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The 1979 Gulf British League season was the 45th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 15th season known as the British League.

Summary

The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fifth season. It comprised 18 teams - one fewer than the previous season. White City Rebels had folded and their riders became Eastbourne Eagles assets as Eastbourne were promoted from the National League. Bristol Bulldogs also dropped out after only two seasons back in the top flight.

Coventry Bees won the league for the second year running. Hull Vikings' second place was their best ever finish. The Coventry Bees team was similar to the previous season with a young 18 year-old Danish newcomer Tommy Knudsen replacing Jiří Štancl from the previous season. Alan Molyneux once again backed up the Coventry overseas contingent with a solid average. Cradley Heath won the Knockout Cup mainly thanks to their USA superstar Bruce Penhall. The Cradley team also had their own young Danish newcomer in 20 year-old Erik Gundersen and 20 year-old Hans Nielsen posted a 10 plus average for the season riding for Wolves. The future looked extremely bright for Denmark.

During the new British League Fours tournament a horrific accident took place at Hackney Wick Stadium on Friday 8 June. In the final heat between Hackney and Eastbourne all four riders were competing when Hackney's Vic Harding and Eastbourne's Steve Weatherley touched and their bikes became locked together. They were both thrown from their bikes into the fence and the metal post supporting one of the track lights. Both riders were taken to hospital but Harding died later that night and Weatherley was left paralysed. Further bad news filtered though in December after the season had finished, when Poole Pirate's Christer Sjösten died following serious injuries sustained in a race in Australia.

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	Scott Autrey		Exeter	10.91
2	Ivan Mauger		Hull	10.54
3	Phil Crump		Swindon	10.36
4	Michael Lee		King's Lynn	10.29
5	John Davis		Reading	10.22
6	Hans Nielsen		Wolverhampton	10.16
7	Gordon Kennett		Eastbourne	10.13
8	Ole Olsen		Coventry	10.03
9	Bruce Penhall		Cradley	10.02
10	Dave Jessup		King's Lynn	9.80

British League Knockout Cup

The 1979 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 120-96.

Riders' Championship

John Louis won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	John Louis	2 3 3 3 3	14
2	Bruce Penhall	3 2 3 3 2	13
3	Michael Lee	3 3 2 1 3	12
4	Peter Collins	2 3 2 3 1	11
5	Larry Ross	3 2 1 1 3	10
6	Phil Crump	0 3 3 3 0	9
7	Hans Nielsen	2 2 1 2 2	9
8	Scott Autrey	1 1 3 1 2	8
9	Ole Olsen	2 2 0 2 1	7
10	Ivan Mauger	1 R 2 0 1	6
11	Malcolm Simmons	3 0 0 1 1	5
12	John Titman	0 1 0 2 2	5
13	Ian Cartright	1 1 1 2 0	5
14	John Davis	0 1 2 0 1	4
15	Andy Grahame	0 0 1 0 0	1
16	Gordon Kennett	1 0 0 0 0	1

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages

The top ten averages recorded at the end of the season.

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Scott Autrey		Exeter	10.83
2	Ivan Mauger		Hull	10.38
3	Phil Crump		Swindon	10.34
4	John Davis		Reading	10.32
5	Hans Nielsen		Wolverhampton	10.29
6	Michael Lee		King's Lynn	10.21
7	Ole Olsen		Coventry	9.92
8	Gordon Kennett		Eastbourne	9.91
9	Bruce Penhall		Cradley	9.88
10	Dave Jessup		King's Lynn	9.72

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the fourth consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 93–63

London Cup

Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.

Results

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Collins 9.76
• Chris Morton 9.06
• Les Collins 7.60
• Dave Allen 6.00
• Karl Maier 5.56
• Pekka Hautamaki 5.17
• Emil Sova 4.81
• Rob Maxfield 4.25
• Derek Richardson 4.21
• Arnold Haley 3.08
• Keith Bloxsome 0.86

Birmingham

• Billy Sanders 9.15
• Phil Herne 7.91
• Andy Grahame 7.60
• Finn Jensen 6.14
• Alan Emerson 5.90
• Ari Koponen 5.05
• Ray Wilson 5.05
• Ted Howgego 4.33
• Stuart Mountford 2.72

Coventry

• Ole Olsen 9.92
• Mitch Shirra 9.13
• Alan Molyneux 8.00
• Alf Busk 6.62
• Tommy Knudsen 6.41
• Gary Guglielmi 5.93
• Kevin Hawkins 5.73
• Mick Bell 4.95

Cradley Heath

• Bruce Penhall 9.88
• Alan Grahame 8.34
• Phil Collins 7.85
• Bobby Schwartz 7.83
• Steve Bastable 7.71
• Kristian Praestbro 7.54
• Erik Gundersen 7.35
• Dave Perks 6.84
• John Hack 4.77
• Les Rumsey 4.76

