1990 British League season explained

Competition:	British League
Competitors:	9
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Reading Racers
Domesticcup2:	Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Reading Racers
Domesticcup3:	Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:	Hans Nielsen
Highest Average:	Hans Nielsen
Leagues Below:	1990 National League
Prevseason:	1989
Nextseason:	1991

The 1990 British League season was the 56th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 26th known as the British League.^{[1] [2]}

Summary

Reading Racers won the league for the first time since 1980. The domination of speedway in recent years by Oxford Cheetahs, Coventry Bees and Cradley Heathens had come to an end. The Reading team was an extremely strong all round squad, highlighted by the fact that Per Jonsson who finished third in the Reading averages would become World Champion by the end of the season. Veteran English international Jeremy Doncaster and their new Australian signing Todd Wiltshire topped the Reading averages and they were supported by fans favourite Jan Andersson, Dave Mullett and Tony Olsson. The team went on to complete the league and cup double after beating Bradford in the cup final.^[3] Hans Nielsen of Oxford topped the averages for an incredible eighth season running and also won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time.

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	BP	Pts
1	Reading Racers	32	19	3	10	13	54
2	Wolverhampton Wolves	32	17	5	10	10	49
3	Belle Vue Aces	32	19	2	11	7	47
4	Oxford Cheetahs	32	17	2	13	10	46
5	Bradford Dukes	32	16	1	15	8	41
6	Swindon Robins	32	15	2	15	8	41
7	Cradley Heath Heathens	32	12	1	19	7	32
8	Coventry Bees	32	10	3	19	7	30
9	King's Lynn Stars	32	7	5	20	2	21

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1990 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 52nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Reading Racers were the winners.^[4]

First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
04/04	Coventry	45-45	Oxford
18/05	Oxford	44-46	Coventry

Quarter-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
21/07	Coventry	37-53	Swindon
11/07	Cradley Heath	45-45	Bradford
14/07	Bradford	54-36	Cradley Heath
07/07	Swindon	56-34	Coventry
15/06	Belle Vue	61-29	Wolverhampton
21/05	Wolverhampton	34-56	Belle Vue
23/04	Reading	54-36	King's Lynn
21/04	King's Lynn	47-42	Reading

Semi-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
20/09	Swindon	50-40	Bradford
13/09	Bradford	51-39	Swindon
27/07	Belle Vue	57-33	Reading
16/07	Reading	53-36	Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Second leg

Reading Racers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98-82.

Riders' Championship

Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 14 October.^[5]

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
1		3 3 3 3 3	15
2		2 3 2 3 2	12+3
3		3 2 3 2 2	12+2
4		1 3 3 2 3	12+1
5		0 3 2 3 3	11
6		2 2 0 1 3	8
7		3 1 1 3 0	8
8		1 1 3 2 1	8
9		3 2 2 0 0	7
10		2 1 1 1 2	7
11		2 1 1 1 1	6
12		0 2 2 0 1	5
13		1 0 0 0 2	3
14		1 0 1 1 0	3
15		2	2
16		0 0 0 0 1	1
17		0 0 0	0
18		0	0

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

Final leading averages

width=200	Rider	width=200	Team	width=40	Average
	Oxford	10.36
	Cradley Heath	9.37
	Reading	9.09
	Coventry	8.93
Sam Ermolenko	Wolverhampton	8.87
Ronnie Correy	Wolverhampton	8.85
Todd Wiltshire	Reading	8.77
	Cradley Heath	8.73
	Bradford	8.63
	Swindon	8.57

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 8.42
• 8.00
• 7.18
• 7.01
• 6.69
• 5.76
• 4.73
• 3.08

Bradford

• 8.63
• 8.50
• 7.69
• 6.90
• 6.16
• 6.13
• 2.02
• 2.00

Coventry

• 8.93
• 7.82
• 6.77
• 5.85
• 5.74
• 5.55
• 5.33
• 2.86
• 1.95
• 0.67

Cradley Heath

• 9.37
• 8.73
• 6.80
• 6.21
• 6.18
• 5.51
• 2.48

King's Lynn

• 7.77
• 7.38
• 7.09
• 5.90
• 5.63
• 5.57
• 5.33
• 0.89

Oxford

• 10.36
• 8.26
• 7.52
• 5.81
• 5.54
• 5.05
• 3.47
• 1.84

Reading

• 9.09
• 8.77
• 8.39
• 7.22
• 6.42
• 6.31
• 6.25
• 2.51
• 2.16

Swindon

• 8.57
• 7.91
• 7.53
• 7.31
• 7.15
• 7.01
• 5.67
• 5.08

Wolverhampton

• 8.87
• 8.85
• 6.18
• 5.70
• 5.57
• 5.42
• 4.73
• 3.45

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
2. Web site: HISTORY ARCHIVE. British Speedway. 3 July 2021.
3. Web site: 1990 league tables. Speedway GB.
4. Web site: 1990 British League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
5. News: Speedway . Birmingham Mail . 15 October 1990 . 5 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .