1977 British League season

The 1977 Gulf British League season was the 43rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom[1] and the 13th season known as the British League.[2]

1977 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsWhite City Rebels
No. of competitors19
Knockout CupKing's Lynn Stars
IndividualOle Olsen
PairsIpswich Witches
Highest averageMichael Lee
Division/s below1977 National League

Summary

Newport had dropped down to the National League but their riders transferred to the Bristol Bulldogs so the league retained 19 teams. Cradley Heath reverted to their nickname of Heathens after four years of being called United.[3] The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a third season.[4]

White City Rebels won the title in only their second season of existence. The London team caused a surprise with their consistent form throughout the season with heavy scoring of Gordon Kennett leading the team. The success came from a group of five other riders hitting around a seven average to support Kennett. The five were Englishmen Mike Sampson, Steve Weatherley and Trevor Geer, Pole Marek Cieślak and Finn Kai Niemi.[5] Wolverhampton Wolves signed 18 year-old Danish rider Hans Nielsen.

Kevin Holden of Poole Pirates had started the season in great form for his new club, following his move from Exeter Falcons. He was hitting over a 9 point average but sadly was killed during the home match against Reading on 27 April. After sliding into the fence he ruptured a blood vessel of the heart.[6]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 White City Rebels 36 27 1 8 55
2 Exeter Falcons 36 25 3 8 53
3 Reading Racers 36 25 3 8 53
4 Ipswich Witches 36 25 1 10 51
5 Belle Vue Aces 36 19 3 14 41
6 King's Lynn Stars 36 19 2 15 40
7 Cradley Heathens 36 20 0 16 40
8 Coventry Bees 36 19 1 16 39
9 Wimbledon Dons 36 17 2 17 36
10 Poole Pirates 36 17 2 17 36
11 Swindon Robins 36 17 1 18 35
12 Bristol Bulldogs 36 17 0 19 34
13 Sheffield Tigers 36 16 2 18 34
14 Hull Vikings 36 15 0 21 30
15 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 14 0 22 28
16 Hackney Hawks 36 13 1 22 27
17 Halifax Dukes 36 12 0 24 24
18 Birmingham Brummies 36 8 0 28 16
19 Leicester Lions 36 6 0 30 12

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Michael Lee England King's Lynn Stars 10.64
2 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter Falcons 10.62
3 Peter Collins England Belle Vue Aces 10.49
4 Gordon Kennett England White City Rebels 10.41
5 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry Bees 10.40
6 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich Witches 10.39
7 Anders Michanek Sweden Cradley Heathens 10.35
8 Dave Jessup England Reading Racers 10.27
9 Malcolm Simmons England Poole Pirates 10.22
10 John Davis England Reading Racers 9.84

British League Knockout Cup

The 1977 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 39th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners.[7]

First round
Date Team one Score Team two
18/05Poole41-37Reading
25/04Exeter50-28Swindon
25/04Reading43-35Poole
15/04Wolverhampton51-27Leicester
12/04Leicester40-38Wolverhampton

Second round
Date Team one Score Team two
23/07Halifax38-40Reading
22/07Wolverhampton41-37Kings Lynn
28/06White City51-27Birmingham
20/06Birmingham34-44White City
18/06Coventry57-21Exeter
18/06Kings Lynn55-23Wolverhampton
17/06Bristol56-22Wimbledon
16/06Wimbledon48-30Bristol
13/06Exeter38-40Coventry
09/06Sheffield46-32Hackney
08/06Hull46-32Cradley Heath
11/06Cradley Heath42-36Hull
03/06Hackney49-29Sheffield
02/06Ipswich38-40Belle Vue
30/05Reading53-25Halifax

Quarter-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
22/08Reading51-27Belle Vue
08/08White City50-28Coventry
06/08Kings Lynn42-36Hackney
05/08Bristol52-26Hull
03/08Coventry43-35White City
03/08Hull49-29Bristol
29/07Hackney34-44Kings Lynn

Semi-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
14/10Bristol42-36Reading
10/10Reading47-31Bristol
24/09Kings Lynn44-34White City
21/09White City42-34Kings Lynn

Final

First leg

Reading Racers
John Davis 10
Dave Jessup 8
Hans Wassermann 7
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
Bob Humphreys 3
Ian Gledhill 2		40 - 38King's Lynn Stars
Michael Lee 15
Terry Betts 12
Carl Glover 5
Ian Turner 5
Richard Hellsen 1
Billy Spiers 0
David Gagen 0
[8]

Second leg

King's Lynn Stars
Terry Betts 10
Michael Lee 7
Richard Hellsen 7
David Gagen 6
Ian Turner 6
Billy Spiers 3
Carl Glover 2		41 - 37Reading Racers
Dave Jessup 15
John Davis 8
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
Bob Humphreys 3
Hans Wassermann 1
Ian Gledhill 0
[8]

King's Lynn Stars were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-77.

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Foxhall Stadium on 29 September and was won by Ipswich Witches for the second consecutive year.[9]

PosTeamPtsRiders
1Ipswich Witches26Billy Sanders 14, John Louis 12
2King's Lynn Stars23Michael Lee 18, David Gagen 5
3White City Rebels20Gordon Kennett 13, Steve Weatherley 7
4Wolverhampton Wolves17Jim McMillan 10, Finn Thomsen 7
5Reading Racers17Dave Jessup 10, John Davis 7
6Belle Vue Aces12Alan Wilkinson 8, Chris Morton 4
7Sheffield Tigers11Craig Pendlebury 6, Doug Wyer 5

Final leading averages
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Michael Lee England King's Lynn Stars 10.59
2 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry Bees 10.52
3 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter Falcons 10.50
4 Peter Collins England Belle Vue Aces 10.46
5 Gordon Kennett England White City Rebels 10.41
6 Anders Michanek Sweden Cradley Heathens 10.35
7 Dave Jessup England Reading Racers 10.32
8 Malcolm Simmons England Poole Pirates 10.27
9 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich Witches 10.18
10 John Davis England Reading Racers 9.80

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bristol

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

White City

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  2. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. "IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY.....1977". Poole Speedway. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. "1977 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. "Season 1977" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  9. "Sport in Brief". Birmingham Daily Post. 30 September 1977. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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