Eastbourne

• Gordon Kennett 9.91
• Kai Niemi 8.76
• Steve Weatherley 6.98
• Dave Kennett 5.59
• Trevor Geer 5.09
• Eric Dugard 4.27
• Roger Abel 3.91
• Steve Naylor 3.75
• Paul Woods 3.41
• John Barker 3.09
• Veijo Tuoriniemi 2.96

Exeter

• Scott Autrey 10.83
• Václav Verner 8.49
• Peter Prinsloo 6.94
• Aleš Dryml Sr. 6.47
• Jan Verner 6.40
• Steve Koppe 6.17
• Nigel Boocock 6.06
• Zdeněk Kudrna 6.05

Hackney

• Zenon Plech 7.78
• Bo Petersen 7.74
• Finn Thomsen 7.70
• Barry Thomas 5.09
• Vic Harding 4.33
• Bobby McNeil 4.00
• Sean Willmott 3.80
• Keith White 3.63

Halifax

• Ian Cartwright 8.95
• Kenny Carter 8.13
• Mike Lohmann 7.59
• Tormod Langli 6.93
• Mick McKeon 6.87
• Klaus Lohmann 5.18
• Merv Janke 4.84
• Steve Wilcock 4.24

Hull

• Ivan Mauger 10.38
• Bobby Beaton 8.62
• Kelly Moran 8.47
• Joe Owen 8.40
• Dennis Sigalos 7.46
• Graham Drury 6.75
• Frank Auffret 6.01

Ipswich

• John Louis 9.32
• Billy Sanders 9.21
• Tony Davey 7.51
• Kevin Jolly 7.43
• Anders Michanek 7.33
• Mike Lanham 6.43
• Tim Hunt 4.95
• Preben Eriksen 4.45
• Colin Cook 4.00
• Milan Spinka 3.76
• Andy Hines 3.41
• Nigel Flatman 3.27
• Kevin Teager 2.10

King's Lynn

• Michael Lee 10.21
• Dave Jessup 9.72
• Richard Hellsen 8.58
• Ian Turner 5.98
• Bent Rasmussen 5.24
• David Gagen 5.00
• Pete Smith 4.97
• Derek Harrison 4.26
• Bob Garrad 3.87
• Rob Hollingworth 2.27

Leicester

• John Titman 8.47
• Ila Teromaa 6.28
• Mike Farrell 5.99
• John Boulger 5.88
• Colin Cook 5.40
• Tom Godal 4.75
• John McNeill 4.14
• Chris Turner 3.49
• Robert Henry 3.47

Poole

• Malcolm Simmons 9.04
• Ron Preston 8.58
• Christer Sjösten 6.49
• Neil Middleditch 6.48
• Danny Kennedy 6.06
• Andrzej Tkocz 5.82
• Martin Yeates 4.33
• Kelvin Mullarkey 2.57

Reading

• John Davis 10.32
• Jan Andersson 8.64
• Terry Betts 7.75
• Bernie Leigh 6.31
• Melvyn Taylor 5.65
• Reidar Eide 5.23
• Bob Humphreys 5.16
• Jiří Štancl 5.12
• Ashley Pullen 3.75

Sheffield

• Reg Wilson 8.74
• Doug Wyer 7.57
• Craig Pendlebury 6.47
• Eric Broadbelt 6.03
• Henny Kroeze 4.92
• Nicky Allott 4.84
• Steve Finch 4.52
• Phil White 4.37
• Keith Evans 4.17
• Tommy Morley 3.61
• Neil Collins 3.33

Swindon

• Phil Crump 10.34
• Bob Kilby 7.65
• Steve Gresham 6.98
• Geoff Bouchard 6.30
• Martin Ashby 6.06
• Steen Mastrup 5.92
• Rolf Gramstad 4.66
• Malcolm Holloway 3.52

Wimbledon

• Edward Jancarz 9.26
• Larry Ross 8.97
• Roger Johns 7.89
• Stefan Salomonsso 7.38
• Rudy Muts 6.91
• Mick Hines 5.47
• Colin Richardson 5.39
• Richard Knight 4.35
• Pat Pawson 1.86
• Dave Brewer 1.38

Wolverhampton

• Hans Nielsen 10.29
• Jimmy McMillan 7.93
• Dave Morton 6.81
• George Hunter 6.73
• Hasse Danielsson 6.39
• Bruce Cribb 5.84
• Edgar Stangeland 5.44
• Dave Trownson 5.23
• Trond Helge Skretting 3.52

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 94. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
3. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
4. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
5. "1979 league tables". Speedway GB.
6. "Vic Harding killed". Reading Evening Post. 9 June 1979. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Vic Harding". Speedway Museum Online. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
8. "1979 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
9. "Speedway". The People. 21 October 1979. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
11. "...and they're cup kings, too!". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 15 October 1979. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "1979 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.

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
• 1979 in British motorsport
• 1979 in speedway