The 1980 British League season was the 46th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 16th season known as the British League.
Summary The league comprised 17 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Exeter Falcons had dropped down to the National League. Hackney Hawks underwent a dramatic transformation from being the bottom side in 1979 to title contenders in 1980, but their challenge faded in the last few weeks and Reading Racers were crowned champions for the second time.
Reading's success came down to three strong heat leaders, Swedish champion Jan Andersson, their new American signing Bobby Schwartz and England international John Davis. All three produced season averages around the 10 mark, which enabled the team to constantly pick up victories. Cradley Heathens successfully retained their Knockout Cup crown overcoming a huge first leg deficit in the final.
Hans Nielsen topped the averages for the first time in his career. Neither Ivan Mauger or Ole Olsen finished in the top 10 in averages, as well as both failing to qualify directly for that years’ World Final (Olsen went as reserve). The young American riders continued to improve as more arrived in Britain, with Bruce Penhall qualifying for the World Final and Dennis Sigalos pipping Mauger to be Hull Vikings' top scorer.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Reading Racers 32 24 1 7 492 Hackney Hawks 32 23 0 9 463 Belle Vue Aces 32 21 1 10 434 Coventry Bees 32 20 2 10 425 Cradley Heath Heathens 32 20 0 12 406 Ipswich Witches 32 16 2 14 347 King's Lynn Stars 32 17 0 15 348 Swindon Robins 32 16 2 14 349 Poole Pirates 32 15 2 15 3210 Halifax Dukes 32 15 1 16 3111 Leicester Lions 32 14 0 18 2812 Hull Vikings 32 11 5 16 2713 Wimbledon Dons 32 12 2 18 2614 Birmingham Brummies 32 11 1 20 2315 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 9 2 21 2016 Eastbourne Eagles 32 9 1 22 1917 Sheffield Tigers 32 8 0 24 16M = 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 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.70 2 Hans Nielsen Wolverhampton 10.70 3 Dave Jessup King's Lynn 10.52 4 Bo Petersen Hackney 10.46 5 Bruce Penhall Cradley 10.46 6 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.17 7 Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.11 8 Jan Andersson Reading 10.08 9 Scott Autrey Swindon 9.97 10 Bobby Schwartz Reading 9.95
British League Knockout Cup The 1980 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 42nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two06/05 Leicester 59-49 Poole05/05 Poole 53-55 Leicester Second round Date Team one Score Team two17/07 Coventry 54-54 Birmingham09/07 Cradley Heath 60-48 Kings Lynn04/07 Wolverhampton 53-55 Sheffield09/06 Birmingham 56-51 Coventry06/06 Eastbourne 52.5-55.5 Swindon05/06 Sheffield 56-52 Wolverhampton03/06 Hull 67-41 Hackney31/05 Belle Vue 60-48 Wimbledon31/05 Halifax57-50 Reading31/05 Swindon 62-46 Eastbourne30/05 Hackney 45-63 Hull29/05 Wimbledon 57-51 Belle Vue29/05 Ipswich 66-42 Leicester27/05 Leicester 54-54 Ipswich25/05 Kings Lynn 58-50 Cradley Heath21/04 Reading 62-46 Halifax Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two03/09 Birmingham 76-30 Sheffield23/08 Belle Vue 68-40 Hull21/08 Cradley Heath 54-54 Reading21/08 Sheffield 49-58 Birmingham04/08 Reading 53-55 Cradley Heath19/07 Swindon 63-45 Ipswich17/07 Ipswich 55-53 Swindon09/07 Hull 66-42 Belle Vue Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two01/10 Cradley Heath 67-41 Birmingham24/09 Belle Vue 59-49 Swindon15/09 Birmingham 56-52 Cradley Heath30/08 Swindon 56-52 Belle Vue
Final
First leg
Second leg
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-100.
