The 1970 British League season was the 36th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the sixth season known as the British League.
Summary Wembley Lions under the promotion of Trevor Redmond and Bernard Cottrel entered the British league having bought the licence – and inherited the riders – from the Coatbridge Monarchs. It was the first time since 1956 that Wembley would compete in the league.Jacobs, Norman (2001). Speedway in London.
Belle Vue Aces secured their first British League title. The Manchester team were once again led by the brilliant Ivan Mauger who would secure a third consecutive world champion title before the end of the season. He topped the averages with 11.18 as the team finished ten points ahead of their nearest rivals Wimbledon Dons. The Dons found some consolation when winning their third consecutive British League Knockout Cup.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Belle Vue Aces 36 27 2 7 562 Wimbledon Dons 36 22 2 12 463 Coventry Bees 36 22 1 13 454 Leicester Lions 36 21 0 15 425 Poole Pirates 36 20 0 16 406 Halifax Dukes 36 19 1 16 397 Sheffield Tigers 36 18 3 15 398 Glasgow Tigers 36 18 1 17 379 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 16 2 18 3410 Exeter Falcons 36 16 1 19 3411 Hackney Hawks 36 15 2 19 3312 King's Lynn Stars 36 16 0 20 3213 Oxford Cheetahs 36 16 0 20 3214 Wembley Lions 36 15 2 19 3215 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 15 1 20 3116 Swindon Robins 36 14 2 20 3017 Newcastle Diamonds 36 15 0 21 3018 West Ham Hammers 36 14 2 20 3019 Newport Wasps 36 12 0 24 24M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results
Top ten riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.23 2 Anders Michanek Newcastle 10.91 3 Jim Airey Sheffield 10.82 4 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.77 5 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.67 6 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.59 7 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.56 8 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.27 9 Jim McMillan Glasgow 10.26 10 Martin Ashby Exeter 10.14
British League Knockout Cup The 1970 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 32nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon Dons were the winners for the third consecutive year. It was the first time that the competition was sponsored by the Speedway Star.
First round Date Team one Score Team two23/04 Wimbledon 44–34 Hackney21/04 Exeter 51–27 King's Lynn21/04 West Ham 29–49 Belle Vue
Second round Date Team one Score Team two06/06 Halifax 43–35 Coventry06/06 Swindon 44–34 Wolverhampton05/06 Newport 35–43 Leicester01/06 Newcastle 41–37 Wembley28/05 Oxford 38–40 Poole28/05 Sheffield 44–34 Glasgow28/05 Wimbledon 49–29 Cradley Heath23/05 Belle Vue 49–29 Exeter07/05 Romford 48–30 Reading
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two25/07 Belle Vue 56–22 Poole22/07 Swindon 46–32 Leicester02/07 Sheffield 41–37 Halifax25/06 Wimbledon 46–32 Newcastle
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two24/09 Wimbledon 44–34 Swindon23/09 Belle Vue 40–38 Sheffield
Final
First leg
Second leg
Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 80-75.
Riders' Championship Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the sixth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 17 October. He won a three way run off for the title.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Barry Briggs 3 3 1 3 3 13+32 Anders Michanek 3 2 3 3 2 13+23 Eric Boocock 2 3 2 3 3 13+14 Ronnie Moore 3 2 3 3 1 12 5 Ivan Mauger 3 1 3 ex 3 10 6 Nigel Boocock 2 3 1 2 2 10 7 Jim Airey 2 3 2 1 1 98 Martin Ashby 0 1 1 2 3 7 9 Reidar Eide 2 1 2 1 1 710 Ray Wilson 0 2 0 2 1 5 11 Bernt Persson 1 1 0 1 2 5 12 Ole Olsen 1 2 2 0 0 5 13 Terry Betts 0 0 0 2 2 4 14 Charlie Monk 1 0 3 0 0 4 15 Olle Nygren 0 0 1 0 0 116 Hasse Holmqvist 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 Sándor Lévai (res) 1 - - - - 1 ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.18 2 Anders Michanek Newcastle 10.88 3 Jim Airey Sheffield 10.86 4 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.80 5 Nigel Boocock Coventry 10.66 6 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.54 7 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.53 8 Jim McMillan Glasgow 10.27 9 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.25 10 Martin Ashby Exeter 10.09 11 Trevor Hedge Wimbledon 9.97 12 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 9.95 13 Bob Kilby Swindon 9.68 14 Sören Sjösten Belle Vue 9.66 15 Bengt Jansson Hackney 9.49 16 Bruce Cribb Exeter 9.47 17 Olle Nygren West Ham 9.36 18 John Boulger Leicester 9.34 19 Bernt Persson Cradley Heath 9.29 20 Terry Betts King's Lynn 922
London Cup Wimbledon won the London Cup for the third consecutive year. Pos Team P W D L F A Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 43 0 1 178 133 62 Hackney Hawks 4 2 0 2 174 138 43 West Ham Hammers 4 1 0 3 129 182 2
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreWolverhampton Cradley 42–36, 35–43OxfordSwindon37–41, 32–46
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreCradleyCoventry 43–35, 29–49 Swindon Leicester36–41, 33–45
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 83–73
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
11.18 9.66 7.91 7.31 5.79 5.33 5.33 4.25 3.52
Coventry
10.66 8.50 7.78 6.08 5.91 5.90 5.66 1.58
Cradley Heath
9.29 8.45 7.75 7.51 4.38 4.09 3.50 2.65
Exeter
10.09 9.47 6.81 6.09 5.30 5.21 4.81 4.62
Glasgow
10.27 8.53 7.79 5.36 5.33 5.33 3.64 1.85 1.64
Hackney
9.49 8.20 6.08 6.01 5.96 4.83 4.71 3.59
Halifax
10.54 8.21 7.80 7.04 5.95 5.80 4.27
King's Lynn
9.22 (Kid Bodie) 8.49 7.58 5.05 4.97 4.44 4.36 4.32 3.31
Leicester
10.80 9.34 6.72 5.71 5.04 4.76 4.51 3.43
Newcastle
10.88 7.88 6.62 5.15 4.30 4.06 3.91
Newport
8.45 7.78 6.38 4.57 4.34 4.09 3.91 3.77 2.24
Oxford
9.10 7.03 6.66 6.48 6.38 5.89 4.76 2.82
Poole
7.93 7.72 7.39 7.29 5.84 4.76 4.70 2.36
Sheffield
10.86 8.88 7.03 5.32 5.20 4.27 3.23 2.54
Swindon
10.53 9.68 5.58 5.26 4.57 4.34 3.45
Wembley
9.10 7.93 7.31 5.85 4.76 4.17 3.82 3.26 2.43
West Ham
9.36 7.82 7.45 5.62 5.38 4.63 4.61 4.25 4.15 3.56
Wimbledon
9.97 9.95 7.74 6.67 6.34 5.93 4.25 3.78 2.33
Wolverhampton
10.25 7.33 6.62 5.31 5.29 5.23 5.12 4.07
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References