1971 British League season

British motorcycle speedway season

The 1971 British League season was the 37th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh season known as the British League.^[1][2]

Summary

Reading Racers moved up from Division 2 and Newcastle Diamonds dropped out.^[3] Belle Vue Aces retained their title to become the first team to win the title for the second time. The team included three time world champion Ivan Mauger, Swedish international Sören Sjösten, Tommy Roper, Eric Broadbelt, Chris Pusey and a 17 year old Peter Collins in his debut season.^[4]

Final table

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

British League Knockout Cup

The 1971 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 33rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Hackney were the winners.^[5]

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

4 October 1971

Dudley Wood Stadium

Second leg

8 October 1971

Hackney Wick Stadium

Hackney Hawks were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 88-68.

Riders' Championship

Ivan Mauger won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.^[7]

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages

London Cup

Hackney won the London Cup for only the second time, after previously winning it back in 1936.^[8]

Results

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.^[9]

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

9 October 1971

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

12 October 1971

Leicester Stadium

Coventry won on aggregate 82–74

Belle Vue

• Ivan Mauger 11.33
• Sören Sjösten 9.11
• Tommy Roper 7.14
• Eric Broadbelt 7.01
• Dave Hemus 6.97
• Peter Collins 6.36
• Chris Pusey 6.30
• Ken Eyre 5.27
• Alan Wilkinson 4.74
• Mike Hiftle 4.50

Coventry

• Nigel Boocock 9.95
• Tony Lomas 7.81
• Jan Simensen 7.66
• Roger Hill 6.16
• Les Owen 5.91
• Ron Mountford 5.59
• John Harrhy 5.07

Cradley Heath

• Bernt Persson 9.68
• Bob Andrews 7.73
• Roy Trigg 7.25
• Mick Handley 6.00
• Pete Jarman 5.57
• Jimmy Squibb 4.66
• John Hart 4.25
• Barry Duke 3.60
• Bengt Andersson 2.10
• Richard Eslick 1.54

Exeter

• Bruce Cribb 8.92
• Bob Kilby 8.87
• Peter Ingram 6.42
• Wayne Briggs 5.94
• Chris Julian 5.28
• Tommy Bergqvist 5.10
• Phil Woodcock 4.42
• Bob Coles 4.10

Glasgow

• Jimmy McMillan 9.18
• George Hunter 8.29
• Bobby Beaton 7.27
• Charlie Monk 6.99
• Willie Templeton 4.80
• Doug Templeton 4.69
• Bill McMillan 3.46

Hackney

• Bengt Jansson 10.26
• Garry Middleton 8.97
• Barry Thomas 7.28
• Laurie Etheridge 5.44
• Hugh Saunders 4.88
• Eddie Reeves 4.81
• Dave Kennett 4.65
• Geoff Maloney 4.49
• Graham Miles 4.36
• Preben Rosenkilde 4.00

Halifax

• Eric Boocock 10.19
• Dave Younghusband 8.80
• Alan Jay 6.11
• Greg Kentwell 6.09
• Paul O'Neal 5.01
• Malcolm MacKay 4.56
• Mike Hiftle 4.46
• Chris Bailey 4.24
• Terry Lee 3.75

King's Lynn

• Terry Betts 9.62
• Malcolm Simmons 9.22
• Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 8.11
• Clive Featherby 5.49
• Ian Turner 5.15
• Barry Crowson 4.93
• Bob Humphreys 4.38
• Jim Ryman 3.91
• Arthur Price 3.79

Leicester

• Ray Wilson 10.94
• John Boulger 8.99
• Graham Plant 8.78
• Alan Cowland 5.47
• Norman Storer 5.08
• Malcolm Brown 4.88
• Malcolm Shakespeare 4.44
• Tom Leadbitter 3.33

Newport

• Sándor Lévai 8.76
• Tommy Johansson 8.03
• Edgar Stangeland 7.87
• Bill Andrew 7.24
• Ted Laessing 4.84
• Bob Hughes 4.53
• Bengt Brannefors 4.42
• Ronnie Genz 4.38
• Dave O'Connor 2.11

Oxford

• Øyvind S. Berg 7.60
• Ken McKinlay 6.98
• Colin Gooddy 6.86
• Ronnie Genz 6.77
• Rick Timmo 6.70
• Tommy Roper 6.55
• Norman Strachan 4.58
• Col Cottrell 3.89
• John Jackson 2.57

Poole

• Reidar Eide 9.10
• Odd Fossengen 7.76
• Pete Smith 7.76
• Bo Wirebrand 6.03
• John Langfield 6.01
• Mike Cake 4.93
• Derek Cook 3.14

Reading

• Anders Michanek 10.05
• Dag Lövaas 7.74
• Geoff Mudge 7.23
• Geoff Curtis 6.74
• Richard May 6.13
• Mick Bell 5.25
• Bernie Leigh 4.75
• Josef Angermüller 3.30

Sheffield

• Jim Airey 10.74
• Arnold Haley 7.58
• Bengt Larsson 7.04
• Bob Paulson 6.60
• Bob Valentine 6.03
• Doug Wyer 5.92
• Reg Wilson 5.11
• Brian Maxted 4.60

Swindon

• Barry Briggs 10.67
• Martin Ashby 9.76
• Mike Keen 6.63
• Mike Broadbank 4.98
• Clive Hitch 4.78
• Jimmy Gallacher 3.80
• Pete Munday 3.79
• James Bond 3.43

Wembley

• Göte Nordin 9.04
• Bert Harkins 8.28
• Sverre Harrfeldt 7.80
• Dave Jessup 7.43
• Tony Clarke 7.23
• Brian Leonard 5.72
• Christer Sjösten 4.21
• Peter Prinsloo 1.33

West Ham

• Christer Löfqvist 8.73
• Olle Nygren 8.14
• Reg Luckhurst 6.51
• Preben Rosenkilde 4.93
• Barry Duke 4.44
• Mick Handley 3.82
• Alan Bellham 3.66
• Alan Sage 3.13
• Stan Stevens 2.98

Wimbledon

• Ronnie Moore 9.89
• Trevor Hedge 9.18
• Cyril Maidment 6.25
• John Dews 5.31
• Jim Tebby 5.13
• Peter Murray 4.69
• John Bishop 4.19

Wolverhampton

• Ole Olsen 10.99
• Norman Hunter 7.61
• Gary Peterson 6.87
• Dave Baugh 6.56
• Jon Erskine 5.06
• Bill Powell .4.97
• Geoff Ambrose 4.80
• Niels Weiss 4.75
• Bengt Brannefors 3.43
• George Devonport 2.67

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
3. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
4. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
5. "1971 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
6. "Season 1971" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
7. "Speedway". Sunday Mirror. 17 October 1971. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Hackney 1971" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
9. "Fifth heat settles Lions". Leicester Daily Mercury. 13 October 1971. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.