The 1974 British League season was the 40th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the tenth season known as the British League.[1][2]
League | British League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 17 |
Champions | Exeter Falcons |
Knockout Cup | Sheffield Tigers |
Individual | Peter Collins |
Midland Cup | Leicester Lions |
London Cup | Wimbledon Dons |
Highest average | Ole Olsen |
Division/s below | British League (Div 2) |
The 1973 Champions Reading didn't compete as they no longer had a stadium, following the closure of Reading Stadium and Hull Vikings replaced them. The league was reduced to seventeen teams when the Coatbridge Tigers dropped down to Division Two. Overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad were banned which meant that top Swedish riders such as Anders Michanek, Bernt Persson, Tommy Jansson and Christer Löfqvist didn't compete.[3]
The Exeter Falcons won their first title. They were headed by the legendary four time world champion Ivan Mauger and backed up well by Scott Autrey (8.32), Tony Lomas (7.29) and Kevin Holden (7.26).
At the end of the season Oxford Rebels finished four points above the Hull Vikings courtesy of a protest over Hull's victory against the Rebels.[4] Hull were later re-awarded the points after a close season hearing and moved above the Rebels.
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Exeter Falcons | 32 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 51 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 32 | 23 | 0 | 9 | 46 |
3 | Ipswich Witches | 32 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 45 |
4 | Sheffield Tigers | 32 | 21 | 0 | 11 | 42 |
5 | King's Lynn Stars | 32 | 20 | 1 | 11 | 41 |
6 | Newport | 32 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 37 |
7 | Halifax Dukes | 32 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 31 |
8 | Wimbledon Dons | 32 | 14 | 1 | 17 | 29 |
9 | Hackney Hawks | 32 | 13 | 2 | 17 | 28 |
10 | Leicester Lions | 32 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 27 |
11 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 27 |
12 | Swindon Robins | 32 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 26 |
13 | Cradley United | 32 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 25 |
14 | Poole Pirates | 32 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 25 |
15 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 12 | 0 | 20 | 24 |
16 | Hull Vikings | 32 | 10 | 0 | 22 | 20 |
17 | Oxford Rebels | 32 | 10 | 0 | 22 | 20 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Ole Olsen | Wolverhampton | 11.21 | |
2 | Ivan Mauger | Exeter | 11.15 | |
3 | Phil Crump | Newport | 10.77 | |
4 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue | 10.73 | |
5 | John Louis | Ipswich | 10.73 | |
6 | Terry Betts | King's Lynn | 10.26 | |
7 | Dag Lövaas | Hackney | 10.15 | |
8 | Martin Ashby | Swindon | 10.10 | |
9 | John Boulger | Cradley | 9.94 | |
10 | Eric Boocock | Halifax | 9.92 |
The 1974 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 36th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Sheffield were the winners.[5]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
20/04 | Cradley United | 40-38 | Wolverhampton |
19/04 | Ipswich | 50-28 | Oxford |
12/04 | Wolverhampton | 48-30 | Cradley United |
21/03 | Oxford | 40-37 | Ipswich |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
07/06 | Wolverhampton | 36-42 | Kings Lynn |
04/06 | Wimbledon | 38-40 | Ipswich |
30/05 | Ipswich | 52-26 | Wimbledon |
29/05 | Hull | 38-40 | Sheffield |
25/05 | Coventry | 42-36 | Leicester |
22/05 | Belle Vue | 53-25 | Halifax |
18/05 | Kings Lynn | 45-33 | Wolverhampton |
17/05 | Hackney | 40-38 | Poole |
15/05 | Poole | 42-36 | Hackney |
13/05 | Halifax | 35-43 | Belle Vue |
09/05 | Sheffield | 52-26 | Hull |
07/05 | Leicester | 43-35 | Coventry |
27/04 | Swindon | 40-38 | Newport |
26/04 | Newport | 42-36 | Swindon |
Quarter-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
31/07 | Poole | 38-40 | Kings Lynn |
20/07 | King's Lynn | 38-40 | Poole |
16/07 | Leicester | 38-40 | Ipswich |
08/07 | Sheffield | 46-32 | Newport |
06/07 | Belle Vue | 44-32 | Exeter |
05/07 | Newport | 35-43 | Sheffield |
20/06 | Ipswich | 42-36 | Leicester |
10/06 | Exeter | 46-32 | Belle Vue |
24/08 | Kings Lynn | 42-36 | Poole |
21/08 | Poole | 45-32 | Kings Lynn |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
09/09 | Sheffield | 46-32 | Poole |
04/09 | Poole | 37-40 | Sheffield |
29/08 | Ipswich | 50-28 | Exeter |
19/08 | Exeter | 42-36 | Ipswich |
First leg
Ipswich Witches John Louis 11 Billy Sanders 10 Tony Davey 6 Mick Hines 5 Ted Howgego 3 Alan Sage 2 Trevor Jones 0 | 37 - 41 | Sheffield Tigers Arnie Haley 13 Bob Valentine 11 Doug Wyer 8 Reg Wilson 6 Craig Pendlebury 2 Bob Paulson 1 Carl Glover 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Second leg
Sheffield Tigers Bob Valentine 11 Arnie Haley 8 Doug Wyer 8 Craig Pendlebury 8 Reg Wilson 7 Carl Glover 6 Bob Paulson 1 | 49 - 29 | Ipswich Witches John Louis 13 Tony Davey 9 Billy Sanders 3 Mick Hines 2 Ted Howgego 1 Mike Lanham 1 Alan Sage 0 |
---|---|---|
[7] |
Sheffield Tigers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-65.
