1972 British League season
The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.[1]
| League | British League |
|---|---|
| Champions | Belle Vue Aces |
| No. of competitors | 18 |
| Knockout Cup | Belle Vue Aces |
| Individual | Ole Olsen |
| Highest average | Ole Olsen |
| Division/s below | British League (Div 2) |
Summary
Ipswich Witches moved up from Division Two but London lost two clubs, when the Wembley Lions closed and West Ham Hammers withrew during the early part of the season, reducing the league to eighteen teams.[2]
Belle Vue Aces won their third consecutive title. Their team was littered with great riders including Ivan Mauger, Sören Sjösten and the young Peter Collins; they were backed up by the consistency of Chris Pusey, Eric Broadbelt, Alan Wilkinson and Ken Eyre, which led to a comfortable title win by a clear 12 points.[3][4]
Oxford Cheetahs had a bizarre season when they were rebranded as Oxford Rebels following a takeover by a new consortium, which included former riders Bob Dugard and Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image. To make matters worse they signed a new Norwegian rider Svein Kaasa, who was quickly transferred to Glasgow following poor results. He died riding for Glasgow towards the end of the season (on 29 September) at Hampden Park. Kasa clipped Martin Ashby's bike in a race and hit the wooden fence receiving fatal injuries.[5][6]
Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 34 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 63 |
| 2 | Reading Racers | 34 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 51 |
| 3 | King's Lynn Stars | 34 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 51 |
| 4 | Sheffield Tigers | 34 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 49 |
| 5 | Leicester Lions | 34 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 39 |
| 6 | Ipswich Witches | 34 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 35 |
| 7 | Poole Pirates | 34 | 15 | 2 | 17 | 32 |
| 8 | Hackney Hawks | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 32 |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 30 |
| 10 | Coventry Bees | 34 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 28 |
| 11 | Exeter Falcons | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 28 |
| 12 | Halifax Dukes | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 28 |
| 13 | Wimbledon Dons | 34 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 26 |
| 14 | Glasgow Tigers | 34 | 12 | 2 | 20 | 25 |
| 15 | Swindon Robins | 34 | 12 | 1 | 21 | 25 |
| 16 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 34 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 25 |
| 17 | Oxford Rebels | 34 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 20 |
| 18 | Newport Wasps | 34 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 18 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
| 1 | Ivan Mauger |  |
Belle Vue Aces | 11.42 |
| 2 | Ole Olsen |  |
Wolverhampton Wolves | 11.36 |
| 3 | Eric Boocock |  |
Halifax Dukes | 10.53 |
| 4 | Anders Michanek |  |
Reading Racers | 10.51 |
| 5 | Bernt Persson | |
Cradley Heathens | 10.50 |
| 6 | Terry Betts | |
King's Lynn Stars | 10.46 |
| 7 | Barry Briggs | |
Swindon Robins | 10.38 |
| 8 | Ronnie Moore | |
Wimbledon Dons | 10.31 |
| 9 | Ray Wilson | |
Leicester Lions | 10.16 |
| 10 | Martin Ashby | |
Swindon Robins | 10.07 |
British League Knockout Cup
The 1972 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners.[7]
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/05 | Ipswich | 46-32 | Sheffield |
| 08/05 | Exeter | 48-30 | Swindon |
| 06/05 | Halifax | 42-36 | Leicester |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/07 | Exeter | 50-28 | Wimbledon |
| 26/06 | Hackney | 52-26 | Cradley Heath |
| 21/06 | Poole | 52-26 | Halifax |
| 16/06 | Newport | 42-36 | Coventry |
| 16/06 | Wolverhampton | 38-40 | Reading |
| 15/06 | Oxford | 35-42 | Kings Lynn |
| 10/06 | Cradley Heath | 39-39 | Hackney |
| 03/06 | Belle Vue | 41-37 | Glasgow |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/08 | Ipswich | 38-40 | Reading |
| 05/08 | Belle Vue | 58-20 | Newport |
| 05/08 | Kings Lynn | 56-22 | Exeter |
| 04/08 | Hackney | 45-33 | Poole |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27/09 | Kings Lynn | 38-40 | Belle Vue |
| 22/09 | Hackney | 40-38 | Reading |
Final
First leg
| Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Barry Thomas 9 Geoff Maloney 7 Dave Kennett 6 Eddie Reeves 4 Laurie Etheridge 2 Hugh Saunders 0 | 40 - 37 | Belle Vue Aces Alan Wilkinson 11 Ivan Mauger 10 Peter Collins 6 Sören Sjösten 6 Chris Pusey 3 Eric Broadbelt 1 Ken Eyre 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Second leg
| Belle Vue Aces Sören Sjösten 10 Chris Pusey 9 Ivan Mauger 8 Ken Eyre 7 Peter Collins 5 Alan Wilkinson 4 Eric Broadbelt 2 | 45 - 33 | Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Geoff Maloney 10 Barry Thomas 6 Dave Kennett 3 Hugh Saunders 2 Eddie Reeves 0 Laurie Etheridge 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82-73.
