The 1973 British League season was the 39th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the ninth season of the British League.

Summary Glasgow Tigers relocated to become Coatbridge Tigers.

The Reading Racers won their first title, ending the dominance of Belle Vue Aces who could only finish in sixth place. Swede Anders Michanek was in imperious form, going undefeated at Reading Stadium (which was in its final year as a venue). He finished with an 11.36 average ahead of the four time world champion Ivan Mauger on 11.29. In addition to Michanek the Reading team was boosted by high scoring from Norwegian Dag Lövaas and Australian Geoff Curtis. In a sensational finish to the 1973 Knockout Cup final Reading were beaten by Belle Vue in a run-off for the Cup after an aggregate draw over two legs.

Reading's success had a sour note after the season had finished when Geoff Curtis returned to Australia for the Australian season and was killed in a race at the Sydney Showground in December.

Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Reading Racers 34 25 1 8 512 Sheffield Tigers 34 22 3 9 473 King's Lynn Stars 34 20 3 11 434 Leicester Lions 34 21 0 13 425 Ipswich Witches 34 19 2 12 416 Belle Vue Aces 34 19 1 14 397 Wolverhampton Wolves 34 18 1 15 378 Exeter Falcons 34 16 3 15 359 Halifax Dukes 34 16 2 16 3410 Newport Wasps 34 16 0 18 3211 Oxford Rebels 34 14 2 18 3012 Wimbledon Dons 34 14 1 19 2913 Swindon Robins 34 13 3 18 2914 Poole Pirates 34 13 2 19 2815 Coventry Bees 34 13 0 21 2616 Hackney Hawks 34 11 4 19 2617 Coatbridge Tigers 34 12 1 21 2518 Cradley United 34 7 4 23 18M = 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 Anders Michanek Reading 11.55 2 Ivan Mauger Exeter 11.30 3 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 11.10 4 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.52 5 Dag Lövaas Reading 10.37 6 Malcolm Simmons King's Lynn 10.33 7 John Boulger Leicester 10.25 8 Chris Pusey Belle Vue 10.24 9 Martin Ashby Swindon 10.11 10 John Louis Ipswich 10.07

British League Knockout Cup The 1973 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 35th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners after Peter Collins of Belle Vue defeated Anders Michanek of Reading in a race-off because the tie had finished 78–78 on aggregate.

First round Date Team one Score Team two28/04 Belle Vue 48–30 Oxford28/04 Coventry 44–34 Reading27/04 Hackney 43–35 Swindon26/04 Oxford 41–37 Belle Vue

Second round Date Team one Score Team two25/06 Reading 56–22 Coatbridge22/06 Coatbridge 41–37 Reading15/06 Wolverhampton 43–35 Exeter14/06 Sheffield 29–49 Belle Vue12/06 Leicester 36–42 Kings Lynn02/06 Belle Vue 43–35 Sheffield02/06 Halifax 49–29 Wimbledon30/05 Poole 40–38 Cradley Heath26/05 Kings Lynn 42–36 Leicester18/05 Newport 45–33 Ipswich17/05 Ipswich 41–37 Newport17/05 Wimbledon 37–41 Halifax12/05 Cradley Heath 37–41 Poole12/05 Swindon 43–35 Hackney07/05 Exeter 37–41 Wolverhampton28/07 Swindon 52–25 Hackney15/06 Hackney 43–35 Swindon

Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two01/09 Swindon 39–39 Wolverhampton17/08 Newport 45–33 Reading17/08 Wolverhampton 43–35 Swindon13/08 Halifax 41–37 Belle Vue10/08 Poole 39–39 Kings Lynn30/07 Reading 55–23 Newport18/07 Belle Vue 57–21 Halifax23/06 Kings Lynn 47–31 Poole

Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two26/09 Belle Vue 48–30 Wolverhampton14/09 Wolverhampton 42–36 Belle Vue05/09 Kings Lynn 40–38 Reading03/09 Reading 52–26 Kings Lynn

Final

First leg

Second leg

Match finished 78–78 on aggregate. Belle Vue won race-off.

