1987 British League season

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]

1987 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsCoventry Bees
No. of competitors12
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
League CupCoventry Bees
IndividualHans Nielsen
PairsOxford Cheetahs
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1987 National League

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]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Coventry Bees 22 19 3 0 11 52
2 Cradley Heath Heathens 22 13 1 8 9 36
3 Swindon Robins 22 12 2 8 7 33
4 Sheffield Tigers 22 13 0 9 6 32
5 Bradford Dukes 22 10 3 9 7 30
6 Ipswich Witches 22 10 3 9 6 29
7 Reading Racers 22 11 2 9 4 28
8 Belle Vue Aces 22 10 1 11 5 26
9 Hackney Kestrels 22 7 3 12 3 20
10 Wolverhampton Wolves 22 6 2 14 3 17
11 Oxford Cheetahs 22 6 1 15 3 16
12 King's Lynn Stars 22 4 1 17 2 11

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
Date Team one Score Team two
10/07Hackney48-42Bradford
10/07Oxford51-39Belle Vue
04/07Kings Lynn41-49Sheffield
13/06Swindon47-43Wolverhampton
04/06Sheffield51-39Kings Lynn
01/06Wolverhampton44-46Swindon
30/05Belle Vue47-43Oxford
30/05Bradford49-41Hackney

Quarter-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
15/09Bradford41-49Cradley Heath
15/08Swindon43-47Reading
07/08Oxford48-42Ipswich
06/08Ipswich47-43Oxford
05/08Cradley Heath55-35Bradford
27/07Reading48-41Swindon
13/07Sheffield48-42Coventry
11/07Coventry51-38Sheffield

Semi-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
30/09Coventry48-42Reading
30/09Oxford47-43Cradley Heath
16/09Cradley Heath39-33 AOxford
07/09Reading47-43Coventry

Final

First leg

Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 17
John Jørgensen 8
David Bargh 8
David Clarke 6
Wayne Broadhurst 3
Rick Miller 3
Kelvin Tatum 0 (inj)		45 - 45Cradley Heath
David Walsh 12
Erik Gundersen 11
Jan O. Pedersen 11
Simon Cross 8
Jan Jakobsen 2
Paul Fry 1
Nigel Leaver 0
[5]

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 11
Jan O. Pedersen 11
David Walsh 11
Simon Cross 9
Paul Fry 4
Jan Jakobsen 2
Nigel Leaver 1		49 - 41Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 16
Kelly Moran (guest) 7
David Bargh 7
John Jørgensen 5
David Clarke 3
Rick Miller 3
Wayne Broadhurst 3
[5]

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.[6]

Qualifying table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 22 16 1 5 43
2 Oxford Cheetahs 22 14 2 6 39
3 Belle Vue Aces 22 14 1 7 38
4 Cradley Heathens 22 14 0 8 36
5 Sheffield Tigers 22 13 2 7 33
6 Reading Racers 22 12 1 9 31
7 Swindon Robins 22 9 2 11 26
8 Wolverhampton Wolves 22 9 1 12 23
9 Bradford Dukes 22 8 2 12 22
10 Hackney Kestrels 22 6 2 14 17
11 King's Lynn Stars 22 5 1 16 12
11 Ipswich Witches 22 4 1 17 10

Semi-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
14/08Oxford42–36Belle Vue
22/08Belle Vue44–34Oxford
31/08Coventry45–33Cradley Heath
31/08Cradley Heath36–42Coventry

Final
Date Team one Score Team two
15/09Coventry41–37Belle Vue
18/10Belle Vue41–37Coventry

Final replay

Date Team one Score Team two
24/10Coventry46–32Belle Vue
01/11Belle Vue40–38Coventry

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]

Semi Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Swindon16Shirra 8, Nilsen 8
2 Oxford14Nielsen 12 Grahame 2
3 Cradley13Pedersen 7, Gundersen 6
4 Wolverhampton11Ermolenko 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
Rider Team Average
Denmark Hans NielsenOxford11.38
Denmark Erik GundersenCradley Heath10.44
Denmark Tommy KnudsenCoventry10.25
England Kelvin TatumCoventry10.06
United States Sam ErmolenkoWolverhampton9.86
England Jeremy DoncasterIpswich9.67
Sweden Jimmy NilsenSwindon9.61
Denmark Jan O. PedersenCradley Heath9.60
United States Shawn MoranSheffield9.47
England Simon WiggHackney9.38

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Hackney

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "1987 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  4. "1987 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. "Coventry Bees 1987 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  6. "Coventry Bees results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. "Oxford Wins Hans Down". Reading Evening Post. 13 July 1987. Retrieved 18 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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