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The 1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as the British League.

Summary

Cradley Heath Heathens won the league and cup double. Despite losing their double world champion Bruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well. Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg and Lance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up by Phil Collins, Alan Grahame and Peter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from Denmark Jan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future.

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	Dennis Sigalos		Ipswich Witches	10.99
2	Hans Nielsen		Birmingham Brummies	10.77
3	Erik Gundersen		Cradley Heathens	10.59
4	Mitch Shirra		Reading Racers	10.38
5	Michael Lee		Poole Pirates	10.36
6	Kenny Carter		Halifax Dukes	10.34
7	Billy Sanders		Ipswich Witches	10.27
8	Chris Morton		Belle Vue Aces	10.17
9	Phil Crump		Swindon Robins	9.88
10	Jan Andersson		Reading Racers	9.61

British League Knockout Cup

The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg=

Second leg

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.

League Cup

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Belle Vue Aces beating Coventry Bees in the final 86-70 on aggregate.

South Group

North Group

Final

Leading final averages

Rider	Team	Average
Hans Nielsen	Birmingham	10.82
Dennis Sigalos	Ipswich	10.75
Chris Morton	Belle Vue	10.30
Kenny Carter	Halifax	10.28
Erik Gundersen	Cradley Heath	10.23
Michael Lee	Poole	10.16
Phil Crump	Swindon	10.03
Mitch Shirra	Reading	10.02
Tommy Knudsen	Coventry	9.87
Billy Sanders	Ipswich	9.70
Ole Olsen	Coventry	9.56

Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 15 October.

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Erik Gundersen	3 3 3 2 3	14
2	Michael Lee	0 3 3 3 3	12
3	Hans Nielsen	2 3 3 2 2	12
4	Kenny Carter	1 1 2 3 3	10
5	John Louis	0 3 1 2 3	9
6	Billy Sanders	3 1 1 3 1	9
7	Mitch Shirra	2 2 0 3 1	8
8	Bo Petersen	3 2 1 0 2	8
9	Phil Crump	3 0 2 2 1	8
10	Ole Olsen	1 2 2 0 2	7
11	Jan Andersson	2 1 2 1 1	7
12	Paul Woods	2 2 0 1 0	5
13	David Bargh	1 0 1 1 2	5
14	Chris Morton	1 1 3 0 0	5
15	Mark Courtney	0 0 0 1 0	1
16	Kai Niemi	0 0 0 - -	0
17	Martin Scarisbrick (res)	0 - - - -	0
18	David Wild (res)	0 - - - -	0

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

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Cradley won on aggregate 96–60

London Cup

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

Results

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Chris Morton 10.30
• Peter Collins 9.13
• Larry Ross 7.37
• Peter Carr 5.62
• Louis Carr 5.38
• Peter Ravn 4.95
• Andy Smith 4.48
• Kenny McKinna 4.30
• Martin Scarisbrick 1.09

Birmingham

• Hans Nielsen 10.82
• Andy Grahame 8.29
• Neil Evitts 6.88
• Shawn McConnell 5.71
• Karl Maier 5.63
• Petr Ondrašík 5.36
• John Jørgensen 5.01
• Kent Noer 4.85
• Paul Thorp 3.13
• Mike Wilding 2.07

Coventry

• Tommy Knudsen 9.87
• Ole Olsen 9.56
• Gary Guglielmi 8.07
• Steve Bastable 6.79
• Kevin Hawkins 5.44
• Sam Nikolajsen 5.23
• Rick Miller 4.87

Cradley Heath

• Erik Gundersen 10.23
• Simon Wigg 8.86
• Lance King 8.74
• Alan Grahame 8.69
• Phil Collins 7.98
• Peter Ravn 7.97
• Jan O. Pedersen 6.78
• Simon Cross 6.00
• Andy Reid 2.54
• David Cheshire 2.33

Eastbourne

• Paul Woods 8.73
• John Eskildsen 6.53
• Mike Lanham 4.18
• Dave Kennett 3.87
• Anders Eriksson 3.79
• Lillebror Johansson 3.79
• Piotr Pyszny 3.75
• Denzil Kent 3.65
• Trevor Geer 3.56
• Ottaviano Righetto 2.55
• Rene Christiansen 1.93
• Peter Schroeck 0.27

Hackney

• Bo Petersen 8.47
• Finn Thomsen 7.94
• Jens Rasmussen 6.74
• Sean Willmott 6.30
• John Titman 6.25
• Martin Hagon 4.83
• Antonín Kasper Jr. 4.39
• Bob Garrad 4.30

Halifax

• Kenny Carter 10.28
• Steve Baker 6.60
• Doug Wyer 6.17
• Steve Finch 5.77
• Martin Dixon 5.59
• Craig Pendlebury 5.41
• Gianni Famari 3.52
• Eric Boocock 2.40

Ipswich

• Dennis Sigalos 10.75
• Billy Sanders 9.70
• Jeremy Doncaster 6.79
• Preben Eriksen 6.72
• Nigel Flatman 4.82
• Andy Hines 4.51
• Carl Baldwin 4.08
• Andy Hibbs 4.06
• Andy Nightingale 0.35

King's Lynn

• John Louis 8.45
• Gordon Kennett 8.39
• Richard Hellsen 7.02
• Colin Richardson 6.29
• Kevin Jolly 6.21
• Melvyn Taylor 5.95
• Keith Bloxsome 5.25

Leicester

• Mark Courtney 8.66
• Les Collins 8.24
• Neil Collins 7.17
• Steve Regeling 5.95
• Finn Jensen 5.11
• Colin Cook 5.10
• Mike Lanham 4.98
• Eric Monaghan 4.76
• Steen Mastrup 3.85
• Phil Herne 3.81

Poole

• Michael Lee 10.16
• John Davis 7.72
• Kevin Smith 6.95
• Václav Verner 6.06
• Neil Middleditch 5.38
• Andy Campbell 4.74
• Stan Bear 4.41
• Sam Ermolenko 4.25 (4 matches only)
• Brian Jakobsen 4.23
• Erik Stenlund 3.56
• Keith Millard 2.96

Reading

• Mitch Shirra 10.02
• Jan Andersson 9.47
• Bobby Schwartz 9.02
• Pierre Brannefors 7.28
• Tim Hunt 4.31
• Peter Glanz 3.85
• Stanislav Urban 3.24
• John Grahame 2.74

Sheffield

• Shawn Moran 9.43
• David Bargh 7.03
• Phil White 6.26
• Dave Morton 5.84
• Reg Wilson 5.09
• Eric Monaghan 3.97
• Alan Mason 3.26
• Gerald Short 2.13

Swindon

• Phil Crump 10.03
• Bjorn Andersson 7.01
• Phil Herne 5.65
• Martin Yeates 5.23
• Steve Gresham 5.14
• Malcolm Holloway 4.99
• Alf Busk 4.31
• Steen Mastrup 3.57
• Per Sorensen 2.88
• Milan Špinka 1.93

Wimbledon

• Dave Jessup 9.25
• Malcolm Simmons 7.86
• Kai Niemi 7.67
• Ari Koponen 6.55
• Kelvin Tatum 6.19
• Mike Ferreira 5.95
• Roger Johns 5.18

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
3. "1983". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
4. "1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
5. ^ "Coventry Bees 1983 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
6. "Dane wins". Sunday Mirror. 16 October 1983. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Cradley's treble glory!". Birmingham Mail. 25 October 1983. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "1983 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
• 1983 in British motorsport
• 1983 in speedway