The 1968 British League season was the 34th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fourth season known as the British League.

Summary Edinburgh relocated to become the Coatbridge Monarchs. The Long Eaton team closed its doors, but a new team in Leicester returned to speedway to join the League. Long Eaton promoters Ron Wilson and Reg Fearman moved the speedway licence to Leicester Stadium because of concerns over increased stock car events damaging the Long Eaton Stadium speedway track.

Coventry Bees secured their first title on points difference and after they scored points in the last heat of their last match away at King's Lynn. The title win came after two consecutive years as being runner-up. Coventry's Nigel Boocock was again one of the league's leading riders with his average going well above ten for the fifth consecutive year. He was well supported by Ron Mountford and Czechoslovak star Antonín Kasper Sr. Wimbledon Dons who could only manage a mid table finish went on to win the British League Knockout Cup.

Final table M W D L F A Pts 1 Coventry Bees 36 22 0 14 1436 1369 44 2 Hackney Hawks 36 21 2 13 1421 1383 44 3 Exeter Falcons 36 20 1 15 1556.5 1248.5 41 4 Sheffield Tigers 36 20 1 15 1463.5 1337.5 41 5 Newcastle Diamonds 36 20 0 16 1454 1350 40 6 West Ham Hammers 36 19 1 16 1454 1348 39 7 Halifax Dukes 36 19 1 16 1424 1379 39 8 Coatbridge Monarchs 36 18 1 17 1404 1397 37 9 Wimbledon Dons 36 18 0 18 1411 1384 36 10 Belle Vue Aces 36 18 0 18 1387 1417 36 11 Swindon Robins 36 17 1 18 1448 1353 35 12 Leicester Lions 36 17 1 18 1373 1430 35 13 Newport Wasps 36 17 1 18 1348 1457 35 14 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 15 4 17 1373 1430 34 15 Oxford Cheetahs 36 17 0 19 1319 1487 34 16 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 16 0 20 1388 1413 32 17 Poole Pirates 36 13 2 21 1327 1478 28 18 King's Lynn Stars 36 13 1 22 1330 1473 27 19 Glasgow Tigers 36 13 1 22 1312 1495 27M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Fixtures & results

Top Ten Riders (League averages)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Newcastle 11.40 2 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.88 3 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.79 4 Martin Ashby Exeter 10.68 5 Charlie Monk Sheffield 10.14 6 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.13 7 Anders Michanek Leicester 10.07 8 Norman Hunter West Ham 9.94 9 Sverre Harrfeldt West Ham 9.88 10 Torbjörn Harrysson Newport 9.82

British League Knockout Cup The 1968 British League Knockout Cup was the 30th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.

First round Date Team one Score Team two27/04 Coatbridge 66–42 Glasgow27/04 Halifax 57–51 Exeter16/04 West Ham 55–52 Hackney

Second round Date Team one Score Team two01/06 Belle Vue 64–44 West Ham14/05 Leicester 52–56 Coventry20/05 Newcastle 77–30 Coatbridge23/05 Sheffield 71–37 Cradley Heath25/05 Swindon 58–50 Oxford23/05 Wimbledon 60–48 Kings Lynn22/05 Poole 56–52 Newport17/05 Wolverhampton 60–47 Halifax

Third round Date Team one Score Team two17/08 Belle Vue 65–42 Sheffield26/07 Poole 54–54 Swindon27/06 Wimbledon 64–44 Newcastle28/06Wolverhampton 58–50 Coventry23/08replay Swindon 60–47 Poole

Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two20/09 Wolverhampton 67–40 Belle Vue12/09 Wimbledon 80–28 Swindon

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 118-98.