Peter Collins won the British League Riders' Championship held at Hyde Road on 19 October.[8]
Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Collins | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
2 | Ivan Mauger | 2 2 3 3 2 | 12 |
3 | Phil Crump | 1 3 2 3 3 | 12 |
4 | John Louis | 3 2 1 2 3 | 11 |
5 | Bob Valentine | 3 1 2 2 3 | 11 |
6 | Dave Jessup | 2 3 1 2 2 | 10 |
7 | Martin Ashby | 1 2 2 1 2 | 8 |
8 | George Hunter | 2 0 3 2 0 | 7 |
9 | Barry Briggs | 0 2 EF 3 2 | 7 |
10 | Jim McMillan | 1 3 0 1 1 | 6 |
11 | John Boulger | 2 1 2 EF 1 | 6 |
12 | Eric Boocock | 0 1 3 0 1 | 5 |
13 | Bob Kilby | 3 F R 1 0 | 4 |
14 | Dag Lövaas | 0 0 1 1 1 | 3 |
15 | Terry Betts | 1 0 1 0 0 | 2 |
16 | Nigel Boocock | 0 1 0 0 EF | 1 |
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Ole Olsen | Wolverhampton | 11.39 | |
2 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue | 10.98 | |
3 | Ivan Mauger | Exeter | 10.88 | |
4 | Phil Crump | Newport | 10.79 | |
5 | John Louis | Ipswich | 10.79 | |
6 | Terry Betts | King's Lynn | 10.32 | |
7 | Dag Lövaas | Hackney | 10.17 | |
8 | Martin Ashby | Swindon | 10.09 | |
9 | John Boulger | Cradley | 10.06 | |
10 | Bob Valentine | Sheffield | 9.92 | |
11 | Malcolm Simmons | King's Lynn | 9.78 | |
13 | Sören Sjösten | Belle Vue | 9.72 | |
14 | Jim McMillan | Hull | 9.71 | |
15 | Dave Jessup | Leicester | 9.66 | |
15 | Eric Boocock | Halifax | 9.61 | |
17 | Reidar Eide | Newport | 9.42 | |
18 | Billy Sanders | Ipswich | 9.34 | |
19 | Ray Wilson | Leicester | 9.34 | |
20 | Barry Briggs | Wimbledon | 9.30 |
Leicester won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.[9]
First round
Team one | Team two | Score |
---|---|---|
Oxford | Swindon | 41–37, 34–44 |
Coventry | Cradley | 39–39, 28–50 |
Semi final round
Team one | Team two | Score |
---|---|---|
Leicester | Swindon | 41–37, 41–37 |
Cradley | Wolverhampton | 32–46, 38–40 |
First leg
Leicester Ray Wilson 11 Dave Jessup 9 Frank Auffret 9 Bob Coles (guest) 4 Malcolm Brown 4 Mick Bell 3 Norman Storer 2 | 42–36 | Wolverhampton John Boulger (guest) 14 George Hunter 10 Malcolm Shakespeare 8 Bengt Andersson 3 Colin Meredith 1 Tom Leadbitter 0 Tony Featherstone 0 |
---|---|---|
Second leg
Wolverhampton Eric Broadbelt (guest) 12 George Hunter 9 Malcolm Shakespeare 6 Tom Leadbitter 4 Bengt Andersson 2 Colin Meredith 2 Finn Thomsen 0 | 35–43 | Leicester Dave Jessup 10 Ray Wilson 9 Arthur Price (guest) 8 Frank Auffret 6 Norman Storer 5 Mick Bell 5 Malcolm Brown 0 |
---|---|---|
Leicester won on aggregate 85–71
Wimbledon won the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.[10]
Results
Team | Score | Team |
---|---|---|
Wimbledon | 46–32 | Hackney |
Hackney | 39–39 | Wimbledon |
Belle Vue
Coventry
Cradley Heath
Exeter
Hackney
Halifax
Hull
Ipswich
King's Lynn
Leicester
Newport
Oxford
Poole
Sheffield
Swindon
Wimbledon
Wolverhampton