The 1977 Gulf British League season was the 43rd season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 13th season known as the British League.
Summary Newport had dropped down to the National League but their riders transferred to the Bristol Bulldogs so the league retained 19 teams. Cradley Heath reverted to their nickname of Heathens after four years of being called United. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a third season.
White City Rebels won the title in only their second season of existence. The London team caused a surprise with their consistent form throughout the season with heavy scoring of Gordon Kennett leading the team. The success came from a group of five other riders hitting around a seven average to support Kennett. The five were Englishmen Mike Sampson, Steve Weatherley and Trevor Geer, Pole Marek Cieślak and Finn Kai Niemi. Wolverhampton Wolves signed 18 year-old Danish rider Hans Nielsen.
Kevin Holden of Poole Pirates had started the season in great form for his new club, following his move from Exeter Falcons. He was hitting over a 9-point average but sadly was killed during the home match against Reading on 27 April. After sliding into the fence he ruptured a blood vessel of the heart.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 White City Rebels 36 27 18552 Exeter Falcons 36 25 3 8 533 Reading Racers 36 25 3 8 534 Ipswich Witches 36 25 1 10 515 Belle Vue Aces 36 19 3 14 416 King's Lynn Stars 36 19 2 15 407 Cradley Heathens 36 20 0 16 408 Coventry Bees 36 19 1 16 399 Wimbledon Dons 36 17 2 17 3610 Poole Pirates 36 17 2 17 3611 Swindon Robins 36 17 1 18 3512 Bristol Bulldogs 36 17 0 19 3413 Sheffield Tigers 36 16 2 18 3414 Hull Vikings 36 15 0 21 3015 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 14 0 22 2816 Hackney Hawks 36 13 1 22 2717 Halifax Dukes 36 12 0 24 2418 Birmingham Brummies 36 8 0 28 1619 Leicester Lions 36 6 0 30 12M = 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 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.64 2 Ivan Mauger Exeter 10.62 3 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.49 4 Gordon Kennett White City 10.41 5 Ole Olsen Coventry 10.40 6 Billy Sanders Ipswich 10.39 7 Anders Michanek Cradley 10.35 8 Dave Jessup Reading 10.27 9 Malcolm Simmons Poole 10.22 10 John Davis Reading 9.84
British League Knockout Cup The 1977 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 39th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two18/05 Poole 41-37 Reading25/04 Exeter 50-28 Swindon25/04 Reading 43-35 Poole15/04 Wolverhampton 51-27 Leicester12/04 Leicester 40-38 Wolverhampton Second round Date Team one Score Team two23/07 Halifax 38-40 Reading22/07 Wolverhampton 41-37 Kings Lynn28/06 White City 51-27 Birmingham20/06 Birmingham 34-44 White City18/06 Coventry 57-21 Exeter18/06 Kings Lynn 55-23 Wolverhampton17/06 Bristol 56-22 Wimbledon16/06 Wimbledon 48-30 Bristol13/06 Exeter 38-40 Coventry09/06 Sheffield 46-32 Hackney08/06 Hull 46-32 Cradley Heath11/06 Cradley Heath 42-36 Hull03/06 Hackney 49-29 Sheffield02/06 Ipswich 38-40 Belle Vue30/05 Reading 53-25 Halifax Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two22/08 Reading 51-27 Belle Vue08/08 White City 50-28 Coventry06/08 Kings Lynn 42-36 Hackney05/08 Bristol 52-26 Hull03/08 Coventry 43-35 White City03/08 Hull 49-29 Bristol29/07 Hackney 34-44 Kings Lynn Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two14/10 Bristol 42-36 Reading10/10 Reading 47-31 Bristol24/09 Kings Lynn 44-34 White City21/09 White City 42-34 Kings Lynn
Final
First leg
Second leg
King's Lynn Stars were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-77.
Riders' Championship Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time, it was held at Hyde Road on 15 October and sponsored by Leyland Cars.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ole Olsen 3 3 3 3 3 152 Peter Collins 3 3 3 2 3 14 3 Michael Lee 3 2 2 3 3 134 Ivan Mauger 3 2 2 2 3 12 5 Ila Teromaa 2 3 1 3 2 116 Edward Jancarz 2 1 3 2 1 97 Jim McMillan 1 3 1 1 2 8 8 Doug Wyer 1 0 2 2 2 7 9 Bob Kilby 0 2 3 1 1 710 Dave Jessup 2 0 2 1 0 511 Phil Herne 1 1 0 3 0 5 12 Chris Pusey0 2 1 0 1 4 13 Gordon Kennett 1 1 1 0 1 414 Ray Wilson 0 EF 0 1 2 3 15 Billy Sanders EF 1 0 0 0 116 Graham Drury 2 0 0 0 0 2 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded
Pairs The British League Pairs Championship was held at Foxhall Stadium on 29 September and was won by Ipswich Witches for the second consecutive year.
