1986 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Oxford Cheetahs |
Knockout Cup | Oxford & Cradley (shared) |
League Cup | Oxford & Cradley (shared) |
Individual | Hans Nielsen |
Pairs | Oxford Cheetahs |
Highest average | Hans Nielsen |
Division/s below | 1986 National League |
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.[1]
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.[2][3] 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.
One of the Danish pairs main rivals was Englishman Kenny Carter, regarded as a potential world champion and who at the age of just 21 nearly won the 1982 world title. He was riding for Bradford Dukes and ten matches into the season, on the morning of 21 May the speedway world was subject to another shock. Following on from the Billy Sanders tragedy the season before Carter shot his wife dead and then killed himself.[4]
Final table
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 44 |
2 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 38 |
3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 19 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 32 |
4 | Sheffield Tigers | 19 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 28 |
5 | Coventry Bees | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 27 |
6 | Bradford Dukes | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 21 |
7 | Reading Racers | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 21 |
8 | Swindon Robins | 19 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 21 |
9 | Ipswich Witches | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 18 |
10 | Belle Vue Aces | 19 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 12 |
11 | King's Lynn Stars | 20 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Leading averages
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
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Oxford | 11.57 |
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Cradley Heath | 11.03 |
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Ipswich | 10.38 |
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Oxford | 10.20 |
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Wolverhampton | 9.72 |
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Coventry | 9.68 |
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Sheffield | 9.65 |
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Belle Vue | 9.34 |
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Reading | 9.34 |
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Bradford | 9.32 |
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Kings Lynn | 9.06 |
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.[5]
First Round
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
21/07 | Reading | 53-25 | Kings Lynn |
19/07 | Swindon | 47-31 | Ipswich |
17/07 | Ipswich | 38-40 | Swindon |
05/07 | Kings Lynn | 43-35 | Reading |
21/05 | Cradley Heath | 46-32 | Belle Vue |
03/05 | Belle Vue | 45-33 | Cradley Heath |
Quarter Finals
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
29/09 | Reading | 45-33 | Cradley Heath |
24/09 | Cradley Heath | 50-28 | Reading |
17/09 | Coventry | 43-34 | Sheffield |
17/09 | Oxford | 48-30 | Swindon |
07/09 | Swindon | 37-41 | Oxford |
26/06 | Sheffield | 44-34 | Coventry |
24/06 | Bradford | 45-33 | Wolverhampton |
02/06 | Wolverhampton | 38-40 | Bradford |
Semi Finals
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
16/10 | Sheffield | 33-45 | Oxford |
15/10 | Cradley Heath | 50-28 | Bradford |
10/10 | Oxford | 45-33 | Sheffield |
13/07 | Braford | 39-39 | Cradley Heath |
Final
The title was shared after two failed attempts to hold the second leg due to rain.[6][3]
First and only leg
Cradley Heath Jan O. Pedersen 8 Phil Collins 8 Erik Gundersen 7 Nigel Leaver 6 Steve Bastable 4 Paul Fry 3 Simon Cross 3 | 39 - 39 | Oxford Cheetahs Hans Nielsen 14 Simon Wigg 9 Marvyn Cox 9 |
---|---|---|
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.[3]
Qualifying table
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Coventry Bees | 20 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 37 |
2 | Oxford Cheetahs | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 36 |
