The 1974 British League season was the 40th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the tenth season known as the British League.

Summary The 1973 Champions Reading didn't compete as they no longer had a stadium, following the closure of Reading Stadium and Hull Vikings replaced them. The league was reduced to seventeen teams when the Coatbridge Tigers dropped down to Division Two. Overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad were banned which meant that top Swedish riders such as Anders Michanek, Bernt Persson, Tommy Jansson and Christer Löfqvist didn't compete.

The Exeter Falcons won their first title. They were headed by the legendary four time world champion Ivan Mauger and backed up well by Scott Autrey (8.32), Tony Lomas (7.29) and Kevin Holden (7.26).

At the end of the season Oxford Rebels finished four points above the Hull Vikings courtesy of a protest over Hull's victory against the Rebels. Hull were later re-awarded the points after a close season hearing and moved above the Rebels.

Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Exeter Falcons 32 25 1 6 512 Belle Vue Aces 32 23 0 9 463 Ipswich Witches 32 22 1 9 454 Sheffield Tigers 32 21 0 11 425 King's Lynn Stars 32 20 1 11 416 Newport 32 17 3 12 377 Halifax Dukes 32 14 3 15 318 Wimbledon Dons 32 14 1 17 299 Hackney Hawks 32 13 2 17 2810 Leicester Lions 32 13 1 18 2711 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 13 1 18 2712 Swindon Robins 32 12 2 18 2613 Cradley United 32 12 1 19 2514 Poole Pirates 32 12 1 19 2515 Coventry Bees 32 12 0 20 2416 Hull Vikings 32 10 0 22 2017 Oxford Rebels 32 10 0 22 20M = 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 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 11.21 2 Ivan Mauger Exeter 11.15 3 Phil Crump Newport 10.77 4 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.73 5 John Louis Ipswich 10.73 6 Terry Betts King's Lynn 10.26 7 Dag Lövaas Hackney 10.15 8 Martin Ashby Swindon 10.10 9 John Boulger Cradley 9.94 10 Eric Boocock Halifax 9.92

British League Knockout Cup The 1974 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 36th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Sheffield were the winners.

First round Date Team one Score Team two20/04 Cradley United 40–38 Wolverhampton19/04 Ipswich 50–28 Oxford12/04 Wolverhampton 48–30 Cradley United21/03 Oxford 40–37 Ipswich Second round Date Team one Score Team two07/06 Wolverhampton 36–42 Kings Lynn04/06 Wimbledon 38–40 Ipswich30/05 Ipswich 52–26 Wimbledon29/05 Hull 38–40 Sheffield25/05 Coventry 42–36 Leicester22/05 Belle Vue 53–25 Halifax18/05 Kings Lynn 45–33 Wolverhampton17/05 Hackney 40–38 Poole15/05 Poole 42–36 Hackney13/05 Halifax 35–43 Belle Vue09/05 Sheffield 52–26 Hull07/05 Leicester 43–35 Coventry27/04 Swindon 40–38 Newport26/04 Newport 42–36 Swindon Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two31/07 Poole 38–40 Kings Lynn20/07 King's Lynn 38–40 Poole16/07 Leicester 38–40 Ipswich08/07 Sheffield 46–32 Newport06/07 Belle Vue 44–32 Exeter05/07 Newport 35–43 Sheffield20/06 Ipswich 42–36 Leicester10/06 Exeter46–32 Belle Vue24/08 Kings Lynn 42–36 Poole21/08 Poole 45–32 Kings Lynn Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/09 Sheffield 46–32 Poole04/09 Poole 37–40 Sheffield29/08 Ipswich 50–28 Exeter19/08 Exeter 42–36 Ipswich

Final

First leg

Second leg

Sheffield Tigers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-65.

Riders' Championship Peter Collins won the British League Riders' Championship held at Hyde Road on 19 October.

