Misplaced Pages

The 1970 British League season was the 36th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the sixth season known as the British League.

Summary

Wembley Lions under the promotion of Trevor Redmond and Bernard Cottrel entered the British league having bought the licence - and inherited the riders - from the Coatbridge Monarchs. It was the first time since 1956 that Wembley would compete in the league.

Belle Vue Aces secured their first British League title. The Manchester team were once again led by the brilliant Ivan Mauger who would secure a third consecutive world champion title before the end of the season. He topped the averages with 11.18 as the team finished ten points ahead of their nearest rivals Wimbledon Dons. The Dons found some consolation when winning their third consecutive British League Knockout Cup.

Final table

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	11.23
2	Anders Michanek		Newcastle	10.91
3	Jim Airey		Sheffield	10.82
4	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.77
5	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	10.67
6	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.59
7	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.56
8	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	10.27
9	Jim McMillan		Glasgow	10.26
10	Martin Ashby		Exeter	10.14

British League Knockout Cup

The 1970 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 32nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon Dons were the winners for the third consecutive year. It was the first time that the competition was sponsored by the Speedway Star.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 80-75.

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the sixth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 17 October. He won a three way run off for the title.

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Barry Briggs	3 3 1 3 3	13+3
2	Anders Michanek	3 2 3 3 2	13+2
3	Eric Boocock	2 3 2 3 3	13+1
4	Ronnie Moore	3 2 3 3 1	12
5	Ivan Mauger	3 1 3 ex 3	10
6	Nigel Boocock	2 3 1 2 2	10
7	Jim Airey	2 3 2 1 1	9
8	Martin Ashby	0 1 1 2 3	7
9	Reidar Eide	2 1 2 1 1	7
10	Ray Wilson	0 2 0 2 1	5
11	Bernt Persson	1 1 0 1 2	5
12	Ole Olsen	1 2 2 0 0	5
13	Terry Betts	0 0 0 2 2	4
14	Charlie Monk	1 0 3 0 0	4
15	Olle Nygren	0 0 1 0 0	1
16	Hasse Holmqvist	1 0 0 0 0	1
17	Sándor Lévai (res)	1 - - - -	1

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

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger		Belle Vue	11.18
2	Anders Michanek		Newcastle	10.88
3	Jim Airey		Sheffield	10.86
4	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.80
5	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	10.66
6	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.54
7	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.53
8	Jim McMillan		Glasgow	10.27
9	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	10.25
10	Martin Ashby		Exeter	10.09
11	Trevor Hedge		Wimbledon	9.97
12	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.95
13	Bob Kilby		Swindon	9.68
14	Sören Sjösten		Belle Vue	9.66
15	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	9.49
16	Bruce Cribb		Exeter	9.47
17	Olle Nygren		West Ham	9.36
18	John Boulger		Leicester	9.34
19	Bernt Persson		Cradley Heath	9.29
20	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	922

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup for the third consecutive year.

Results

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 83–73

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Ivan Mauger 11.18
• Sören Sjösten 9.66
• Tommy Roper 7.91
• Chris Pusey 7.31
• Dave Hemus 5.79
• Eric Broadbelt 5.33
• Ken Eyre 5.33
• Mike Hiftle 4.25
• Steve Waplington 3.52

Coventry

• Nigel Boocock 10.66
• Ken McKinlay 8.50
• Rick France 7.78
• Les Owen 6.08
• Tony Lomas 5.91
• Roger Hill 5.90
• Col Cottrell 5.66
• Ron Mountford 1.58

Cradley Heath

• Bernt Persson 9.29
• Roy Trigg 8.45
• Colin Pratt 7.75
• Jan Simensen 7.51
• Chris Bass 4.38
• Jimmy Squibb 4.09
• Mike Gardner 3.50
• Ken Wakefield 2.65

Exeter

• Martin Ashby 10.09
• Bruce Cribb 9.47
• Jan Holub I 6.81
• Chris Julian 6.09
• Neil Street 5.30
• Bengt Andersson 5.21
• Bob Coles 4.81
• Phil Woodcock 4.62

Glasgow

• Jimmy McMillan 10.27
• Charlie Monk 8.53
• Oyvind Berg 7.79
• Doug Templeton 5.36
• Willie Templeton 5.33
• Bobby Beaton 5.33
• Bill McMillan 3.64
• Alistair Brady 1.85
• Brian Murray 1.64

