The 1979 Gulf British League season was the 45th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 15th season known as the British League.
Summary The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fifth season. It comprised 18 teams - one fewer than the previous season. White City Rebels had folded and their riders became Eastbourne Eagles assets as Eastbourne were promoted from the National League. Bristol Bulldogs also dropped out after only two seasons back in the top flight.
Coventry Bees won the league for the second year running. Hull Vikings' second place was their best ever finish. The Coventry Bees team was similar to the previous season with a young 18 year-old Danish newcomer Tommy Knudsen replacing Jiří Štancl from the previous season. Alan Molyneux once again backed up the Coventry overseas contingent with a solid average. Cradley Heath won the Knockout Cup mainly thanks to their USA superstar Bruce Penhall. The Cradley team also had their own young Danish newcomer in 20 year-old Erik Gundersen and 20 year-old Hans Nielsen posted a 10 plus average for the season riding for Wolves. The future looked extremely bright for Denmark.
During the new British League Fours tournament a horrific accident took place at Hackney Wick Stadium on Friday 8 June. In the final heat between Hackney and Eastbourne all four riders were competing when Hackney's Vic Harding and Eastbourne's Steve Weatherley touched and their bikes became locked together. They were both thrown from their bikes into the fence and the metal post supporting one of the track lights. Both riders were taken to hospital but Harding died later that night and Weatherley was left paralysed. Further bad news filtered though in December after the season had finished, when Poole Pirate's Christer Sjösten died following serious injuries sustained in a race in Australia.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1Coventry Bees342608522Hull Vikings342428503Cradley Heath Heathens3424010484King's Lynn Stars3422111455Exeter Falcons3320013406Halifax Dukes3418016367Reading Racers3417017348Swindon Robins3315315339Wimbledon Dons34161173310Belle Vue Aces34144163211Wolverhampton Wolves34151183112Poole Pirates34143173113Sheffield Tigers34142183014Birmingham Brummies34132192815Ipswich Witches34122202616Eastbourne Eagles34102222217Leicester Lions34100242018Hackney Hawks34912419M = 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 Scott Autrey Exeter 10.91 2 Ivan Mauger Hull 10.54 3 Phil Crump Swindon 10.36 4 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.29 5 John Davis Reading 10.22 6 Hans Nielsen Wolverhampton 10.16 7 Gordon Kennett Eastbourne 10.13 8 Ole Olsen Coventry 10.03 9 Bruce Penhall Cradley 10.02 10 Dave Jessup King's Lynn 9.80
British League Knockout Cup The 1979 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two16/06 Cradley Heath66-42 Leicester29/05 Leicester 40-68 Cradley Heath20/04 Eastbourne 65-43 Ipswich19/04 Ipswich 53-54 Eastbourne Second round Date Team one Score Team two10/09 Cradley Heath 78-29 Wimbledon09/08 Wimbledon 54-53 Cradley Heath06/07 Eastbourne 65-43 Reading18/06 Birmingham 59-49 Swindon16/06 Coventry 74-34 Poole16/06 King's Lynn 53-55 Wolverhampton16/06 Swindon 62-46 Birmingham15/06 Poole 59-48 Coventry15/06 Wolverhampton 56-52 King's Lynn11/06 Reading 77-31 Eastbourne02/06Belle Vue 61-47 Exeter01/06 Hull 81-25 Sheffield31/05 Exeter 70-38 Belle Vue31/05 Sheffield 60-48 Hull Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two24/09 Cradley Heath 71-37 Wolverhampton21/09 Wolverhampton 52-56 Cradley Heath20/08 Reading 53-55 Halifax14/07 Halifax 79-29 Reading03/08 Exeter 56-52 Swindon18/07 Hull 75-34 Coventry14/07 Coventry 60-48 Hull14/07 Swindon 46-62 Exeter Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two07/10 Halifax 49-59 Cradley Heath06/10 Cradley Heath 43-23 Halifax19/09 Hull 70-38 Exeter17/09 Exeter 60-48 Hull
Final
First leg
Second leg
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 120-96.