Riders' Championship Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the fourth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 19 October. Briggs defeated Boocock in a run off for the title.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Barry Briggs 3 3 3 2 3 142 Nigel Boocock 3 3 3 3 2143 Ivan Mauger 2 3 3 3 2 134 Torbjörn Harrysson 3 2 3 3 f 11 5 Martin Ashby 3 2 2 1 3 116 Terry Betts 1 2 1 3 1 87 Sören Sjösten 2 r 2 1 3 88 Anders Michanek 0 3 1 2 2 89 Hasse Holmqvist 2 1 1 2 1 710 Bernt Persson 1 1 2 2 1 711 Charlie Monk 2 2 0 0 1 512 Norman Hunter 1 1 ef 0 3 5 13 Nigel Boocock ef 0 2 1 2 514 Olle Nygren 0 1 ef 1 0 2 15 Colin Pratt 1 ef 1 0 0 2 16 Roy Trigg ef ns 0 0 0 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Newcastle 11.37 2 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.87 3 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.74 4 Martin Ashby Exeter 10.72 5 Anders Michanek Leicester 10.19 6 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.17 7 Charlie Monk Sheffield 10.07 8 Sverre Harrfeldt West Ham 9.78 9 Torbjörn Harrysson Newport 9.82 10 Norman Hunter West Ham 9.71 11 Ron Mountford Coventry 9.62 12 Hasse Holmqvist Wolverhampton 9.58 13 Colin Pratt Hackney 9.58 14 Terry Betts King's Lynn 9.45 15 Malcolm Simmons King's Lynn 9.40 16 Ole Olsen Newcastle 9.39 17 Ray Wilson Leicester 9.37 18 Olle Nygren Wimbledon 9.39 19 Bernt Persson Edinburgh 9.28 20 Jim Airey Wolverhampton 9.24

London Cup Wimbledon won the London Cup. Pos Team P W D L F A Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 430123319862 West Ham Hammers 4211 22520753 Hackney Hawks 40 1 3 1892421

Midland Cup Swindon won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive season. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round Team one Team two ScoreOxford Wolverhampton 42–36, 41–37LeicesterCradley 45–32, 41–37

Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Cradley 45–32, 36–42 Swindon Oxford46–32, 39–38

Final

First leg

Second leg

Swindon won on aggregate 78–77

Riders and final averages Belle Vue

9.13 8.50 7.40 7.34 5.62 5.56 4.48 4.29 3.65 2.78

Coatbridge

9.28 9.02 6.48 6.36 6.05 4.39 3.62

Coventry

10.74 9.62 7.51 7.09 6.46 6.13 5.46 4.73 3.40 1.88

Cradley Heath

8.91 7.70 6.71 6.32 6.20 5.67 5.02 5.02 4.19 3.62 3.16

Exeter

10.72 7.70 7.51 7.46 7.31 6.37 5.71 4.64

Glasgow

8.31 7.91 7.43 6.79 5.78 5.68 4.92 4.79 4.17 2.37

Hackney

9.58 8.99 6.74 6.24 6.08 5.31 4.40 4.08 3.17

Halifax

10.17 8.83 7.95 6.27 5.94 5.43 3.88 3.75 3.69

King's Lynn

9.45 9.40 6.11 (Kid Bodie) 5.94 5.24 5.10 4.34 4.29 4.00

Leicester

10.19 9.37 6.62 5.51 5.43 5.24 4.06 2.80 2.58

Newcastle'

11.37 9.39 6.86 6.08 5.76 5.48 5.09 5.05 3.67 3.56 2.24

Newport

9.73 7.97 6.56 6.47 6.26 5.69 5.72 2.00

Oxford

8.53 7.32 6.87 6.58 5.52 4.38 2.77

Poole

8.32 7.67 7.46 6.94 5.71 5.25 5.14 4.53 4.36

Sheffield

10.07 7.97 7.54 6.79 6.39 6.13 4.76 1.49

Swindon

10.87 8.51 8.20 6.18 5.99 5.25 4.94 4.29

West Ham

9.78 9.71 9.11 5.36 4.95 4.46 3.33 2.57

Wimbledon

9.31 9.15 7.93 5.87 5.61 5.49 5.18 3.54

Wolverhampton

9.58 9.24 7.68 6.82 5.97 4.86 4.30 2.86 2.35 2.29

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

References