Final leading averages
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
| 1 | Ole Olsen | |
Wolverhampton Wolves | 11.39 |
| 2 | Ivan Mauger | |
Belle Vue Aces | 11.36 |
| 3 | Terry Betts | |
King's Lynn Stars | 10.51 |
| 4 | Anders Michanek | |
Reading Racers | 10.51 |
| 5 | Barry Briggs | |
Swindon Robins | 10.38 |
| 6 | Eric Boocock | |
Halifax Dukes | 10.36 |
| 7 | Ronnie Moore | |
Wimbledon Dons | 10.34 |
| 8 | Bernt Persson | |
Cradley Heathens | 10.27 |
| 9 | Ray Wilson | |
Leicester Lions | 10.14 |
| 10 | Martin Ashby | |
Swindon Robins | 10.08 |
| 11 | Bob Kilby | |
Exeter Falcons | 9.89 |
| 12 | John Boulger | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
Leicester Lions | 9.46 |
| 13 | John Louis | |
Ipswich Witches | 9.39 |
| 14 | Bengt Jansson | |
Hackney Hawks | 9.38 |
| 15 | Garry Middleton | |
Oxford Rebels | 9.24 |
| 16 | Nigel Boocock | |
Coventry Bees | 9.23 |
| 17 | Howard Cole (a.k.a. Kid Brodie) | |
Leicester Lions | 8.94 |
| 18 | Sören Sjösten | |
Belle Vue Aces | 8.92 |
| 19 | Christer Löfqvist | |
Poole Pirates | 8.90 |
| 20 | Jim McMillan |  |
Glasgow Tigers | 8.86 |
Riders & final averages
Belle Vue
- Ivan Mauger 11.36
- Sören Sjösten 8.92
- Peter Collins 8.44
- Chris Pusey 8.20
- Eric Broadbelt 6.72
- Alan Wilkinson 6.68
- Ken Eyre 5.56
- Paul Tyrer 5.11
Coventry
- Nigel Boocock 9.23
- Tony Lomas 8.10
- John Harrhy 7.07
- Jan Simensen 6.85
- Rick France 5.61
- Roy Carter 5.33
- Roger Hill 5.19
- Les Owen 4.52
- Pete Bailey 4.14
Cradley Heath
- Bernt Persson 10.27
- Bob Andrews 7.30
- Roy Trigg 6.95
- Pete Jarman 4.90
- John Hart 4.61
- Mick Handley 4.57
- Jimmy Squibb 3.73
- Ian Ross 2.00
- Dave Perks 0.91
Exeter
- Bob Kilby 9.89
-
Edgar Stangeland 8.23 - Bob Coles 6.29
- Kevin Holden 6.06
- Peter Ingram 5.85
- Bruce Cribb 5.75
- Dave Hemus 5.28
- Chris Julian 4.89
- Phil Woodcock 4.00
- Clark Facey 1.18
Glasgow
- Jimmy McMillan 8.86
- Bobby Beaton 8.58
- George Hunter 8.41
- Charlie Monk 6.91
- Robin Adlington 4.00
- Jimmy Gallacher 3.72
- Paul O'Neal 3.47
- Kjell Gimre 2.09
- Jim Beaton 1.82
Hackney
- Bengt Jansson 9.38
- Barry Thomas 7.79
- Dave Kennett 6.38
- Geoff Maloney 6.32
- Hugh Saunders 6.27
- Laurie Etheridge 6.24
- Eddie Reeves 5.78
- Roger Wright 4.00
- Allen Emmett 3.20
Halifax
- Eric Boocock 10.36
- Göte Nordin 8.16
- Dave Younghusband 7.39
- Alan Jay 5.87
- Greg Kentwell 5.70
- Tommy Roper 5.36
- John Titman 4.03
- Mike Hiftle 3.57
- Malcolm MacKay 3.53
Ipswich
- John Louis 9.39
- Olle Nygren 7.78
- Tommy Johansson 7.67
-