Hackney

• Bengt Jansson 9.49
• Garry Middleton 8.20
• Jack Biggs 6.08
• Bob Andrews 6.01
• Jimmy Gooch 5.96
• Laurie Etheridge 4.83
• Les McGillivray 4.71
• Barry Thomas 3.59

Halifax

• Eric Boocock 10.54
• Les Sharpe 8.21
• Dave Younghusband 7.80
• Alan Jay 7.04
• Colin McKee 5.95
• Greg Kentwell 5.80
• Terry Lee 4.27

King's Lynn

• Terry Betts 9.22
• Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 8.49
• Malcolm Simmons 7.58
• Allan Brown 5.05
• Alan Bellham 4.97
• Clive Featherby 4.44
• Ian Turner 4.36
• Arthur Price 4.32
• David Crane 3.31

Leicester

• Ray Wilson 10.80
• John Boulger 9.34
• Graham Plant 6.72
• Norman Storer 5.71
• John Hart 5.04
• Malcolm Brown 4.76
• Alan Cowland 4.51
• Tom Leadbitter 3.43

Newcastle

• Anders Michanek 10.88
• George Hunter 7.88
• Dave Gifford 6.62
• Geoff Curtis 5.15
• Mike Watkin 4.30
• Russ Dent 4.06
• Dag Lövaas 3.91

Newport

• Sándor Lévai 8.45
• Bill Andrew 7.78
• Edgar Stangeland 6.38
• Bengt Brannefors 4.57
• Bob Hughes 4.34
• Jon Erskine 4.09
• Norman Strachan 3.91
• Brian Leonard 3.77
• Ross Gilbertson 2.24

Oxford

• Hasse Holmqvist 9.10
• Ronnie Genz 7.03
• Colin Gooddy 6.66
• Pete Jarman 6.48
• Rick Timmo 6.38
• Eddie Reeves 5.89
• Mick Bell 4.76
• Peter Seaton 2.82

Poole

• Geoff Mudge 7.93
• Gordon Guasco 7.72
• Odd Fossengen 7.39
• Pete Smith 7.29
• Mike Cake 5.84
• Ted Laessing 4.76
• Frank Shuter 4.70
• Mike Vernam 2.36

Sheffield

• Jim Airey 10.86
• Arnold Haley 8.88
• Bengt Larsson 7.03
• Bob Paulson 5.32
• John Dews 5.20
• Brian Maxted 4.27
• Dave Baugh 3.23
• Doug Wyer 2.54

Swindon

• Barry Briggs 10.53
• Bob Kilby 9.68
• Clive Hitch 5.58
• Barry Duke 5.26
• Pete Munday 4.57
• Mike Keen 4.34
• John Bishop 3.45

Wembley

• Reidar Eide 9.10
• Ove Fundin 7.93
• Bert Harkins 7.31
• Wayne Briggs 5.85
• Dave Jessup 4.76
• Brian Leonard 4.17
• Des Lukehurst 3.82
• Tim Bungay 3.26
• Bengt Andersson 2.43

West Ham

• Olle Nygren 9.36
• Christer Löfqvist 7.82
• Tony Clarke 7.45
• Peter Bradshaw 5.62
• Stan Stevens 5.38
• Sverre Harrfeldt 4.63
• Martyn Piddock 4.61
• Garry Hay 4.25
• Antonín Kasper Sr. 4.15
• Barry Crowson 3.56

Wimbledon

• Trevor Hedge 9.97
• Ronnie Moore 9.95
• Reg Luckhurst 7.74
• Cyril Maidment 6.67
• Jim Tebby 6.34
• Gary Everett 5.93
• Peter Murray 4.25
• Bob Dugard 3.78
• Nigel Rackett 2.33

Wolverhampton

• Ole Olsen 10.25
• Norman Hunter 7.33
• Peter Vandenberg 6.62
• James Bond 5.31
• Mick Handley 5.29
• Geoff Ambrose 5.23
• Jon Erskine 5.12
• Peter Jackson 4.07

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
4. Jacobs, Norman (2001). Speedway in London. ISBN 0-7524-2221-9
5. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
6. "1970 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
7. ^ "Season 1970" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
8. "Briggs keeps the Crown". Sunday Mirror. 18 October 1970. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Wimbledon 1970" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
10. "Boulger on form for Lions". Nottingham Evening Post. 14 October 1970. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners

v t e British League seasons
1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Domestic cups: British League Knockout Cup

• British League
• 1970 in British motorsport
• 1970 in speedway