Riders' Championship Ivan Mauger won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held at Hyde Road on 3 October and was sponsored by Player's No.10.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ivan Mauger 3 3 3 3 2 14 2 Ray Wilson 1 3 1 3 311 3 Anders Michanek 3 2 EX 3 311 4 Ole Olsen 3 3 3 2 EX 11 5 Arnie Haley 2 1 2 3 3116 Martin Ashby 3 3 3 EX 110 7 Jim McMillan 2 2 1 2 310 8 John Louis 1 1 2 2 28 9 Sören Sjösten 1 2 3 1 F 710 Trevor Hedge 0 2 2 2 EF 6 11 Garry Middleton 2 0 0 1 25 12 Barry Thomas 2 1 0 0 2 5 13 Malcolm Simmons 1 0 2 1 1414 Reidar Eide 0 1 1 0 1 315 Kid Brodie 0 0 1 1 1 316 Bill Andrew (res) 0 0 - - -017 Pete Smith 0 EF - 0 0 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded

Leading final averages Both Anders Michanek and Ivan Mauger recorded perfect 12 point average scores at home for the season, meaning they were unbeaten by any opposing rider on their own track in League competition. Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Anders Michanek Reading 11.36 2 Ivan Mauger Exeter 11.29 3 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 10.82 4 Chris Pusey Belle Vue 10.55 5 Eric Boocock Halifax 10.32 6 Malcolm Simmons King's Lynn 10.26 7 John Boulger Leicester 10.24 8 Martin Ashby Swindon 10.18 9 John Louis Ipswich 10.06 10 Dag Lövaas Reading 10.06 11 Terry Betts King's Lynn 9.95 12 Reidar Eide Newport 977 13 Christer Löfqvist Poole 9.58 14 Ray Wilson Leicester 9.44 15 Bernt Persson Cradley United 9.38 16 Bob Valentine Sheffield 9.30 17 Dave Jessup Leicester 9.24 18 Tommy Jansson Wimbledon 9.19 19 Howard Cole (a.k.a. Kid Brodie) Cradley United 9.12 20 Peter Collins Belle Vue 9.08

London Cup Hackney won the London Cup for just the third time but there were now only two teams remaining in London.

Results Team Score TeamWimbledon 40–37HackneyHackney 45–33Wimbledon

Midland Cup Wolverhampton won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round Team one Team two ScoreSwindonOxford 51–27, 38–40CoventryCradley36–42, 32–46

Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicesterCradley 45–33, 56–22 Wolverhampton Swindon43–35

Final first leg

Final Second leg

Wolverhampton won on aggregate 81.5–74.5

Spring Gold Cup M W D L Pts 1King's Lynn 10 7 1 2 15 2 Ipswich 10 6 1 3 13 3 Wimbledon 10 6 0 4 12 4 Hackney 10 4 1 5 9 5 Poole 10 2 2 6 6 6 Reading 10 2 1 7 5

Riders and final averages Belle Vue

10.55 9.08 8.73 7.00 6.94 6.21 5.67 5.16 3.52 3.05

Coatbridge

9.01 8.00 6.38 5.03 4.82 4.55 4.13 1.79

Coventry

8.59 8.33 8.32 6.31 5.55 4.83 4.65 3.44 3.26 3.20 2.53

Cradley Heath

9.38 (Kid Brodie) 9.12 6.62 5.77 4.85 4.49 4.46 4.40 3.44 2.50

Exeter

11.29 7.57 6.38 6.00 5.80 5.34 4.74 4.48

Hackney

8.86 7.83 6.41 5.55 5.44 5.40 5.29 4.31

Halifax

10.32 6.92 6.31 6.25 5.63 5.14 4.19 3.28 2.33 1.22

Ipswich

10.06 7.46 7.43 6.09 5.87 5.68 3.20

King's Lynn

10.26 9.95 6.28 6.07 5.44 5.35 4.82 4.71 4.22

Leicester

10.24 9.44 9.24 5.80 4.67 4.37 4.21 3.09

Newport

9.77 7.39 7.37 7.28 6.01 4.79 3.93 3.62

Oxford

7.77 7.32 6.42 6.19 6.09 5.81 5.72 5.38 4.80 3.24

Poole

9.58 8.30 7.18 6.49 5.93 5.36 4.34 3.70 2.40 2.10

Reading

11.36 10.06 8.23 6.05 5.83 5.28 4.46 3.20

Sheffield

9.30 7.78 7.72 7.36 7.06 6.92 6.85

Swindon

10.18 7.34 6.81 6.67 4.90 4.25 4.18 3.58 2.48 0.94 0.50

Wimbledon

9.19 7.74 6.95 6.75 5.09 5.09 4.72 3.06 2.09

Wolverhampton

10.82 7.93 6.73 5.99 5.47 4.67 4.63 4.55 4.33 3.82 2.95

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

References