1986 British League season explained

Competition:	British League
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Oxford Cheetahs
Domesticcup2:	Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Oxford & Cradley (shared)
Domesticcup3:	League Cup
Domesticcup3 Winners:	Oxford & Cradley (shared)
Domesticcup4:	Individual
Domesticcup4 Winners:	Hans Nielsen
Domesticcup5:	Pairs
Domesticcup5 Winners:	Oxford Cheetahs
Domesticcup6:	Midland Cup
Domesticcup6 Winners:	Oxford Cheetahs
Highest Average:	Hans Nielsen
Leagues Below:	1986 National League
Prevseason:	1985
Nextseason:	1987

The 1986 British League season was the 52nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 22nd known as the British League.^[1]

Summary

Oxford Cheetahs won the league for the second consecutive year and the treble by sharing both the Speedway Star Knockout Cup and League Cup with Cradley Heath Heathens. Despite the easy manner of their 1985 league success Oxford made critical changes which ensured domination for a second consecutive season. They were forced to make changes due to the averages points limit that applied to all teams. Hans Nielsen and Simon Wigg were retained, as were Andy Grahame and Marvyn Cox but Jens Ramussen was replaced with Per Sorensen and Nigel De'ath was brought in as full time reserve. Both Sorensen and De'ath maintained good form throughout the season and combined with the heavy scores of the heat leaders the team were able to win the league again.^[2] ^[3] Cradley returned to form and provided Oxford with their main challenge, the rivalry between the Nielsen of Oxford and Erik Gundersen of Cradley was memorable. Nielsen also replaced Gundersen as the world champion by the end of the season and the pair were World Pairs and World Cup winners.

One of the Danish pairs main rivals was Englishman Kenny Carter, regarded as a potential world champion and who at the age of just 21 nearly won the 1982 world title. He was riding for Bradford Dukes and ten matches into the season, on the morning of 21 May the speedway world was subject to another shock. Following on from the Billy Sanders tragedy the season before Carter shot his wife dead and then killed himself.^[4]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	BP	Pts
1	Oxford Cheetahs	18	18	0	0	8	44
2	Cradley Heath Heathens	20	13	3	4	9	38
3	Wolverhampton Wolves	19	13	0	6	6	32
4	Sheffield Tigers	19	10	2	7	6	28
5	Coventry Bees	20	10	1	9	6	27
6	Bradford Dukes	20	8	1	11	4	21
7	Reading Racers	20	7	3	10	4	21
8	Swindon Robins	19	8	1	10	4	21
9	Ipswich Witches	20	7	1	12	3	18
10	Belle Vue Aces	19	5	0	14	2	12
11	King's Lynn Stars	20	2	0	18	0	4

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1986 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 48th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Oxford Cheetahs and Cradley Heath Heathens were declared joint winners because the second leg of the final was not held and the first leg had ended 39-39.^[5]

First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
21/07	Reading	53-25	Kings Lynn
19/07	Swindon	47-31	Ipswich
17/07	Ipswich	38-40	Swindon
05/07	Kings Lynn	43-35	Reading
21/05	Cradley Heath	46-32	Belle Vue
03/05	Belle Vue	45-33	Cradley Heath

Quarter-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
29/09	Reading	45-33	Cradley Heath
24/09	Cradley Heath	50-28	Reading
17/09	Coventry	43-34	Sheffield
17/09	Oxford	48-30	Swindon
07/09	Swindon	37-41	Oxford
26/06	Sheffield	44-34	Coventry
24/06	Bradford	45-33	Wolverhampton
02/06	Wolverhampton	38-40	Bradford

Semi-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
16/10	Sheffield	33-45	Oxford
15/10	Cradley Heath	50-28	Bradford
10/10	Oxford	45-33	Sheffield
13/07	Braford	39-39	Cradley Heath

FinalThe title was shared after two failed attempts to hold the second leg due to rain.^[6] ^[3]

First and only leg

League Cup

The League Cup was contested as a league format. The cup was shared following two failed attempts to stage the second leg of the final at Oxford due to rain. Oxford had won the first leg at Cradley Heath 40-38.^[3]

Qualifying table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	20	14	1	5	37
2	Oxford Cheetahs	20	13	1	6	36
3	Ipswich Witches	20	12	1	7	30
4	Cradley Heathens	20	10	2	8	29
5	Swindon Robins	20	9	3	8	27
6	Sheffield Tigers	20	10	2	8	27
7	Bradford Dukes	20	9	3	8	26
8	Reading Racers	20	10	0	10	24
9	Belle Vue Aces	20	6	2	12	17
10	Wolverhampton Wolves	20	6	1	13	16
11	King's Lynn Stars	20	2	2	16	6

