1971 British League 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]

1971 British League season

League	British League
No. of competitors	19
Champions	Belle Vue Aces
Knockout Cup	Hackney Hawks
Individual	Ivan Mauger
London Cup	Hackney Hawks
Midland Cup	Coventry Bees
Highest average	Ivan Mauger
Division/s below	British League (Div 2)
← 1970 1972 →

Summary

Reading Racers moved up from Division 2 after taking the Newcastle Diamonds division 1 licence.^[3][4] 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.^[5]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Belle Vue Aces	36	25	1	10	51
2	Leicester Lions	36	22	3	11	47
3	Coventry Bees	36	23	0	13	46
4	Sheffield Tigers	36	21	1	14	43
5	Swindon Robins	36	19	3	14	40
6	Reading Racers	36	18	4	14	41
7	Hackney Hawks	36	17	4	15	38
8	Newport Wasps	36	19	0	17	37
9	Wembley Lions	36	17	3	16	37
10	Wimbledon Dons	36	18	1	17	36
11	Poole Pirates	36	17	2	17	35
12	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	17	1	18	34
13	King's Lynn Stars	36	16	2	18	34
14	Halifax Dukes	36	16	2	18	32
15	Exeter Falcons	36	16	0	20	31
16	Glasgow Tigers	36	15	1	20	25
17	Oxford Cheetahs	36	12	1	23	20
18	Cradley Heath Heathens	36	8	4	24	20
19	West Ham Hammers	36	9	1	26	19

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger		Belle Vue	11.42
2	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.97
3	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	10.96
4	Jim Airey		Sheffield	10.70
5	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.64
6	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	10.21
7	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.14
8	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.03
9	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	9.95
10	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.93

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.^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
08/05	Halifax	49-29	West Ham
08/05	Swindon	43-35	Wimbledon
06/05	Oxford	46-32	Poole

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/06	Wolverhampton	43-35	Belle Vue
21/06	Reading	38-40	Cradley Heath
17/06	Oxford	39-38	Exeter
12/06	King's Lynn	46-32	Newport
11/06	Glasgow	43-34	Leicester
10/06	Sheffield	48-30	Wembley
05/06	Halifax	42-36	Coventry
05/06	Swindon	36-42	Hackney

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
14/08	Halifax	43-35	Sheffield
06/08	Wolverhampton	45-32	Oxford
31/07	King's Lynn	39-39	Hackney
31/07	Cradley Heath	40-38	Glasgow
03/09	Hackney	49-29	King's Lynn

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
17/09	Hackney	50-27	Halifax
06/09	Cradley Heath	50-28	Wolverhampton

Final

First leg

Cradley Heath Bernt Persson 11 Bob Andrews 9 Mick Handley 7 Pete Jarman 6 John Hart 5 Roy Trigg 3 Cyril Francis 0	41 - 37	Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 10 Barry Thomas 8 Hugh Saunders 8 Garry Middleton 7 Laurie Etheridge 2 Geoff Maloney 1 Eddie Reeves 1
	[7]

4 October 1971

Dudley Wood Stadium

Second leg

Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Garry Middleton 10 Barry Thomas 9 Dave Kennett 9 Hugh Saunders 6 Eddie Reeves 3 Laurie Etheridge 2	51 - 27	Cradley Heath Howard Cole (guest) 13 Bob Andrews 5 Roy Trigg 3 John Hart 3 Pete Jarman 2 Mick Handley 1 Ralph Waller 0
	[8]

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.^[9]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ivan Mauger	3 3 3 3 2	14
2	Barry Briggs	2 2 3 2 3	12
3	Jim McMillan	1 3 2 3 3	12
4	Bob Kilby	3 0 2 2 3	10
5	Nigel Boocock	3 2 1 3 0	9
6	Eric Boocock	2 2 1 1 3	9
7	Ole Olsen	3 3 2 f fx	8
8	Christer Löfqvist	2 1 0 3 2	8
9	Jim Airey	1 1 3 1 1	7
10	Ray Wilson	1 3 1 1 f	6
11	Reidar Eide	0 2 3 0 1	6
12	Anders Michanek	2 1 0 0 2	5
13	Ronnie Moore	0 1 2 2 0	5
14	Sándor Lévai	0 0 1 2 1	4
15	Terry Betts	0 0 0 1 1	2
16	Bert Harkins (res)	2 - - - -	2
17	Bengt Jansson	1 0 0 0 0	1

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

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger		Belle Vue	11.33
2	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	10.99
3	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.94
4	Jim Airey		Sheffield	10.74
5	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.67
6	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	10.26
7	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.19
8	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.05
9	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	9.95
10	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.89
11	Martin Ashby		Swindon	9.76
12	Bernt Persson		Cradley Heath	9.68
13	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	9.62
14	Malcolm Simmons		King's Lynn	9.22
15	Trevor Hedge		Wimbledon	9.18
16	Jim McMillan		Glasgow	9.18
17	Sören Sjösten		Belle Vue	9.11
18	Reidar Eide		Poole	9.10
19	Göte Nordin		Wembley	9.04
20	John Boulger		Leicester	8.99

London Cup

Hackney won the London Cup for only the second time, after previously winning it back in 1936.^[10]

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Hackney Hawks	4	4	0	0	177	135	8
2	West Ham Hammers	4	1	0	3	156	156	2
3	Wimbledon Dons	4	1	0	3	135	177	2

Results

Team	Score	Team
Hackney	40–38	West Ham
West Ham	45–33	Wimbledon
Hackney	53–25	Wimbledon
Wimbledon	41–37	West Ham
West Ham	36–42	Hackney
Wimbledon	36–42	Hackney

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.^[11]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Wolverhampton	Swindon	41–36, 41–35
Oxford	Cradley	38–40, 33–45

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Wolverhampton	41–37, 42–36
Cradley	Coventry	33–45, 27–51

Final

First leg

Coventry Tony Lomas 11 Nigel Boocock 10 Ron Mountford 7 Jan Simensen 7 John Haarhy 5 Roger Hill 4 Les Owen 1	45–33	Leicester Ray Wilson 12 John Boulger 11 Alan Cowland 3 Graham Plant 2 Norman Storer 2 Tom Leadbitter 2 Malcolm Brown 1

9 October 1971

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

Leicester John Boulger 12 Ray Wilson 8 Graham Plant 6 Malcolm Shakespeare 6 Norman Storer 5 Alan Cowland 4 Malcolm Brown 0	41–37	Coventry Tony Lomas 8 Ron Mountford 8 Jan Simensen 8 Nigel Boocock 5 Roger Hill 5 Les Owen 3 John Haarhy 0

12 October 1971

Leicester Stadium

Coventry won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages

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. "Reading switch". Western Daily Press. 6 January 1971. Retrieved 19 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
5. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
6. "1971 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
7. "Season 1971" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
8. "Cradley crash at Hackney". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 9 October 1971. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Speedway". Sunday Mirror. 17 October 1971. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Hackney 1971" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
11. "Fifth heat settles Lions". Leicester Daily Mercury. 13 October 1971. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.