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The 1976 Gulf British League season was the 42nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 12th season known as the British League.

Summary

The White City Rebels made their debut as did 1975 National League champions Birmingham Brummies. Oxford Cheetahs dropped down a division with White City inheriting both their riders and their nickname. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a second season.

Ipswich Witches won their second consecutive title. The Witches team was once again headed by John Louis and Billy Sanders but this time Tony Davey also scored well with an average of 8.37, resulting in a comfortable league title success for the Suffolk team. The team then went on to claim the double on 28 October by winning the Knockout Cup.

Wimbledon Dons had the worst possible start to a season when their leading rider and the man touted to be a world champion Tommy Jansson died during a 1976 Individual Speedway World Championship meeting in Stockholm, on 20 May.

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	John Louis		Ipswich	11.10
2=	Ivan Mauger		Exeter	11.00
2=	Ole Olsen		Coventry	11.00
4	Peter Collins		Belle Vue	10.98
5	Phil Crump		Newport	10.68
6	Dave Jessup		Reading	10.42
7	Malcolm Simmons		Poole	10.30
8	Dave Morton		Hackney	10.28
9	John Boulger		Cradley	9.93
10	Martin Ashby		Swindon	9.89

British League Knockout Cup

The 1976 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 38th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 91-63.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held at Hyde Road on 16 October and sponsored by Leyland Cars.

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ole Olsen	3 3 3 3 3	15
2	Peter Collins	3 2 3 3 3	14
3	John Louis	3 3 3 2 2	13
4	Martin Ashby	3 2 3 2 2	12
5	Dave Jessup	2 3 2 3 1	11
6	Phil Crump	0 3 1 1 3	8
7	Barry Briggs	0 2 2 2 0	6
8	Ila Teromaa	1 2 3 EF -	6
9	Chris Pusey	EF 0 2 1 3	6
10	Doug Wyer	1 2 1 0 1	5
11	Gordon Kennett	1 1 1 EF 2	5
12	Ivan Mauger	2 1 EF 2 -	5
13	Dave Morton	2 EF 0 1 1	4
14	Mick Hines (res)	1 2 0 - -	3
15	Terry Betts	1 0 1 0 EF	2
16	Malcolm Simmons	2 F R - -	2
17	Jim McMillan	0 1 0 0 0	1
18	John Boulger (res)	F - - - -	0

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

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Foxhall Stadium on 19 October and was won by Ipswich Witches.

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	John Louis		Ipswich	11.08
2	Peter Collins		Belle Vue	11.06
3	Ole Olsen		Coventry	11.05
4	Ivan Mauger		Exeter	10.86
5	Phil Crump		Newport	10.67
6	Dave Jessup		Reading	10.35
7	Dave Morton		Hackney	10.18
8	Malcolm Simmons		Poole	10.17
9	Martin Ashby		Swindon	9.88
10	John Boulger		Cradley	9.79

Midland Cup

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

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 87–67

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Collins 11.06
• Chris Morton 9.53
• Alan Wilkinson 7.56
• Les Collins 6.34
• Paul Tyrer 5.75
• Kristian Praestbro 5.37
• Chris Turner 5.18
• Russ Hodgson 4.41
• Geoff Pusey 3.83

Birmingham

• Alan Grahame 8.00
• Garry Middleton 6.71
• Sören Sjösten 6.69
• Lou Sansom 6.07
• Jan Terje Gravningen 5.23
• Arthur Browning 4.99
• Bob Valentine 4.72
• Audun Ove Olsen 4.37
• Carl Askew 1.78
• Ricky Day 1.00

Coventry

• Ole Olsen 11.05
• Mitch Shirra 8.26
• Jiří Štancl 6.81
• Alan Molyneux 6.67
• Nigel Boocock 6.53
• John Harrhy 4.64
• Frank Smith 4.60
• Ian Hindle 2.10

Cradley Heath

• John Boulger 9.79
• Bernt Persson 9.16
• Bruce Cribb 7.72
• Arthur Price 5.71
• Dave Perks 5.21
• Steve Bastable 5.20
• Nigel Wasley 3.16

Exeter

• Ivan Mauger 10.86
• Scott Autrey 9.24
• John Titman 6.99
• Kevin Holden 6.45
• Steve Koppe 5.16
• Geoff Mudge 4.86
• Peter Prinsloo 3.54
• Les Rumsey 3.48
• Kazimierz Adamczak 2.23