Semi-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
03/09	Coventry	39–39	Cradley Heath
03/09	Oxford	40–38	Ipswich
10/09	Cradley Heath	41–37	Coventry
21/09	Ipswich	34–42	Oxford

Final (First and only leg)

Riders' Championship

Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 12 October.^[7]

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
1		3 3 3 3 3	15
2		2 3 3 2 1	11+3
3		3 3 1 2 2	11+2
4		3 2 3 0 3	11+1
5		2 3 3 1 2	11
6		1 0 2 3 3	9
7		0 2 2 3 1	8
8		2 2 0 1 3	8
9		3 2 2 1 0	8
10		0 1 2 3 2	8
11		1 0 1 2 2	6
12		2 1 1 0 1	5
13		1 1 0 0 1	3
14		0 1 1 1 0	3
15		1 0 0 2 0	3
16		0 0 0 0 -	0
17	Lee Edwards (res)	0 - - - -	0

ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Owlerton Stadium on 24 August and was won by Oxford for the second consecutive year.^[8]

width=25px	Pos	width=170px	Team	width=50px	Pts	width=300px	Riders
1	Oxford	25	Wigg 15, Nielsen 10
2	Coventry	22	Tatum 13, Jorgensen 9
3	Sheffield	18	Moran S 11, Collins N 7
4	Belle Vue	18	Morton 17, Collins P 1
5	Bradford	16	King 9, Evitts 7
6	Cradley Heath	16	Gundersen 14, Pedersen 2
7	Ipswich	11	Niemi 8, Doncaster 3

Leading final averages

width=200	Rider	width=200	Team	width=40	Average
	Oxford	11.57
	Cradley Heath	11.03
	Ipswich	10.38
	Oxford	10.20
Kenny Carter+	Bradford	10.05
	Wolverhampton	9.72
	Coventry	9.68
	Sheffield	9.65
	Belle Vue	9.34
	Reading	9.34
	Bradford	9.32
	Kings Lynn	9.06

+rode 10 matches before his death

Midland Cup

Oxford won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.^[9]

First round

width=150	Team one	width=150	Team two	width=120	Score
Swindon	Wolverhampton	39–39, 27–51
Reading	Coventry	40–38, 26–52

Semi final round

width=150	Team one	width=150	Team two	width=120	Score
Oxford	Wolverhampton	42–36, 39–39
Cradley	Coventry	41–37, 35–43

Final

First leg

Second leg

Oxford won on aggregate 80–76

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

9.34
7.37
6.93
6.48
6.10
5.43
4.28
2.67
2.65
1.60
1.06

Bradford

10.05
9.32
8.20
7.26
6.30
6.01
4.16
3.88

Coventry

9.68
8.74
8.69
6.41
5.68
5.60
3.50
1.71

Cradley Heath

11.03
8.58
7.80
7.17
6.08
3.74
3.23
2.06

Ipswich

10.38
8.00
7.79
5.69
4.90
4.71
4.57
4.17
3.79

King's Lynn

9.06
7.74
6.73
5.38
4.91
4.70
4.60
4.21
4.15
2.28
1.11

Oxford

11.57
10.20
8.11
6.14
6.05
5.34
4.33
2.43

Reading

9.34
8.72
7.90
7.36
5.89
5.47
5.33
1.35
1.27

Sheffield

9.65
8.76
7.89
7.53
7.24
5.83
5.46
4.62
3.27

Swindon

8.77
8.45
7.82
6.79
6.64
6.07
5.16
4.58
3.16

Wolverhampton

9.72
7.70
7.04
6.18
5.23
2.97
1.07

Notes and References

Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
Web site: 1986 league tables. Speedway GB.
Book: Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn. The Story of Oxford Speedway. 2007. 134–136. Tempus Publishing Ltd. 978-0-7524-4161-0.
Web site: The tragic life and horrific death of troubled Yorkshire speedway legend 'King Kenny' Carter. Examiner Live. 30 July 2021.
Web site: 1986 British League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
Web site: Cradley Speedway 1986 season. Cradley Speedway. 25 June 2021.
News: Speedway . Western Daily Press . 13 October 1986. 5 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
News: Chris's final warning . Manchester Evening News . 26 August 1986 . 18 May 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
News: Bees:We had fight . Coventry Evening Telegraph . 30 October 1986 . British Newspaper Archive. 21 October 2023 . subscription .