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Peter Collins 3 3 3 3 3 152 Ivan Mauger 2 2 3 3 2 123 Phil Crump 1 3 2 3 3 124 John Louis 3 2 1 2 3 11 5 Bob Valentine 3 1 2 2 3 11 6 Dave Jessup 2 3 1 2 2 107 Martin Ashby 1 2 2 1 2 8 8 George Hunter 2 0 3 2 0 7 9 Barry Briggs 0 2 EF 3 2 710 Jim McMillan 1 3 0 1 1 6 11 John Boulger 2 1 2 EF 1 6 12 Eric Boocock 0 1 3 0 1 5 13 Bob Kilby 3 F R 1 0 4 14 Dag Lövaas 0 0 1 1 1 315 Terry Betts 1 0 1 0 0 2 16 Nigel Boocock 0 1 0 0 EF 1 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded

Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton 11.39 2 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.98 3 Ivan Mauger Exeter 10.88 4 Phil Crump Newport 10.79 5 John Louis Ipswich 10.79 6 Terry Betts King's Lynn 10.32 7 Dag Lövaas Hackney 10.17 8 Martin Ashby Swindon 10.09 9 John Boulger Cradley 10.06 10 Bob Valentine Sheffield 9.92 11 Malcolm Simmons King's Lynn 9.78 13 Sören Sjösten Belle Vue 9.72 14 Jim McMillan Hull 9.71 15 Dave Jessup Leicester 9.66 15 Eric Boocock Halifax 9.61 17 Reidar Eide Newport 9.42 18 Billy Sanders Ipswich 9.34 19 Ray Wilson Leicester 9.34 20 Barry Briggs Wimbledon 9.30

Spring Gold Cup

East Group Team P W D L PtsIpswich 6 5 0 1 10 King's Lynn 6 3 1 2 7 Hackney 6 2 1 3 5 Wimbledon 6 1 0 5 2

West Group Team PL W D L PtsNewport 6 5 0 1 10 Exeter 6 3 0 3 6 Oxford 6 3 0 3 6 Poole 6 1 0 5 2

East Group

West Group

Final Team one Team two ScoresIpswich Newport44–34, 30–48

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

First round Team one Team two ScoreOxfordSwindon 41–37, 34–44CoventryCradley39–39, 28–50

Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicesterSwindon 41–37, 41–37 CradleyWolverhampton 32–46, 38–40

Final first leg

Final second leg

Leicester won on aggregate 85–71

London Cup Wimbledon won the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.

Results Team Score TeamWimbledon 46–32HackneyHackney 39–39Wimbledon

Northern Trophy M W D L Pts 1Sheffield 6 5 0 1 10 2 Belle Vue 6 4 0 2 8 3 Halifax 6 2 1 3 5 4 Hull 6 0 1 5 1

Riders and final averages Belle Vue

10.98 9.72 8.68 7.47 7.24 6.49 4.15 3.24 2.73

Coventry

8.50 6.70 5.96 5.78 4.97 4.50 4.34 2.13 1.75

Cradley Heath

10.06 (Kid Brodie) 7.70 6.19 5.79 5.56 4.70 4.14 4.00 3.33 2.09

Exeter

10.88 8.32 7.79 7.29 7.26 5.57 5.52 4.76 4.23

Hackney

10.17 7.78 6.34 5.76 5.37 5.33 5.29 4.48

Halifax

9.61 7.50 7.20 7.01 5.43 4.81 4.75 2.77 2.61

Hull

9.71 7.77 5.73 5.52 5.14 5.11 5.09 4.14

Ipswich

10.79 9.34 8.29 6.19 5.53 5.18 4.80 4.50 4.29

King's Lynn

10.32 9.78 6.36 5.81 5.25 4.87 4.77

Leicester

9.66 9.34 6.46 5.77 5.41 3.45 3.29 2.62

Newport

10.79 9.42 7.70 5.26 5.08 4.76 4.36 4.15

Oxford

8.32 7.32 6.89 6.86 6.76 5.18 4.15 4.00 3.72 1.60

Poole

8.58 7.28 6.31 6.29 5.27 2.54 2.29

Sheffield

9.92 9.23 9.13 7.24 6.98 6.40 5.91 4.70

Swindon

10.09 7.97 6.37 5.10 4.55 4.51 4.06 3.58 2.50

Wimbledon

9.30 7.09 6.64 5.84 5.45 5.17 5.02 3.03

Wolverhampton

11.39 8.04 6.53 5.38 4.28 4.04 3.20 2.59 2.33

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

References