Pos TeamPts Riders1 Ipswich Witches 26 Billy Sanders 14, John Louis 122 King's Lynn Stars 23 Michael Lee 18, David Gagen 53 White City Rebels 20 Gordon Kennett 13, Steve Weatherley 74 Wolverhampton Wolves 17 Jim McMillan 10, Finn Thomsen 75 Reading Racers 17 Dave Jessup 10, John Davis 76 Belle Vue Aces 12 Alan Wilkinson 8, Chris Morton 4 7 Sheffield Tigers 11 Craig Pendlebury 6, Doug Wyer 5
Spring Gold Cup
East Group Team PL W D L PtsReading 6 5 0 1 10 Ipswich 6 4 0 2 8 King's Lynn 6 2 0 4 4 Hackney 6 1 0 5 2
West Group Team PL W D L Pts Poole 6 5 0 1 10 Exeter 6 3 0 3 6 Bristol 6 2 0 4 4Wimbledon 6 2 0 4 4
East Group
West Group
Final Team one Team two ScorePooleReading42-36, 30-48
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.59 2 Ole Olsen Coventry 10.52 3 Ivan Mauger Exeter 10.50 4 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.46 5 Gordon Kennett White City 10.41 6 Anders Michanek Cradley 10.35 7 Dave Jessup Reading 10.32 8 Malcolm Simmons Poole 10.27 9 Billy Sanders Ipswich 10.18 10 John Davis Reading 9.80
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.
First round Team one Team two ScoreBirmingham Swindon 36–42, 26–52LeicesterCradley38–40, 31–47
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreCoventrySwindon 54–24, 48–29 CradleyWolverhampton 51–27, 38–40
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 89–67
Northern Trophy M W D L Pts 1Belle Vue 4 4 0 0 8 2 Sheffield 5 3 0 2 6 3 Hull 5 2 0 3 4 4 Halifax 6 1 0 5 2
London Cup White City Rebels won the London Cup. Two of their fixtures doubled up as League and Knockout Cup matches.
Pos Team P W D L F A Pts1 White City 4 3 0 1 161 150 62 Wimbledon 4 2 1 1 170 141 53 Hackney 4 0 1 3 136 176 1
Results Team Score TeamWhite City 42–36 WimbledonWhite City 46–32 HackneyWimbledon 51–27 HackneyWimbledon 44–33 White CityHackney 38–40 White CityHackney 39–39 Wimbledon
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
10.46 8.96 8.56 7.87 5.90 5.07 4.18 3.72 3.61 2.30
Birmingham
8.74 6.36 5.58 5.00 4.95 4.75 4.56 4.10 3.44
Bristol
9.77 9.23 7.12 6.39 6.06 4.61 4.56 3.71 3.19 3.17 2.00
Coventry
10.52 8.22 7.92 7.79 6.38 6.23 3.85 2.00
Cradley Heath
10.35 8.34 7.86 6.54 6.50 6.00 5.61
Exeter
10.50 9.13 8.59 8.25 6.48 6.33 6.21 4.00
Hackney
8.67 (5 matches only) 7.45 6.51 6.34 4.68 4.19 4.07 3.88
Halifax
8.11 7.37 7.14 6.13 6.10 4.83 4.81 3.80 2.81
Hull
8.63 8.01 6.61 6.00 5.44 5.23 4.69 3.05
Ipswich
10.18 9.50 7.97 5.40 5.24 5.13 5.07 4.62
King's Lynn
10.59 9.78 7.36 5.93 5.17 4.48 4.07 3.25 2.17
Leicester
8.92 8.42 6.68 5.17 4.74 4.04 4.00 3.89 3.33 3.24 2.96 2.96 2.29
Poole
10.27 7.47 7.02 6.30 5.54 4.98 4.56 4.52
Reading
10.32 9.80 6.80 6.05 5.88 5.58 4.85 4.37 3.26 2.53
Sheffield
9.15 8.84 6.56 5.43 5.05 4.31 3.95 3.25
Swindon
9.72 8.74 7.61 6.67 5.49 5.48 4.77 3.04
White City
10.41 7.35 7.32 7.15 6.85 6.84 5.07 4.70
Wimbledon
9.61 7.80 7.74 7.32 5.47 5.46 4.23 3.67 2.80 2.40
Wolverhampton
8.68 8.17 7.25 5.70 5.33 4.69 2.76
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References