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1969 British League season

The 1969 British League season was the 35th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fifth season known as the British League.[1]

1969 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors19
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupWimbledon Dons
IndividualBarry Briggs
London CupWimbledon Dons
Midland CupCoventry Bees
Highest averageIvan Mauger
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

Summary

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The 19 competitors were the same as the previous season.[2]

Poole Pirates won their first title.[3] The Pirates were extremely consistent and despite their riders not coming in the top 18 league averages they won the league by a clear 6 points. Pete Smith was their top rider with an average of 9.34 but aided by four other riders (Geoff Mudge (9.05), Odd Fossengen (7.73), Bruce Cribb (7.31) and Gordon Guasco (7.26)) they were able to claim the title.[4] Wimbledon Dons had a much better season than the last, finishing third and managed to retain their British League Knockout Cup crown. Belle Vue Aces finished runner-up, mainly due to the performances of their outstanding World champion rider Ivan Mauger; the New Zealander finished with an average of 11.67 and would also seal his second world title before the end of the season.

Final table

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Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 36 26 1 9 53
2 Belle Vue Aces 36 23 1 12 47
3 Wimbledon Dons 36 22 2 12 46
4 Halifax Dukes 36 22 2 12 46
5 Leicester Lions 36 21 2 13 44
6 Sheffield Tigers 36 19 1 16 39
7 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 18 2 16 38
8 Glasgow Tigers 36 17 3 16 37
9 King's Lynn Stars 36 18 0 18 36
10 Swindon Robins 36 18 0 18 36
11 Coatbridge Monarchs 36 17 1 18 35
12 Exeter Falcons 36 16 0 20 32
13 Newcastle Diamonds 36 15 2 19 32
14 Coventry Bees 36 14 3 19 31
15 Oxford Cheetahs 36 15 1 20 31
16 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 13 1 22 27
17 Newport Wasps 36 13 1 22 27
18 West Ham Hammers 36 11 3 22 25
19 Hackney Hawks 36 10 2 24 22

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

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Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger   Belle Vue 11.45
2 Barry Briggs   Swindon 11.09
3 Eric Boocock   Halifax 10.88
4 Nigel Boocock   Coventry 10.77
5 Ray Wilson   Leicester 10.48
6 Norman Hunter   Wolverhampton 10.44
7 Trevor Hedge   Wimbledon 10.17
8 Ole Olsen   Newcastle 10.08
9 Jim McMillan   Glasgow 9.97
10 Martin Ashby   Exeter 9.96

British League Knockout Cup

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The 1969 British League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
10/05 Coatbridge 53-25 Hackney
06/05 Leicester 54-24 Newport
06/05 West Ham 39-39 Kings Lynn
31/05 Kings Lynn 39-39 West Ham
17/06 West Ham 36-42 Kings Lynn

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
10/07 Sheffield 52-26 Kings Lynn
17/06 West Ham 36-42 Oxford
14/06 Canterbury 51-26 Crayford
14/06 Coventry 46-32 Oxford
14/06 Cradley Heath 41-37 Glasgow
11/06 Poole 43-35 Coatbridge
09/06 Exeter 36-42 Wimbledon
09/06 Newcastle 36-42 Belle Vue
07/06 Halifax 43-35 Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
02/08 Belle Vue 38-40 Sheffield
31/07 Wimbledon 49-29 Poole
21/07 Cradley Heath 41-37 Swindon
05/07 Halifax 47-31 Coventry

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
27/09 Cradley Heath 36-42 Wimbledon
21/08 Sheffield 43.5-34.5 Halifax

Final

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First leg

Sheffield Tigers
Arnie Haley 11
Jim Airey 9
Billy Bales 9
John Dews 5
Dave Baugh 3
Bengt Larsson 2
Reg Wilson 1		40 - 38Wimbledon Dons
Trevor Hedge 12
Cyril Maidment 10
Reg Luckhurst 8
Ronnie Moore 4
Jim Tebby 3
Bob Dugard 1
Gary Everett 0
[6]

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons
Trevor Hedge 12
Ronnie Moore 12
Reg Luckhurst 9
Jim Tebby 7
Cyril Maidment 6
Bob Dugard 6
Gary Everett 4		56 - 22Sheffield Tigers
Arnie Haley 9
Jim Airey 9
Bengt Larsson 3
Billy Bales 1
John Dews 0
Dave Baugh 0
Reg Wilson 0
[6]

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-62.

