The 1991 British League season was the 57th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 27th known as the British League.
Summary Wolverhampton Wolves won the league for the first time in their history. The club which was first founded in 1928 had only ever won the Provincial Midland League in 1962 and the Provincial League in 1963. They were led by their American star Sam Ermolenko, who became the first rider to push Hans Nielsen from the top of the averages after eight consecutive years at the top. The Wolves team relied on two more American riders, Ronnie Correy and Sam's younger brother Charles Ermolenko, in addition to Englishman Graham Jones to seal the title from Bradford. Bradford gained consolation by winning the Knockout Cup, led by English international pair Simon Wigg and Gary Havelock.
Wimbledon Dons started the season and managed to complete their Gold Cup fixtures but only ran until June before withdrawing from the league. The entire team was relocated to Arlington Stadium and raced as the Eastbourne Eagles for the remainder of the season.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts1 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 19 1 4 10 492 Bradford Dukes 24 15 4 5 9 433 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 15 1 8 10 414 Belle Vue Aces 24 12 3 9 6 335 Berwick Bandits 24 13 0 11 6 326 Ipswich Witches 24 12 1 11 7 327 Coventry Bees 24 12 0 12 6 308 King's Lynn Stars 24 12 1 11 5 309 Oxford Cheetahs 24 8 3 13 6 2510 Poole Pirates 24 8 2 14 5 2311 Reading Racers 24 9 0 15 3 2112 Eastbourne Eagles 24 6 3 15 3 1813 Swindon Robins 24 5 1 18 2 13M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results
British League Knockout Cup The 1991 British League Knockout Cup was the 53rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Bradford Dukes were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two25/05 Cradley Heath 50-39 Ipswich22/05 Wimbledon 52-38 Kings Lynn20/05 Reading 48-42 Poole16/05 Ipswich 46-44 Cradley Heath13/05 Wolverhampton 50-40 Oxford10/05 Oxford 49-41 Wolverhampton30/04 Poole 47-43 Reading27/04 Kings Lynn 40-50 Wimbledon27/04 Swindon 46-44 Belle Vue26/04 Belle Vue 55-35 Swindon26/04 Berwick 47-43 Coventry20/04 Coventry 46-44 Berwick Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two07/09 Cradley Heath 50-39 Reading02/09 Reading 46-43 Cradley Heath02/08 Berwick 43-47 Bradford02/08 Eastbourne 50-40 Reading16/07 Bradford 50-40 Berwick01/07 Reading 56-34 Eastbourne14/06 Belle Vue 44-46 Wolverhampton10/06 Wolverhampton 42.5-47.5 Belle Vue Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two02/09 Reading 46-43 Cradley07/09 Cradley 50-39 Reading05/10 Bradford 56-34 Belle Vue11/10 Belle Vue 51-39 Bradford Final
First leg
Second leg
Bradford Dukes were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 97-83.
Gold Cup
North Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1Berwick 10 7 0 3 142 Wolverhampton 10 5 0 5 103 Cradley Heath 10 5 0 5 104 Belle Vue 10 5 0 5 105 Coventry 10 5 0 5 106 Bradford 10 3 0 7 6
South Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Oxford 12 10 0 2 202 Reading 12 7 0 5 143 Wimbledon 12 6 0 6 124 Swindon 12 6 0 6 125 Poole 12 5 1 6 116 King's Lynn 12 4 1 7 97 Ipswich 12 3 0 9 6
North
South
Final Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legBerwick Oxford 50–40 43—47 Berwick won 93–87 on aggregate.
Riders' Championship Sam Ermolenko won the British League Riders' Championship, sponsored by Dunlop Tyres. It was the held at Odsal Stadium on 20 October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Sam Ermolenko 3 3 3 3 3 152 Hans Nielsen 3 3 3 3 2 143 Joe Screen 2 3 2 2 3 124 Ronnie Correy 3 1 3 2 2 11 5 Kelvin Tatum 1 3 3 2 1 10 6 Marvyn Cox 0 2 2 3 3 10 7 Jan Staechmann 2 2 2 1 2 9 8 Gary Havelock 2 2 0 3 1 8 9 Jan O. Pedersen 3 1 0 0 3 710 Henka Gustafsson 1 0 1 2 1 5 11 Dave Bargh 2 1 1 0 0 412 Les Collins 0 2 0 1 1 4 13 Leigh Adams 1 0 0 0 2 3 14 Alan Grahame 0 1 2 0 0 3 15 Shane Parker 1 0 1 1 0 3 16 Tommy Knudsen 0 0 1 1 0 2 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Sam Ermolenko Wolverhampton 10.74 Hans Nielsen Oxford10.50 Kelvin TatumBerwick9.92 Gary HavelockBradford9.89 Jimmy Nilsen Berwick 9.63 Ronnie CorreyWolverhampton9.58 Jan O. PedersenCradley Heath9.54 Andy GrahameEastbourne9.44 Martin DugardOxford9.12 Henrik GustafssonKings Lynn9.06
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
8.45 8.28 7.60 7.59 7.32 6.09 5.22 5.09 3.88 3.31
Berwick
9.92 9.63 7.85 5.86 4.73 4.56 3.89 2.65 1.70 1.33
Bradford
9.89 8.43 8.32 6.94 6.79 6.61 3.51
Coventry
8.64 7.90 7.56 6.77 6.76 4.84 4.39 3.38 2.77 0.19
Cradley Heath
9.54 8.77 8.24 8.20 6.56 5.29 4.46 3.15 3.07
Eastbourne/Wimbledon
9.44 8.48 6.67 6.59 5.88 4.98 4.75 4.29 3.59
Ipswich
8.44 8.15 7.33 6.96 6.39 6.25 5.17 3.74
King's Lynn
9.06 8.28 7.08 5.51 4.50 4.23 4.13
Oxford
10.50 9.12 7.17 7.13 4.00 2.95 2.93 2.64 1.91
Poole
8.67 8.00 6.43 6.32 6.21 4.78 4.08 2.06
Reading
8.47 8.43 8.41 7.67 6.78 6.50 4.47 2.38 1.41
Swindon
8.55 8.47 7.75 7.12 6.36 5.87 4.49 4.38 4.00
Wolverhampton
10.74 9.58 7.25 6.57 5.32 5.32 4.29 3.75
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References