The 1969 British League season was the 35th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fifth season known as the British League.

Summary The 19 competitors were the same as the previous season.

Poole Pirates won their first title. The Pirates were extremely consistent and despite their riders not coming in the top 18 league averages they won the league by a clear 6 points. Pete Smith was their top rider with an average of 9.34 but aided by four other riders (Geoff Mudge (9.05), Odd Fossengen (7.73), Bruce Cribb (7.31) and Gordon Guasco (7.26)) they were able to claim the title. Wimbledon Dons had a much better season than the last, finishing third and managed to retain their British League Knockout Cup crown. Belle Vue Aces finished runner-up, mainly due to the performances of their outstanding World champion rider Ivan Mauger; the New Zealander finished with an average of 11.67 and would also seal his second world title before the end of the season.

Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Poole Pirates 36 26 1 9 532 Belle Vue Aces 36 23 1 12 473 Wimbledon Dons 36 22 2 12 464 Halifax Dukes 36 22 2 12 465 Leicester Lions 36 21 2 13 446 Sheffield Tigers 36 19 1 16 397 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 18 2 16 388 Glasgow Tigers 36 17 3 16 379 King's Lynn Stars 36 18 0 18 3610 Swindon Robins 36 18 0 18 3611 Coatbridge Monarchs 36 17 1 18 3512 Exeter Falcons 36 16 0 20 3213 Newcastle Diamonds 36 15 2 19 3214 Coventry Bees 36 14 3 19 3115 Oxford Cheetahs 36 15 1 20 3116 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 13 1 22 2717 Newport Wasps 36 13 1 22 2718 West Ham Hammers 36 11 3 22 2519 Hackney Hawks 36 10 2 24 22M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Fixtures and results

+ match awarded to away team

Top ten riders (league only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.45 2 Barry Briggs Swindon 11.09 3 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.88 4 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.77 5 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.48 6 Norman Hunter Wolverhampton 10.44 7 Trevor Hedge Wimbledon 10.17 8 Ole Olsen Newcastle 10.08 9 Jim McMillan Glasgow 9.97 10 Martin Ashby Exeter 9.96

British League Knockout Cup The 1969 British League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.

First round Date Team one Score Team two10/05 Coatbridge 53–25 Hackney06/05 Leicester 54–24 Newport06/05 West Ham 39–39 Kings Lynn31/05 Kings Lynn 39–39 West Ham17/06 West Ham 36–42 Kings Lynn Second round Date Team one Score Team two10/07 Sheffield 52–26 Kings Lynn17/06 West Ham 36–42 Oxford14/06 Canterbury 51–26 Crayford14/06 Coventry 46–32 Oxford14/06 Cradley Heath 41–37 Glasgow11/06 Poole 43–35 Coatbridge09/06 Exeter 36–42 Wimbledon09/06 Newcastle 36–42 Belle Vue07/06 Halifax 43–35 Wolverhampton Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two02/08 Belle Vue 38–40 Sheffield31/07 Wimbledon 49–29 Poole21/07 Cradley Heath 41–37 Swindon05/07 Halifax 47–31 Coventry Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two27/09 Cradley Heath 36–42 Wimbledon21/08 Sheffield 43.5-34.5 Halifax

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-62.

Riders' Championship Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the fifth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 18 October.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Barry Briggs 3 3 3 3 2 142 Ivan Mauger 3 3 3 ef 3 123 Jim Airey 1 2 3 3 3 124 Martin Ashby 1 3 2 3 2 115 Eric Boocock 3 2 1 2 2 106 Roy Trigg 2 2 2 2 1 9 7 Ray Wilson 0 3 3 2 f 8 8 Trevor Hedge 2 1 2 2 1 8 9 Sándor Lévai 3 0 1 1 2 7 10 Tony Clarke 2 2 0 1 1 6 11 Ole Olsen ex ef ef 3 3 612 Terry Betts 0 0 1 1 3 5 13 Reidar Eide 1 1 2 1 0 514 Jim McMillan 2 1 0 0 0 3 15 Colin Gooddy 1 0 1 0 r 2 16 Pete Smith 0 1 0 0 1 2 17 James Bond 0 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.67 2 Barry Briggs Swindon 11.12 3 Eric Boocock Halifax 11.08 4 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.78 5 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.56 6 Ole Olsen Newcastle 10.39 7 Norman Hunter Wolverhampton 10.35 8 Trevor Hedge Wimbledon 10.33 9 Sören Sjösten Belle Vue 10.09 10 Reidar Eide Coatbridge 10.01 11 Jim McMillan Glasgow 10.01 12 Martin Ashby Exeter 9.97 13 Jim Airey Sheffield 9.90 14 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 9.74 15 Charlie Monk Glasgow 9.56 16 Reg Luckhurst Wimbledon 9.39 17 Dave Younghusband Halifax 9.38 18 Terry Betts King's Lynn 9.35 19 Pete Smith Poole 9.34 20 Roy Trigg Cradley Heath 9.27

London Cup Wimbledon retained the London Cup. Pos Team P W D L F A Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 440 0 19012182 West Ham Hammers 41 0 3 154 157 23 Hackney Hawks 41 0 3 122 188 2

Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams.

First round Team one Team two ScoreLeicesterWolverhampton43–35, 38–40Oxford Cradley 39–39, 32–45

Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreCradleyCoventry 37–41, 31–47 Leicester Swindon44.5–33.5, 40–38

Final

First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages Belle Vue

11.67 10.09 8.58 6.41 5.92 4.60 4.33 4.30 4.14 3.84 3.56 3.24

Coatbridge

10.01 7.94 7.14 6.39 5.93 5.17 4.24 3.82

Coventry

10.78 7.55 7.36 6.81 6.67 5.54 5.41 4.83 4.74 3.28

Cradley Heath

9.27 9.11 7.93 5.29 4.90 4.31 4.15 1.29

Exeter

9.97 8.12 7.31 5.22 5.15 4.95 4.75 4.55 4.27

Glasgow

10.01 9.56 8.09 5.61 5.01 4.25 3.41 2.91

Hackney

7.35 7.05 6.33 6.17 5.45 5.10 5.03 4.88 4.50 3.10

Halifax

11.08 9.38 7.67 7.16 6.23 5.33 4.00 3.76

King's Lynn

9.35 8.14 (Kid Bodie) 7.72 6.44 4.95 4.89 4.19

Leicester

10.56 8.76 6.47 6.44 6.21 5.16 4.88

Newcastle

10.39 7.34 4.80 4.63 4.27 4.00 3.47 3.23

Newport

8.34 6.29 6.06 5.95 5.92 5.83 4.67 3.74 2.73

Oxford

8.08 8.03 7.24 7.00 6.65 5.27 4.17 4.00 4.00 3.61

Poole

9.34 9.05 7.73 7.31 7.26 5.55 4.50

Sheffield

9.90 8.62 8.43 6.00 5.85 5.59 5.42 3.80 0.50

Swindon

11.12 7.78 6.71 6.13 5.43 4.87 4.76 2.04

West Ham

9.78 8.49 7.91 7.69 5.30 5.03 4.07 3.63 3.62 2.20 1.87

Wimbledon

10.33 9.74 9.39 6.56 6.34 6.10 5.57 3.30

Wolverhampton

10.35 7.38 7.27 6.11 5.98 5.70 5.22 3.76 3.26

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

References