Hackney

• Dave Morton 10.18
• Zenon Plech 7.92
• Barry Thomas 6.67
• Keith White 6.33
• Laurie Etheridge 5.51
• Trevor Hedge 5.37
• Steve Lomas 4.95
• Ted Hubbard 4.80
• Dave Kennett 4.18

Halifax

• Chris Pusey 8.74
• Henny Kroeze 7.69
• Graham Plant 7.49
• Charlie Monk 5.98
• Ian Cartwright 5.87
• Mike Lohmann 4.95
• Andy Cusworth 4.46
• Grahame Dawson 4.00
• Mick Newton 3.29
• Steve Finch 3.14

Hull

• Barry Briggs 8.94
• Joe Owen 8.86
• Egon Müller 8.75
• Bobby Beaton 7.55
• Mitch Graham 7.50
• Frank Auffret 6.17
• Mike Curoso 6.07
• Graham Drury 5.88
• Tom Owen 5.69

Ipswich

• John Louis 11.08
• Billy Sanders 9.44
• Tony Davey 8.37
• Mike Lanham 6.21
• Ted Howgego 5.87
• Dave Gooderham 5.71
• Kevin Jolly 4.21
• Trevor Jones 3.87
• Andy Hines 3.70

King's Lynn

• Terry Betts 9.71
• Michael Lee 9.43
• Ian Turner 7.83
• David Gagen 5.68
• Ray Bales 5.40
• Richard Hellsen 4.56
• Billy Burton 3.85
• Jan Henningsen 3.50
• Adi Funk 2.80

Leicester

• Ray Wilson 9.28
• Reidar Eide 7.89
• Ila Teromaa 7.86
• Tony Lomas 5.08
• Doug Underwood 4.53
• Alan Emerson 3.86
• Pepe Teromaa 3.08
• Grzegorz Szczepanik 2.37
• Ernst Bøgh 0.76

Newport

• Phil Crump 10.67
• Phil Herne 9.70
• Steve Gresham 7.41
• Brian Woodward 6.15
• Bob Coles 5.00
• Neil Street 4.90
• Tormod Langli 4.71
• Danny Kennedy 4.62
• Kazimierz Adamczak 4.17
• Barney Kennett 3.92

Poole

• Malcolm Simmons 10.17
• Eric Broadbelt 7.14
• Christer Sjösten 6.67
• Pete Smith 6.16
• Neil Middleditch 5.05
• Richard May 5.04
• Martin Yeates 4.32

Reading

• Dave Jessup 10.35
• John Davis 9.33
• Bernie Leigh 6.75
• Bob Humphreys 6.42
• Bolesław Proch 5.37
• Mick Bell 5.16
• Eugeniusz Blaszak 3.67
• Ian Gledhill 2.32

Sheffield

• Doug Wyer 9.62
• Reg Wilson 8.51
• Keith Evans 5.80
• Craig Pendlebury 5.36
• Carl Glover 5.23
• Bengt Larsson 3.72
• Les Glover 3.21
• Tony Boyle 3.08
• Nicky Allott 3.03

Swindon

• Martin Ashby 9.88
• Bob Kilby 9.22
• Bobby McNeil 7.62
• Jan Andersson 6.46
• Soren Karlsson 6.38
• Geoff Bouchard 6.02
• Norman Hunter 5.52
• David Ashby 3.89
• Cliff Anderson 2.00

White City

• Gordon Kennett 9.69
• Dag Lövaas 7.76
• Richard Greer 7.07
• Trevor Geer 6.67
• Steve Weatherley 6.00
• Paul Gachet 5.34
• Brian Clark 5.05
• Kai Niemi 4.85
• Richard Hellsen 3.41

Wimbledon

• Tommy Jansson 10.25 (only 8 matches)
• Mick Hines 7.32
• Edgar Stangeland 7.27
• Larry Ross 7.24
• Stefan Salomonsson 4.14
• Colin Richardson 4.10
• Barry Crowson 4.05
• Roger Johns 3.91
• Brendan Shiletto 2.13

Wolverhampton

• Jimmy McMillan 8.97
• Finn Thomsen 7.58
• George Hunter 7.55
• John Jackson 4.95
• Rob Hollingworth 4.89
• Leif Berlin 3.84
• Giuseppe Marzotto 3.22

See also

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

References

1. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
2. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
5. "Legend Who Died Young". Retro Speedway. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
6. "1976 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
7. ^ "Season 1976" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
8. "Olsen races to title". Sunday Mirror. 17 October 1976. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 20 October 1976. Retrieved 16 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Muddy Marvel, Ole rubs it in". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 23 October 1976. 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
• 1976 in British motorsport
• 1976 in speedway