1987 British League season explained

Competition:British League
Competitors:12
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Cradley Heathens
Domesticcup3:League Cup
Domesticcup3 Winners:Coventry Bees
Domesticcup4:Individual
Domesticcup4 Winners:Hans Nielsen
Domesticcup5:Pairs
Domesticcup5 Winners:Oxford Cheetahs
Domesticcup6:Midland Cup
Domesticcup6 Winners:Cradley Heathens
Highest Average:Hans Nielsen
Leagues Below:1987 National League
Prevseason:1986
Nextseason:1988

The 1987 British League season was the 53rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 23rd known as the British League.[1]

Summary

Coventry Bees comfortably won the league finishing 16 points clear of Cradley Heath. The same five main riders who made up the 1986 team rode through the 1987 season but crucially four of them improved on their 1986 averages. Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum both hit over 10, while Rick Miller and David Bargh both improved by about 2 points on average. John Jørgensen also remained consistent for the Bees. Coventry also won the League Cup but lost to Cradley in the final of the Knockout Cup.[2] The double defending champions Oxford Cheetahs were forced to release Simon Wigg to Hackney and Per Sorensen because of the 45 point limit. They finished second from bottom despite Hans Nielsen topping the averages once again.[3]

The second leg replay of the League Cup final was the last ever meeting held at Hyde Road.

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLBPPts
1Coventry Bees2219301152
2Cradley Heath Heathens221318936
3Swindon Robins221228733
4Sheffield Tigers221309632
5Bradford Dukes221039730
6Ipswich Witches221039629
7Reading Racers221129428
8Belle Vue Aces2210111526
9Hackney Kestrels227312320
10Wolverhampton Wolves226214317
11Oxford Cheetahs226115316
12King's Lynn Stars224117211
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

British League Knockout Cup

The 1987 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 49th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the second successive year if including the tied 1986 final.[4]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
10/07Hackney 48-42Bradford
10/07Oxford 51-39 Belle Vue
04/07Kings Lynn 41-49 Sheffield
13/06Swindon 47-43 Wolverhampton
04/06Sheffield 51-39 Kings Lynn
01/06Wolverhampton 44-46 Swindon
30/05Belle Vue 47-43 Oxford
30/05Bradford 49-41 Hackney

Quarter-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
15/09Bradford41-49 Cradley Heath
15/08Swindon43-47 Reading
07/08Oxford48-42 Ipswich
06/08Ipswich47-43 Oxford
05/08Cradley Heath55-35 Bradford
27/07Reading48-41 Swindon
13/07Sheffield 48-42 Coventry
11/07Coventry 51-38 Sheffield

Semi-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
30/09Coventry 48-42 Reading
30/09Oxford 47-43 Cradley Heath
16/09Cradley Heath 39-33 A Oxford
07/09Reading 47-43 Coventry

Final

First legSecond leg

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.

League Cup

The League Cup was contested as a league format. Coventry Bees won the final over two legs defeating Belle Vue Aces 84–72 on aggregrate. It was the last time that the competition was contested.[5]

Qualifying table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Coventry Bees22161543
2Oxford Cheetahs22142639
3Belle Vue Aces22141738
4Cradley Heathens22140836
5Sheffield Tigers22132733
6Reading Racers22121931
7Swindon Robins22921126
8Wolverhampton Wolves22911223
9Bradford Dukes22821222
10Hackney Kestrels22621417
11 King's Lynn Stars22511612
11 Ipswich Witches22411710

Semi-finals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
14/08Oxford 42–36 Belle Vue
22/08Belle Vue 44–34 Oxford
31/08Coventry 45–33 Cradley Heath
31/08Cradley Heath 36–42 Coventry

Final

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
15/09Coventry41–37 Belle Vue
18/10Belle Vue41–37 Coventry

Replay first legReplay second leg

Coventry were declared League Cup winners, winning on aggregate 84-72.

Riders' Championship

Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second successive year. It was the held at Hyde Road on 12 October, shortly before the venue closed for good.[6]

width=25pxPos. width=200pxRider width=70pxHeat Scores width=50pxTotal
1 3 2 3 3 3 14
2 3 3 1 3 3 13
3 2 2 2 2 3 11+3
4 2 3 2 2 2 11+2
5 TX 2 3 3 2 10
6 3 1 1 3 2 10
7 1 1 3 2 3 10
8 1 3 3 0 1 8
9 1 2 2 1 1 7
10 2 3 0 1 0 6
11 2 1 1 1 1 6
12 0 TX 0 2 2 4
13 1 0 2 1 0 4
14 3 0 0 0 1 4
15 Bernie Collier (res) 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
16 0 - - - - - 0
17 0 0 0 0 0 0

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Smallmead Stadium on 12 July and was won by Oxford for the third consecutive year.[7]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=30Ptswidth=100Riders
1Cradley 17 Pedersen 9
Gundersen 8
2Belle Vue 14 Thorp 10
Morton 4
3Sheffield 12 Moran S 12
Carr 0
4King's Lynn11Knight 6
Regeling 5
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=30Ptswidth=100Riders
1Oxford 17Nielsen 12
Grahame 5
2Swindon16Shirra 9
Nilsen 7
3Hackney 14Galvin 8
Wigg 6
4Bradford 5King 3
Evitts 2
Group C
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=30Ptswidth=100Riders
1Wolves14Eriksen 9
Ermolenko 5
2Coventry 14Tatum 8
Knudsen 6
3Reading 13Jonsson 7
Andersson 6
4Ipswich 13Doncaster 8
Niemi 5
Semi Final
width=20Poswidth=100Teamwidth=30Ptswidth=250Riders
1Swindon16Shirra 8, Nilsen 8
2Oxford 14Nielsen 12 Grahame 2
3Cradley 13Pedersen 7, Gundersen 6
4Wolverhampton11Ermolenko 11, Eriksen 0

Final

In the final Nilsen fell and was excluded and Shirra touched the tapes and was excluded, leaving Nielsen and Grahame to complete a 7-0 (pts) uncontested heat.

Leading final averages

width=200Riderwidth=200Teamwidth=40Average
Oxford 11.38
Cradley Heath 10.44
Coventry 10.25
Coventry 10.06
Wolverhampton 9.86
Ipswich 9.67
Swindon 9.61
Cradley Heath 9.60
Sheffield 9.47
Hackney 9.38

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.[8]

First round

width=150Team onewidth=150Team twowidth=120Score
Reading Swindon38–39, 37–41
WolverhamptonCradley38–39, 31–47

Semi final round

width=150Team onewidth=150Team twowidth=120Score
CoventrySwindon 48–30, 36–42
CradleyOxford 43–35, 40–38

Final

Because of cancellations due to bad weather the final of the competition doubled up as the Knockout Cup final (see above for details).[8]

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Hackney

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. Web site: 1987 league tables. Speedway GB.
  3. Book: Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn. The Story of Oxford Speedway. 2007. 137–138. Tempus Publishing Ltd. 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  4. Web site: 1987 British League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  5. Web site: Coventry Bees results. Speedway Researcher. 3 July 2021.
  6. News: Nielsen retains title after scare . Sandwell Evening Mail . 12 October 1987 . 5 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  7. News: Oxford Wins Hans Down . Reading Evening Post . 13 July 1987 . 18 May 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  8. News: Speedway . Daily Mirror . 22 October 1987 . British Newspaper Archive. 21 October 2023 . subscription .

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