Riders' Championship John Louis won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 John Louis 2 3 3 3 3 142 Bruce Penhall 3 2 3 3 2 133 Michael Lee 3 3 2 1 3 124 Peter Collins 2 3 2 3 1 11 5 Larry Ross 3 2 1 1 3 10 6 Phil Crump 0 3 3 3 0 9 7 Hans Nielsen 2 2 1 2 2 9 8 Scott Autrey 1 1 3 1 2 8 9 Ole Olsen 2 2 0 2 1 710 Ivan Mauger 1 R 2 0 1 611 Malcolm Simmons 3 0 0 1 1 5 12 John Titman 0 1 0 2 2 513 Ian Cartright 1 1 1 2 0 514 John Davis 0 1 2 0 1 4 15 Andy Grahame 0 0 1 0 0 1 16 Gordon Kennett 1 0 0 0 0 1 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Final leading averages The top ten averages recorded at the end of the season. Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Scott Autrey Exeter 10.83 2 Ivan Mauger Hull 10.38 3 Phil Crump Swindon 10.34 4 John Davis Reading 10.32 5 Hans Nielsen Wolverhampton 10.29 6 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.21 7 Ole Olsen Coventry 9.92 8 Gordon Kennett Eastbourne 9.91 9 Bruce Penhall Cradley 9.88 10 Dave Jessup King's Lynn 9.72 Gold Cup
East Group Team PL W D L PtsIpswich 6 4 0 2 8 King's Lynn 6 4 0 2 8 Reading 6 2 0 4 4 Hackney 6 2 0 4 4
West Group Team PL W D L Pts Wimbledon 6 4 1 1 9 Exeter 6 3 1 2 7 Eastbourne 6 3 0 3 6Poole 6 1 0 5 2
East Group
West Group
Final Team one Team two ScoreIpswich Wimbledon 41-37, 35-43
Northern Trophy M W D L Pts 1Sheffield 6 4 1 1 9 2 Halifax 6 3 0 3 6 3 Hull 6 2 1 3 5 4 Belle Vue 6 2 0 4 4
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup for the fourth consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.
First round Team one Team two ScoreBirmingham Swindon 32–46, 31–47WolverhamptonCradley39–38, 32–46
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Swindon44.5–33.5, 38–40 Coventry Cradley46–32, 34–44
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 93–63
London Cup Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.
Results Team Score TeamHackney 44–34 WimbledonWimbledon 43–35 Hackney
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
9.76 9.06 7.60 6.00 5.56 5.17 4.81 4.25 4.21 3.08 0.86
Birmingham
9.15 7.91 7.60 6.14 5.90 5.05 5.05 4.33 2.72
Coventry
9.92 9.13 8.00 6.62 6.41 5.93 5.73 4.95
Cradley Heath
9.88 8.34 7.85 7.83 7.71 7.54 7.35 6.84 4.77 4.76
Eastbourne
9.91 8.76 6.98 5.59 5.09 4.27 3.91 3.75 3.41 3.09 2.96
Exeter
10.83 8.49 6.94 6.47 6.40 6.17 6.06 6.05
Hackney
7.78 7.74 7.70 5.09 4.33 4.00 3.80 3.63
Halifax
8.95 8.13 7.59 6.93 6.87 5.18 4.84 4.24
Hull
10.38 8.62 8.47 8.40 7.46 6.75 6.01
Ipswich
9.32 9.21 7.51 7.43 7.33 6.43 4.95 4.45 4.00 3.76 3.41 3.27 2.10
King's Lynn
10.21 9.72 8.58 5.98 5.24 5.00 4.97 4.26 3.87 2.27
Leicester
8.47 6.28 5.99 5.88 5.40 4.75 4.14 3.49 3.47
Poole
9.04 8.58 6.49 6.48 6.06 5.82 4.33 2.57
Reading
10.32 8.64 7.75 6.31 5.65 5.23 5.16 5.12 3.75
Sheffield
8.74 7.57 6.47 6.03 4.92 4.84 4.52 4.37 4.17 3.61 3.33
Swindon
10.34 7.65 6.98 6.30 6.06 5.92 4.66 3.52
Wimbledon
9.26 8.97 7.89 7.38 6.91 5.47 5.39 4.35 1.86 1.38
Wolverhampton
10.29 7.93 6.81 6.73 6.39 5.84 5.44 5.23 3.52
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References