3 | Ipswich Witches | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 30 |
4 | Cradley Heathens | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 29 |
5 | Swindon Robins | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 27 |
6 | Sheffield Tigers | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 27 |
7 | Bradford Dukes | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 26 |
8 | Reading Racers | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
9 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 17 |
10 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 16 |
11 | King's Lynn Stars | 20 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 6 |
Semi finals
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
03/09 | Coventry | 39–39 | Cradley Heath |
03/09 | Oxford | 40–38 | Ipswich |
10/09 | Cradley Heath | 41–37 | Coventry |
21/09 | Ipswich | 34–42 | Oxford |
Final
First and only leg
Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 11 Phil Collins 7 Simon Cross 6 Jan O. Pedersen 5 Steve Bastable 5 Nigel Leaver 2 Paul Fry 2 | 38 - 40 | Oxford Cheetahs |
---|---|---|
Teams
Belle Vue Aces
-
Barry Ayres
-
Carl Blackbird
-
Bernie Collier
-
Peter Collins
-
Mark Courtney
-
Mark Crang
-
Martin Dixon
-
Declan Eccles
-
Lee Edwards
-
Glenn Hornby
-
Kenny McKinna
-
Chris Morton
-
Steve Newsham
-
Jon Roberts
-
Andy Smith
-
Paul Thorp
Bradford Dukes
-
Robin Archer
-
David Clay
-
Bruce Cribb
-
Neil Evitts
-
Michael Graves
-
Gary Havelock
-
Anthony Hulme
-
Lance King
-
Eric Monaghan
-
Larry Ross
-
Paul Stead
-
Gordon Whitaker
-
Sean Willmott
Coventry Bees
-
Mike Bacon
-
David Bargh
-
David Clarke
-
Martin Goodwin
-
John Jørgensen
-
Tommy Knudsen
-
Rick Miller
-
Alun Rossiter
-
Steve Schofield
-
Malcolm Simmons
-
Kelvin Tatum
Cradley Heath
-
Steve Bastable
-
John Bostin
-
Phil Collins
-
Simon Cross
-
Paul Fry
-
Wayne Garratt
-
Erik Gundersen
-
Nigel Leaver
-
Nigel Newman
-
Jan O. Pedersen
-
John Proctor
-
Andrew Silver
-
Paul Taylor
Ipswich Witches
-
Louis Carr
-
Ian Clark
-
Colin Cook
-
John Cook
-
Jeremy Doncaster
-
Alan Farmer
-
Nigel Flatman
-
Robbie Fuller
-
Kai Niemi
-
Dave Jessup
-
Richard Knight
-
Jens Rasmussen
-
Alan Mogridge
-
Roman Matoušek
-
Lee Potter
-
Paul Stead
-
Paul Woods
King's Lynn Stars
-
Carl Baldwin
-
Andy Campbell
-
Les Collins
-
Stephen Davies
-
Martin Goodwin
-
Kevin Hawkins
-
Kevin Jolly
-
Einar Kyllingstad
-
Michael Lee
-
Jamie Luckhurst
-
Ray Morton
-
Toni Pilotto
-
Jens Rasmussen
-
Steve Regeling
-
Alan Rivett
-
Bobby Schwartz
-
Malcolm Simmons
-
Adrian Stevens
-
John Stokes
Oxford Cheetahs
-
Marvyn Cox
-
Nigel De'ath
-
Andy Grahame
-
Jamie Luckhurst
-
Hans Nielsen
-
Kevin Smart
-
Per Sorensen
-
Alastair Stevens
-
Jon Surman
-
Simon Wigg
Reading Racers
-
Jan Andersson
-
Bruce Cribb
-
John Davis
-
Andy Galvin
-
Peter Glanz
-
Malcolm Holloway
-
Per Jonsson
-
Neil Middleditch
-
Tony Olsson
-
Dave Mullett
-
Billy Pinder
-
Mitch Shirra
-
Gary Tagg
-
Trevor Williams
Sheffield Tigers
-
Peter Carr
-
David Cheshire
-
Les Collins
-
Neil Collins
-
Paul Evitts
-
Tony Forward
-
Martin Hagon
-
Derrol Keats
-
Peter McNamara
-
Kelly Moran
-
Shawn Moran
-
Paul Thorp
-
David Walsh
-
Paul Whittaker
-
Reg Wilson
-
Sean Wilson
-
Doug Wyer
Swindon Robins
-
Steve Bishop
-
Phil Crump
-
Rob Fortune
-
Alan Grahame
-
Richard Hellsen
-
Dave Jessup
-
Kevin Jolly
-
Brian Karger
-
Gordon Kennett
-
Kai Niemi
-
Jimmy Nilsen
-
Per Sorensen
-
Kevin Smith
-
Finn Thomsen
Wolverhampton Wolves
-
Andy Buck
-
Chris Cobby
-
Preben Eriksen
-
Sam Ermolenko
-
John Eskildsen
-
Paul Evitts
-
Gordon Kennett
-
Sam Nikolajsen
-
Andy Phillips
-
Jan Stæchmann
-
Paul Whittaker
See also
References
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "1986 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ a b c Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 134-136. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
- ^ "The tragic life and horrific death of troubled Yorkshire speedway legend 'King Kenny' Carter". Examiner Live. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ "1986 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ "Cradley Speedway 1986 season". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.