARCHIVE".
- "1989 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "1989 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "1989 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- (17 October 1989). "Heathens scent cup glory". Sandwell Evening Mail.
- (27 October 1989). "Speedway". Sandwell Evening Mail.
- "Cradley Speedway 1989 season".
- (2 October 1989). "Sad day for Doncaster and Shirra". Reading Evening Post.
- "1989 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "1989 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
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