The 1986 British League season was the 52nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 22nd known as the British League.
Summary Oxford Cheetahs won the league for the second consecutive year and the treble by sharing both the Speedway Star Knockout Cup and League Cup with Cradley Heath Heathens. Despite the easy manner of their 1985 league success Oxford made critical changes which ensured domination for a second consecutive season. They were forced to make changes due to the averages points limit that applied to all teams. Hans Nielsen and Simon Wigg were retained, as were Andy Grahame and Marvyn Cox but Jens Ramussen was replaced with Per Sorensen and Nigel De'ath was brought in as full time reserve. Both Sorensen and De'ath maintained good form throughout the season and combined with the heavy scores of the heat leaders the team were able to win the league again. Cradley returned to form and provided Oxford with their main challenge, the rivalry between the Nielsen of Oxford and Erik Gundersen of Cradley was memorable. Nielsen also replaced Gundersen as the world champion by the end of the season and the pair were World Pairs and World Cup winners.
After being unable to afford the rent for The Shay stadium, Halifax relocated to Odsal Stadium and rebranded as the Bradford Dukes. They were to be led by Yorkshireman and England's leading rider Kenny Carter, but tragedy unfolded on 21 May when Carter shot dead his wife and then took his own life. It would take several years for the club to find stability.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts1 Oxford Cheetahs 18 18 0 0 8 442 Cradley Heath Heathens 20 13 3 4 9 383 Wolverhampton Wolves 19 13 0 6 6 324 Sheffield Tigers 19 10 2 7 6 285 Coventry Bees 20 10 1 9 6 276 Bradford Dukes 20 8 1 11 4 217 Reading Racers 20 7 3 10 4 218 Swindon Robins 19 8 1 10 4 219 Ipswich Witches 20 7 1 12 3 1810 Belle Vue Aces 19 5 0 14 2 1211 King's Lynn Stars 20 2 0 18 0 4M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results
British League Knockout Cup The 1986 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 48th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Oxford Cheetahs and Cradley Heath Heathens were declared joint winners because the second leg of the final was not held and the first leg had ended 39-39.
First round Date Team one Score Team two21/07 Reading 53-25 Kings Lynn19/07 Swindon 47-31 Ipswich17/07 Ipswich 38-40 Swindon05/07Kings Lynn 43-35 Reading21/05 Cradley Heath 46-32 Belle Vue03/05 Belle Vue 45-33 Cradley Heath
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two29/09 Reading 45-33 Cradley Heath24/09 Cradley Heath 50-28 Reading17/09 Coventry 43-34 Sheffield17/09 Oxford 48-30 Swindon07/09 Swindon 37-41 Oxford26/06 Sheffield 44-34 Coventry24/06 Bradford 45-33 Wolverhampton02/06 Wolverhampton 38-40 Bradford
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two10/10 Oxford 45-33 Sheffield15/10 Cradley Heath 50-28 Bradford16/10 Sheffield 33-45 Oxford27/10 Bradford + Cradley Heath +2nd leg not held and Bradford conceded tie
Final The title was shared after two failed attempts to hold the second leg due to rain.
First and only leg
League Cup The League Cup was contested as a league format. The cup was shared following two failed attempts to stage the second leg of the final at Oxford due to rain. Oxford had won the first leg at Cradley Heath 40–38.
Qualifying table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Coventry Bees 20 14 1 5 372 Oxford Cheetahs 20 13 1 6 363 Ipswich Witches 20 12 1 7 304 Cradley Heathens 20 10 2 8 295 Swindon Robins 20 9 3 8 276 Sheffield Tigers 20 10 2 8 277 Bradford Dukes 20 9 3 8 268 Reading Racers 20 10 0 10 249 Wolverhampton Wolves 20 6 1 13 1710 Belle Vue Aces 20 6 2 12 1711 King's Lynn Stars 20 2 2 16 6
Results
Semi-finals Team one Team two ScoresCoventryCradley Heath39–39, 37–41Oxford Ipswich40–38, 42–34
Final (First and only leg)
Riders' Championship Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 12 October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Hans Nielsen 3 3 3 3 3 152 Erik Gundersen 2 3 3 2 1 11+33 Shawn Moran 3 3 1 2 2 11+24 Chris Morton 3 2 3 0 3 11+15 Jan Andersson 2 3 3 1 2 116 Simon Wigg 1 0 2 3 3 97 Tommy Knudsen 0 2 2 3 1 8 8 Jan O. Pedersen 2 2 0 1 3 89 John Jørgensen 3 2 2 1 0 8 10 Jeremy Doncaster 0 1 2 3 2 811 Alan Grahame 1 0 1 2 2 612 John Davis 2 1 1 0 1 513 Preben Eriksen 1 1 0 0 1 314 Andy Campbell 0 1 1 1 0 3 15 Neil Evitts 1 0 0 2 0 3 16 Kai Niemi 0 0 0 0 - 0 17 Lee Edwards (res) 0 - - - - 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Pairs The British League Pairs Championship was held at Owlerton Stadium on 24 August and was won by Oxford for the second consecutive year.
Pos TeamPts Riders1 Oxford 25 Wigg 15, Nielsen 10 2 Coventry 22 Tatum 13, Jorgensen 93 Sheffield 18 Moran S 11, Collins N 74 Belle Vue 18 Morton 17, Collins P 15 Bradford 16 King 9, Evitts 76 Cradley Heath16 Gundersen 14, Pedersen 27 Ipswich 11 Niemi 8, Doncaster 3
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Hans Nielsen Oxford 11.57 Erik Gundersen Cradley Heath 11.03 Jeremy Doncaster Ipswich 10.38 Simon Wigg Oxford 10.20 Kenny Carter+ Bradford 10.05 Sam Ermolenko Wolverhampton 9.72 Tommy Knudsen Coventry 9.68 Shawn Moran Sheffield 9.65 Chris Morton Belle Vue 9.34 Jan Andersson Reading 9.34 Neil Evitts Bradford 9.32 Bobby Schwartz Kings Lynn 9.06 +rode 10 matches before his death
Midland Cup Oxford won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreSwindonWolverhampton 39–39, 27–51ReadingCoventry40–38, 26–52
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreOxfordWolverhampton 42–36, 39–39CradleyCoventry 41–37, 35–43
Final
First leg
Second leg
Oxford won on aggregate 80–76
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
9.34 7.37 6.93 6.48 6.10 5.43 4.28 2.67 2.65 1.60 1.06
Bradford
10.05 9.32 8.20 7.26 6.30 6.01 4.16 3.88
Coventry
9.68 8.74 8.69 6.41 5.68 5.60 3.50 1.71
Cradley Heath
11.03 8.58 7.80 7.17 6.08 3.74 3.23 2.06
Ipswich
10.38 8.00 7.79 5.69 4.90 4.71 4.57 4.17 3.79
King's Lynn
9.06 7.74 6.73 5.38 4.91 4.70 4.60 4.21 4.15 2.28 1.11
Oxford
11.57 10.20 8.11 6.14 6.05 5.34 4.33 2.43
Reading
9.34 8.72 7.90 7.36 5.89 5.47 5.33 1.35 1.27
Sheffield
9.65 8.76 7.89 7.53 7.24 5.83 5.46 4.62 3.27
Swindon
8.77 8.45 7.82 6.79 6.64 6.07 5.16 4.58 3.16
Wolverhampton
9.72 7.70 7.04 6.18 5.23 2.97 1.07
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References