The 1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as the British League.
Summary Cradley Heathens won the league and cup double. Despite losing their double world champion Bruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well. Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg and Lance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up by Phil Collins, Alan Grahame and Peter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from Denmark Jan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future.
This would also be the final season of speedway for three-time world champion Ole Olsen, who announced his retirement.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Cradley Heath Heathens 28 26 0 2 522 Ipswich Witches 28 22 1 5 453 Coventry Bees 28 19 0 9 384 Reading Racers 28 17 0 11 345 Belle Vue Aces 28 15 3 10 336 Wimbledon Dons 28 15 1 12 317 Hackney Hawks 28 14 0 14 288 King's Lynn Stars 28 12 1 15 259 Birmingham Brummies 28 12 0 16 2410 Sheffield Tigers 28 10 2 16 2211 Halifax Dukes 28 10 1 17 2112 Leicester Lions 28 9 2 17 2013 Poole Pirates 28 9 0 19 1814 Eastbourne Eagles 28 7 1 20 1515 Swindon Robins 28 7 0 21 14M = 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 Dennis Sigalos Ipswich 10.99 2 Hans Nielsen Birmingham 10.77 3 Erik Gundersen Cradley 10.59 4 Mitch Shirra Reading 10.38 5 Michael Lee Poole 10.36 6 Kenny Carter Halifax 10.34 7 Billy Sanders Ipswich 10.27 8 Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.17 9 Phil Crump Swindon 9.88 10 Jan Andersson Reading 9.61
British League Knockout Cup The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two09/07 Belle Vue 56-22 Halifax30/06 Wimbledon 46-32 Swindon25/06 Halifax41-37 Belle Vue25/06 Swindon 34-44 Wimbledon19/06 Eastbourne 34-43 Kings Lynn11/06 Coventry 45-33 Sheffield11/06 Cradley Heath 46-32 Hackney11/06 Kings Lynn 47-31 Eastbourne09/06 Sheffield 37-41 Coventry30/05 Birmingham 43-35 Reading30/05 Reading 44-34 Birmingham27/05 Hackney 35-43 Cradley Heath24/05 Leicester 40-38 Ipswich19/05 Ipswich 43-34 Leicester Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two21/08 Kings Lynn 45-33 Belle Vue20/08 Belle Vue 58-20 Kings Lynn23/07 Coventry 44-34 Wimbledon21/07 Wimbledon 38-40 Coventry18/07 Reading 40-38 Ipswich13/07 Poole 35-43 Cradley Heath09/07 Cradley Heath 53-25 Poole07/07 Ipswich 39-39 Reading Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/10 Belle Vue 38-40 Coventry08/10 Coventry 44-34 Belle Vue24/09 Cradley Heath 47-31 Reading19/09 Reading 32-46 Cradley Heath
Final
First leg=
Second leg
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.
League Cup The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Belle Vue Aces beating Coventry Bees in the final 86–70 on aggregate.
North Group Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Coventry Bees 12 9 1 2 192 Belle Vue Aces 12 8 0 4 163 Cradley Heathens 12 7 1 4 154 Halifax Dukes 12 5 0 7 105 Leicester Lions 12 4 0 8 86 Sheffield Tigers 12 4 0 8 87 Birmingham Brummies 12 4 0 8 8
South Group Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 14 11 0 3 222 Ipswich Witches 14 9 0 5 183 Reading Racers 14 8 0 6 164 Poole Pirates 14 8 0 6 165 Hackney Hawks 14 8 0 6 166 King's Lynn Stars 13 6 1 6 137 Eastbourne Eagles 14 2 1 11 58 Swindon Robins 13 2 0 11 4
North Group
South Group
Final Date Team one Score Team two22/10 Coventry 39–39 Belle Vue23/10 Belle Vue 47–31 Coventry
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Hans Nielsen Birmingham10.82 Dennis Sigalos Ipswich 10.75 Chris Morton Belle Vue10.30 Kenny Carter Halifax10.28 Erik Gundersen Cradley Heath10.23 Michael LeePoole10.16 Phil Crump Swindon10.03 Mitch Shirra Reading 10.02 Tommy Knudsen Coventry 9.87 Billy Sanders Ipswich 9.70 Ole Olsen Coventry9.56
Riders' Championship Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 15 October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Erik Gundersen 3 3 3 2 3 142 Michael Lee 0 3 3 3 3 123 Hans Nielsen 2 3 3 2 2 124 Kenny Carter 1 1 2 3 3 105 John Louis 0 3 1 2 3 96 Billy Sanders 3 1 1 3 1 97 Mitch Shirra 2 2 0 3 1 88 Bo Petersen 3 2 1 0 2 89 Phil Crump 3 0 2 2 1 8 10 Ole Olsen 1 2 2 0 2 7 11 Jan Andersson 2 1 2 1 1 712 Paul Woods 2 2 0 1 0 5 13 David Bargh 1 0 1 1 2 514 Chris Morton 1 1 3 0 0 5 15 Mark Courtney 0 0 0 1 0 116 Kai Niemi 0 0 0 - - 0 17 Martin Scarisbrick (res) 0 - - - - 0 18 David Wild (res) 0 - - - - 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Midland Cup Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Swindon 38–40, 32–46
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreCoventryBirmingham48–30, 38–40 CradleySwindon 60–18, 40–38
Final
First leg
Second leg
Cradley won on aggregate 96–60
London Cup Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.
Results Team Score TeamWimbledon 50–28 HackneyHackney 43–35 Wimbledon
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
10.30 9.13 7.37 5.62 5.38 4.95 4.48 4.30 1.09
Birmingham
10.82 8.29 6.88 5.71 5.63 5.36 5.01 4.85 3.13 2.07
Coventry
9.87 9.56 8.07 6.79 5.44 5.23 4.87
Cradley Heath
10.23 8.86 8.74 8.69 7.98 7.97 6.78 6.00 2.54 2.33
Eastbourne
8.73 6.53 4.18 3.87 3.79 3.79 3.75 3.65 3.56 2.55 1.93 0.27
Hackney
8.47 7.94 6.74 6.30 6.25 4.83 4.39 4.30
Halifax
10.28 6.60 6.17 5.77 5.59 5.41 3.52 2.40
Ipswich
10.75 9.70 6.79 6.72 4.82 4.51 4.08 4.06 0.35
King's Lynn
8.45 8.39 7.02 6.29 6.21 5.95 5.25
Leicester
8.66 8.24 7.17 5.95 5.11 5.10 4.98 4.76 3.85 3.81
Poole
10.16 7.72 6.95 6.06 5.38 4.74 4.41 4.25 (4 matches only) 4.23 3.56 2.96
Reading
10.02 9.47 9.02 7.28 4.31 3.85 3.24 2.74
Sheffield
9.43 7.03 6.26 5.84 5.09 3.97 3.26 2.13
Swindon
10.03 7.01 5.65 5.23 5.14 4.99 4.31 3.57 2.88 1.93
Wimbledon
9.25 7.86 7.67 6.55 6.19 5.95 5.18
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References