Riders' Championship Les Collins won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 18 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Les Collins 3 3 3 3 2 142 Bruce Penhall 1 2 3 3 3 123 Larry Ross 3 3 1 2 2 114 Jan Andersson 2 1 3 3 1 10 5 Peter Collins 2 1 2 2 3 10 6 Hans Nielsen 3 2 2 1 2 107 Kenny Carter 3 3 0 0 3 9 8 Scott Autrey 2 2 1 0 3 89 Ole Olsen 2 3 1 1 0 7 10 Dennis Sigalos 0 0 2 2 2 6 11 Steve Bastable 0 1 1 2 1 512 John Louis 1 1 3 0 0 5 13 Bo Petersen 0 0 0 3 1 4 14 Michael Lee 1 2 0 - - 3 15 Malcolm Simmons 1 0 2 0 0 3 16 Bernie Collier (res) 1 1 - - - 2 17 Gordon Kennett 0 0 0 1 - 1 18 Mike Wilding (res) 0 - - - - 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Hans Nielsen Wolverhampton 10.69 2 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.67 =3 Dave Jessup King's Lynn 10.39 =3 Bruce Penhall Cradley 10.39 5 Bo Petersen Hackney 10.27 6 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.14 7 Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.09 8 Jan Andersson Reading 10.04 9 Bobby Schwartz Reading 10.00 10 Scott Autrey Swindon 9.92
Gold Cup
East Group Team PL W D L PtsKing's Lynn 6 4 1 1 9 Ipswich 6 4 0 2 8 Reading 6 3 1 2 7 Hackney 6 0 0 6 0
West Group Team PL W D L Pts Poole 4 3 0 1 6 Eastbourne 4 2 0 2 4 Swindon 4 1 0 3 2
East Group
West Group
Final Team one Team two ScorePoole King's Lynn 39-39, 36-41
Midland Cup Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup, sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreSwindonWolverhampton 43–35, 39–39CradleyBirmingham51–27, 48–30
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreSwindonCoventry41–37, 36–42LeicesterCradley35–43, 30–48
Midland League Team PL W D L PtsCoventry 8 6 1 1 13 Cradley 8 5 0 3 10 Leicester 8 4 1 3 9 Birmingham 8 1 2 5 4 Wolverhampton 8 1 2 5 4
Final
First leg
Second leg
Cradley Heath won on aggregate 88–68
Northern Trophy M W D L Pts 1Halifax 6 5 0 1 10 2 Belle Vue 6 4 0 2 8 3 Hull 6 2 0 4 4 4 Sheffield 6 1 0 5 2
London Cup Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.
Results Team Score TeamWimbledon 43–35 HackneyHackney 42–36 Wimbledon
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
10.67 10.09 7.69 6.33 6.24 5.35 5.17 4.91 4.25 4.22
Birmingham
8.57 8.24 7.39 6.22 6.09 5.97 5.93 5.56 3.70 2.70
Coventry
9.52 8.54 8.10 6.83 6.27 5.83 5.61 4.00
Cradley Heath
10.39 8.32 8.17 8.13 8.09 5.32 5.16 4.84 4.23 4.05 1.78 0.73
Eastbourne
9.71 8.35 6.28 6.12 5.57 4.87 4.64 4.24 3.87 3.61 1.81
Hackney
10.27 8.12 7.76 5.49 5.29 5.19 4.94 4.24
Halifax
8.92 7.92 6.54 6.06 5.80 5.39 3.50 2.86
Hull
9.32 9.00 7.57 6.68 6.47 5.17 4.84 4.67 4.65 4.17
Ipswich
9.09 8.80 8.34 7.20 6.37 5.82 5.77 5.33 4.80 4.72
King's Lynn
10.39 10.14 8.95 6.52 5.22 4.26 3.82
Leicester
8.93 7.69 7.42 6.38 6.20 5.91 5.60 5.23
Poole
9.40 9.11 7.26 6.96 6.76 4.95 4.77 4.00 1.11
Reading
10.04 10.00 9.59 7.37 5.87 5.30 4.98 1.80
Sheffield
8.00 7.11 6.37 6.20 5.56 (6 matches only) 5.09 5.04 4.86 4.37 3.67 3.23
Swindon
9.92 9.59 7.41 7.24 6.53 5.54 5.42 5.31 5.00 2.72 2.00
Wimbledon
9.12 8.22 8.08 6.36 5.82 5.08 3.06 2.46 2.24
Wolverhampton
10.69 7.08 7.01 5.85 5.73 5.36 5.33 5.07 3.93 3.68 2.62
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References