Riders' Championship

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Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the fifth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 18 October.[7]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1   Barry Briggs 3 3 3 3 2 14
2   Ivan Mauger 3 3 3 ef 3 12
3   Jim Airey 1 2 3 3 3 12
4   Martin Ashby 1 3 2 3 2 11
5   Eric Boocock 3 2 1 2 2 10
6   Roy Trigg 2 2 2 2 1 9
7   Ray Wilson 0 3 3 2 f 8
8   Trevor Hedge 2 1 2 2 1 8
9   Sándor Lévai 3 0 1 1 2 7
10   Tony Clarke 2 2 0 1 1 6
11   Ole Olsen ex ef ef 3 3 6
12   Terry Betts 0 0 1 1 3 5
13   Reidar Eide 1 1 2 1 0 5
14   Jim McMillan 2 1 0 0 0 3
15   Colin Gooddy 1 0 1 0 r 2
16   Pete Smith 0 1 0 0 1 2
17   James Bond 0 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages

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Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger   Belle Vue 11.67
2 Barry Briggs   Swindon 11.12
3 Eric Boocock   Halifax 11.08
4 Nigel Boocock   Coventry 10.78
5 Ray Wilson   Leicester 10.56
6 Ole Olsen   Newcastle 10.39
7 Norman Hunter   Wolverhampton 10.35
8 Trevor Hedge   Wimbledon 10.33
9 Sören Sjösten   Belle Vue 10.09
10 Reidar Eide   Coatbridge 10.01
11 Jim McMillan   Glasgow 10.01
12 Martin Ashby   Exeter 9.97
13 Jim Airey   Sheffield 9.90
14 Ronnie Moore   Wimbledon 9.74
15 Charlie Monk   Glasgow 9.56
16 Reg Luckhurst   Wimbledon 9.39
17 Dave Younghusband   Halifax 9.38
18 Terry Betts   King's Lynn 9.35
19 Pete Smith   Poole 9.34
20 Roy Trigg   Cradley Heath 9.27

London Cup

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Wimbledon retained the London Cup.[8]

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 4 4 0 0 190 121 8
2 West Ham Hammers 4 1 0 3 154 157 2
3 Hackney Hawks 4 1 0 3 122 188 2

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney 40–37 West Ham
Hackney 30–47 Wimbledon
West Ham 48–30 Hackney
West Ham 35–43 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 44–34 West Ham
Wimbledon 56–22 Hackney

Midland Cup

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Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams.[9]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Wolverhampton 43–35, 38–40
Oxford Cradley 39–39, 32–45

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Cradley Coventry 37–41, 31–47
Leicester Swindon 44.5–33.5, 40–38

Final

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First leg

Leicester
John Boulger 10
Ray Wilson 7
Graham Plant 7
John Hart 5
Norman Storer 5
Malcolm Brown 5
Dene Davies 1		40–38Coventry
Nigel Boocock 15
Rick France 12
Col Cottrell 6
Roger Hill 5
Les Owen 0
Tony Lomas 0
Antonin Kasper r/r

Second leg

Coventry
Rick France 12
Ken McKinlay (guest) 10
Col Cottrell 9
Tony Lomas 9
Les Owen 3
Roger Hill 1
Antonin Kasper r/r		44–34Leicester
Ray Wilson 10
Malcolm Brown 10
John Boulger 6
Graham Plant 3
John Hart 3
Dene Davies 2
Norman Storer 0
Attendance: 14,000

Coventry won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages

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Belle Vue

Coatbridge

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Halifax

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  5. ^ "1969 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ a b "Season 1969" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Speedway". Birmingham Daily Post. 20 October 1969. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Wimbledon 1969" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Big crowd at Speedway final". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 13 October 1969. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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