Sándor Lévai 6.96 - Pete Bailey 5.07
- Alan Sage 4.61
- Billy Sanders 4.46
- Tony Davey 4.35
King's Lynn
- Terry Betts 10.51
-
Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 8.94 - Malcolm Simmons 8.36
- Phil Crump 7.30
- Bob Humphreys 6.21
- Ian Turner 5.72
- Barry Crowson 5.47
- Arthur Price 4.75
- Clive Featherby 4.33
Leicester
- Ray Wilson 10.14
- John Boulger 9.46
- Dave Jessup 8.68
- Norman Storer 4.98
- Malcolm Shakespeare 4.81
- Geoff Ambrose 4.47
- Malcolm Brown 3.93
- Alan Cowland 3.25
Newport
- Ronnie Genz 7.45
- Tony Clarke 7.15
- Graham Plant 6.41
- Neil Street 5.28
- Phil Woodcock 4.49
- Bosse Wirebrand 4.36
-
Ted Laessing 3.75 - Barry Duke 3.49
Oxford
- Garry Middleton 9.24
- Øyvind S. Berg 7.97
- Colin Gooddy 6.49
- Malcolm Ballard 6.25
- Rick Timmo 5.14
- Ken McKinlay 4.81
- Norman Strachan 4.37
- Preben Rosenkilde 3.64
- John Davis 3.00
Poole
- Christer Löfqvist 8.90
- Pete Smith 8.00
- Odd Fossengen 6.71
- John Langfield 6.47
- Brian Collins 5.75
- Frank Shuter 5.42
- Mike Cake 4.66
Reading
- Anders Michanek 10.51
- Dag Lövaas 8.78
- Geoff Curtis 7.73
- Geoff Mudge 7.07
- Richard May 6.38
- Mick Bell 6.24
- Bernie Leigh 5.02
- Graeme Smith 3.77
Sheffield
- Reidar Eide 8.85
- Arnold Haley 8.81
- Doug Wyer 7.46
- Reg Wilson 7.34
- Bert Harkins 7.15
- Bob Valentine 7.15
- Bob Paulson 6.33
Swindon
- Barry Briggs 10.38
- Martin Ashby 10.08
- Norman Hunter 6.08
- Mike Broadbank 4.88
- Brian Leonard 4.62
- Clive Hitch 4.21
- Mike Keen 3.88
- James Bond 3.56
- David Ashby 2.00
Wimbledon
- Ronnie Moore 10.34
- Trevor Hedge 8.13
- Tommy Jansson 7.45
- John Dews 5.02
- Graeme Stapleton 4.45
- Peter Murray 3.96
- Jim Tebby 3.53
- Neil Cameron 3.26
- Pete Wigley 1.71
Wolverhampton
- Ole Olsen 11.39
- Jan Simensen 7.76
- Norman Hunter 6.67
- Dave Gifford 5.88
- Tom Leadbitter 4.59
- Jon Erskine 4.04
- Dave Baugh 3.75
- Colin Meredith 1.65
References
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- "Svein Kasa". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- Bamford,R & Shailes,G (2007). “The Story of Oxford Speedway”. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0
- "1972 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- "Season 1972" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
United Kingdom Speedway Seasons | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tier One League Top division |
|  |
| Tier Two League Second division |
| |
| Tier Three League Third division | ||
| Champions | ||
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