Misplaced Pages

The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.

Summary

Ipswich Witches moved up from Division Two but London lost two clubs, when the Wembley Lions closed due to extra football fixtures and West Ham Hammers withrew during the early part of the season, reducing the league to eighteen teams.

Belle Vue Aces won their third consecutive title. Their team was littered with great riders including Ivan Mauger, Sören Sjösten and the young Peter Collins; they were backed up by the consistency of Chris Pusey, Eric Broadbelt, Alan Wilkinson and Ken Eyre, which led to a comfortable title win by a clear 12 points.

Oxford Cheetahs had a bizarre season when they were rebranded as Oxford Rebels following a takeover by a new consortium, which included former riders Bob Dugard and Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image. To make matters worse they signed a new Norwegian rider Svein Kaasa, who was quickly transferred to Glasgow following poor results. He died riding for Glasgow towards the end of the season (on 29 September) at Hampden Park. Kasa clipped Martin Ashby's bike in a race and hit the wooden fence receiving fatal injuries.

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	11.42
2	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	11.36
3	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.53
4	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.51
5	Bernt Persson		Cradley Heath	10.50
6	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	10.46
7	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.38
8	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.31
9	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.16
10	Martin Ashby		Swindon	10.07

British League Knockout Cup

The 1972 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82-73.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 21 October.

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ole Olsen	3 3 3 3 3	15
2	Martin Ashby	2 3 3 3 3	14
3	Ronnie Moore	3 3 2 3 2	13
4	John Louis	1 1 3 3 3	11
5	Anders Michanek	3 2 1 2 1	9
6	Terry Betts	2 2 2 1 2	9
7	Ivan Mauger	3 3 ef ef 2	8
8	Garry Middleton	2 2 2 2 0	8
9	Christer Löfqvist	2 0 1 1 3	7
10	Bernt Persson	ef 2 3 ex 1	6
11	Ray Wilson	0 1 2 2 0	5
12	Bengt Jansson	1 0 1 1 1	4
13	Bob Kilby	1 0 0 0 2	3
14	Eric Boocock	0 1 1 0 1	3
15	Nigel Boocock	1 ef 0 1 0	2
16	Jim McMillan (res)	2	2
17	Arnie Haley	0 1 0 0 0	1

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

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	11.39
2	Ivan Mauger		Belle Vue	11.36
3	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	10.51
4	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.51
5	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.38
6	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.36
7	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.34
8	Bernt Persson		Cradley	10.27
9	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.14
10	Martin Ashby		Swindon	10.08
11	Bob Kilby		Exeter	9.89
12	John Boulger		Leicester	9.46
13	John Louis		Ipswich	9.39
14	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	9.38
15	Garry Middleton		Oxford	9.24
16	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	9.23
17	Howard Cole (a.k.a. Kid Brodie)		King's Lynn	8.94
18	Sören Sjösten		Belle Vue	8.92
19	Christer Löfqvist		Poole	8.90
20	Jim McMillan		Glasgow	8.86

Midland Cup

Leicester won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Leicester won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Ivan Mauger 11.36
• Sören Sjösten 8.92
• Peter Collins 8.44
• Chris Pusey 8.20
• Eric Broadbelt 6.72
• Alan Wilkinson 6.68
• Ken Eyre 5.56
• Paul Tyrer 5.11

Coventry

• Nigel Boocock 9.23
• Tony Lomas 8.10
• John Harrhy 7.07
• Jan Simensen 6.85
• Rick France 5.61
• Roy Carter 5.33
• Roger Hill 5.19
• Les Owen 4.52
• Pete Bailey 4.14

Cradley Heath

• Bernt Persson 10.27
• Bob Andrews 7.30
• Roy Trigg 6.95
• Pete Jarman 4.90
• John Hart 4.61
• Mick Handley 4.57
• Jimmy Squibb 3.73
• Ian Ross 2.00
• Dave Perks 0.91

Exeter

• Bob Kilby 9.89
• Edgar Stangeland 8.23
• Bob Coles 6.29
• Kevin Holden 6.06
• Peter Ingram 5.85
• Bruce Cribb 5.75
• Dave Hemus 5.28
• Chris Julian 4.89
• Phil Woodcock 4.00
• Clark Facey 1.18

