The 1971 British League season was the 37th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh season known as the British League.
Summary Reading Racers moved up from Division 2 after taking the Newcastle Diamonds division 1 licence. Belle Vue Aces retained their title to become the first team to win the title for the second time. The team included three time world champion Ivan Mauger, Swedish international Sören Sjösten, Tommy Roper, Eric Broadbelt, Chris Pusey and a 17 year old Peter Collins in his debut season.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Belle Vue Aces 36 25 1 10 512 Leicester Lions 36 22 3 11 473 Coventry Bees 36 23 0 13 464 Sheffield Tigers 36 21 1 14 435 Swindon Robins 36 19 3 14 406 Reading Racers 36 18 4 14 417 Hackney Hawks 36 17 4 15 388 Newport Wasps 36 19 0 17 379 Wembley Lions 36 17 3 16 3710 Wimbledon Dons 36 18 1 17 3611 Poole Pirates 36 17 2 17 3512 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 17 1 18 3413 King's Lynn Stars 36 16 2 18 3414 Halifax Dukes 36 16 2 18 3215 Exeter Falcons 36 16 0 20 3116 Glasgow Tigers 36 15 1 20 2517 Oxford Cheetahs 36 12 1 23 2018 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 8 4 24 2019 West Ham Hammers 36 9 1 26 19M = 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 11.42 2 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.97 3 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.96 4 Jim Airey Sheffield 10.70 5 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.64 6 Bengt Jansson Hackney 10.21 7 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.14 8 Anders Michanek Reading 10.03 9 Nigel Boocock Coventry 9.95 10 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 9.93
British League Knockout Cup The 1971 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 33rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Hackney were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two08/05 Halifax 49–29 West Ham08/05 Swindon 43–35 Wimbledon06/05 Oxford 46–32 Poole Second round Date Team one Score Team two25/06 Wolverhampton 43–35 Belle Vue21/06 Reading 38–40 Cradley Heath17/06 Oxford 39–38 Exeter12/06 King's Lynn 46–32 Newport11/06 Glasgow 43–34 Leicester10/06 Sheffield 48–30 Wembley05/06 Halifax 42–36 Coventry05/06 Swindon 36–42 Hackney Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two14/08 Halifax 43–35 Sheffield06/08 Wolverhampton 45–32 Oxford31/07 King's Lynn 39–39 Hackney31/07 Cradley Heath 40–38 Glasgow03/09 Hackney 49–29 King's Lynn Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two17/09Hackney 50–27 Halifax06/09 Cradley Heath 50–28 Wolverhampton
Final
First leg
Second leg
Hackney Hawks were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 88-68.
Riders' Championship Ivan Mauger won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ivan Mauger 3 3 3 3 2 14 2 Barry Briggs 2 2 3 2 3 123 Jim McMillan 1 3 2 3 3 124 Bob Kilby 3 0 2 2 3 105 Nigel Boocock 3 2 1 3 0 96 Eric Boocock 2 2 1 1 3 97 Ole Olsen 3 3 2 f fx 8 8 Christer Löfqvist 2 1 0 3 2 89 Jim Airey 1 1 3 1 1 710 Ray Wilson 1 3 1 1 f 611 Reidar Eide 0 2 3 0 1 6 12 Anders Michanek 2 1 0 0 2 513 Ronnie Moore 0 1 2 2 0 5 14 Sándor Lévai 0 0 1 2 1 4 15 Terry Betts 0 0 0 1 1 2 16 Bert Harkins (res) 2 - - - - 217 Bengt Jansson 1 0 0 0 0 1 ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivan Mauger Belle Vue 11.33 2 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.99 3 Ray Wilson Leicester 10.94 4 Jim Airey Sheffield 10.74 5 Barry Briggs Swindon 10.67 6 Bengt Jansson Hackney 10.26 7 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.19 8 Anders Michanek Reading 10.05 9 Nigel Boocock Coventry 9.95 10 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 9.89 11 Martin Ashby Swindon 9.76 12 Bernt Persson Cradley Heath 9.68 13 Terry Betts King's Lynn 9.62 14 Malcolm Simmons King's Lynn 9.22 15 Trevor Hedge Wimbledon 9.18 16 Jim McMillan Glasgow 9.18 17 Sören Sjösten Belle Vue 9.11 18 Reidar Eide Poole 9.10 19 Göte Nordin Wembley 9.04 20 John Boulger Leicester 8.99
London Cup Hackney won the London Cup for only the second time, after previously winning it back in 1936. Pos Team P W D L F A Pts1 Hackney Hawks 440017713582 West Ham Hammers 410315615623 Wimbledon Dons 41031351772
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreWolverhamptonSwindon 41–36, 41–35Oxford Cradley38–40, 33–45
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicesterWolverhampton 41–37, 42–36CradleyCoventry33–45, 27–51
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 82–74
Metropolitan Gold Cup M W D L Pts 1Hackney 6 5 0 1 10 2 Reading 6 3 0 3 6 3 Wimbledon 6 2 1 3 5 4 West Ham 6 1 1 4 3
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
11.33 9.11 7.14 7.01 6.97 6.36 6.30 5.27 4.74 4.50
Coventry
9.95 7.81 7.66 6.16 5.91 5.59 5.07
Cradley Heath
9.68 7.73 7.25 6.00 5.57 4.66 4.25 3.60 2.10 1.54
Exeter
8.92 8.87 6.42 5.94 5.28 5.10 4.42 4.10
Glasgow
9.18 8.29 7.27 6.99 4.80 4.69 3.46
Hackney
10.26 8.97 7.28 5.44 4.88 4.81 4.65 4.49 4.36 4.00
Halifax
10.19 8.80 6.11 6.09 5.01 4.56 4.46 4.24 3.75
King's Lynn
9.62 9.22 (Kid Bodie) 8.11 5.49 5.15 4.93 4.38 3.91 3.79
Leicester
10.94 8.99 8.78 5.47 5.08 4.88 4.44 3.33
Newport
8.76 8.03 7.87 7.24 4.84 4.53 4.42 4.38 2.11
Oxford
7.60 6.98 6.86 6.77 6.70 6.55 4.58 3.89 2.57
Poole
9.10 7.76 7.76 6.03 6.01 4.93 3.14
Reading
10.05 7.74 7.23 6.74 6.13 5.25 4.75 3.30
Sheffield
10.74 7.58 7.04 6.60 6.03 5.92 5.11 4.60
Swindon
10.67 9.76 6.63 4.98 4.78 3.80 3.79 3.43
Wembley
9.04 8.28 7.80 7.43 7.23 5.72 4.21 1.33
West Ham
8.73 8.14 6.51 4.93 4.44 3.82 3.66 3.13 2.98
Wimbledon
9.89 9.18 6.25 5.31 5.13 4.69 4.19
Wolverhampton
10.99 7.61 6.87 6.56 5.06 .4.97 4.80 4.75 3.43 2.67
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References