Glasgow

• Jimmy McMillan 8.86
• Bobby Beaton 8.58
• George Hunter 8.41
• Charlie Monk 6.91
• Svein Kaasa 4.94
• Robin Adlington 4.00
• Jimmy Gallacher 3.72
• Paul O'Neal 3.47
• Kjell Gimre 2.09
• Jim Beaton 1.82

Hackney

• Bengt Jansson 9.38
• Barry Thomas 7.79
• Dave Kennett 6.38
• Geoff Maloney 6.32
• Hugh Saunders 6.27
• Laurie Etheridge 6.24
• Eddie Reeves 5.78
• Roger Wright 4.00
• Allen Emmett 3.20

Halifax

• Eric Boocock 10.36
• Göte Nordin 8.16
• Dave Younghusband 7.39
• Alan Jay 5.87
• Greg Kentwell 5.70
• Tommy Roper 5.36
• John Titman 4.03
• Mike Hiftle 3.57
• Malcolm MacKay 3.53

Ipswich

• John Louis 9.39
• Olle Nygren 7.78
• Tommy Johansson 7.67
• Sándor Lévai 6.96
• Pete Bailey 5.07
• Alan Sage 4.61
• Billy Sanders 4.46
• Tony Davey 4.35

King's Lynn

• Terry Betts 10.51
• Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 8.94
• Malcolm Simmons 8.36
• Phil Crump 7.30
• Bob Humphreys 6.21
• Ian Turner 5.72
• Barry Crowson 5.47
• Arthur Price 4.75
• Clive Featherby 4.33

Leicester

• Ray Wilson 10.14
• John Boulger 9.46
• Dave Jessup 8.68
• Norman Storer 4.98
• Malcolm Shakespeare 4.81
• Geoff Ambrose 4.47
• Malcolm Brown 3.93
• Alan Cowland 3.25

Newport

• Ronnie Genz 7.45
• Tony Clarke 7.15
• Graham Plant 6.41
• Neil Street 5.28
• Phil Woodcock 4.49
• Bo Wirebrand 4.36
• Ted Laessing 3.75
• Barry Duke 3.49

Oxford

• Garry Middleton 9.24
• Øyvind S. Berg 7.97
• Colin Gooddy 6.49
• Malcolm Ballard 6.25
• Rick Timmo 5.14
• Ken McKinlay 4.81
• Norman Strachan 4.37
• Preben Rosenkilde 3.64
• John Davis 3.00

Poole

• Christer Löfqvist 8.90
• Pete Smith 8.00
• Odd Fossengen 6.71
• John Langfield 6.47
• Brian Collins 5.75
• Frank Shuter 5.42
• Mike Cake 4.66

Reading

• Anders Michanek 10.51
• Dag Lövaas 8.78
• Geoff Curtis 7.73
• Geoff Mudge 7.07
• Richard May 6.38
• Mick Bell 6.24
• Bernie Leigh 5.02
• Graeme Smith 3.77

Sheffield

• Reidar Eide 8.85
• Arnold Haley 8.81
• Doug Wyer 7.46
• Reg Wilson 7.34
• Bert Harkins 7.15
• Bob Valentine 7.15
• Bob Paulson 6.33

Swindon

• Barry Briggs 10.38
• Martin Ashby 10.08
• Norman Hunter 6.08
• Mike Broadbank 4.88
• Brian Leonard 4.62
• Clive Hitch 4.21
• Mike Keen 3.88
• James Bond 3.56
• David Ashby 2.00

Wimbledon

• Ronnie Moore 10.34
• Trevor Hedge 8.13
• Tommy Jansson 7.45
• John Dews 5.02
• Graeme Stapleton 4.45
• Peter Murray 3.96
• Jim Tebby 3.53
• Neil Cameron 3.26
• Pete Wigley 1.71

Wolverhampton

• Ole Olsen 11.39
• Jan Simensen 7.76
• Norman Hunter 6.67
• Dave Gifford 5.88
• Tom Leadbitter 4.59
• Jon Erskine 4.04
• Dave Baugh 3.75
• Colin Meredith 1.65

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "Wembley Lions split". Hull Daily Mail. 29 February 1972. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
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. "Svein Kasa". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
7. Bamford,R & Shailes,G (2007). “The Story of Oxford Speedway”. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0
8. "1972 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
9. ^ "Season 1972" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
10. "Michanek fifth". Reading Evening Post. 23 October 1972. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 25 October 1972. 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
• 1972 in British motorsport
• 1972 in speedway