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1975 British League season

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British speedway season

1975 British League season
League	British League
No. of competitors	18
Champions	Ipswich Witches
Knockout Cup	Belle Vue Aces
Individual	Peter Collins
Spring Gold Cup	Newport Wasps
Midland Cup	Oxford Rebels
Northern Trophy	Belle Vue Aces
London Cup	Wimbledon Dons
Highest average	Ivan Mauger
Division/s below	1975 National League
←1974 1976 →

The1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier ofmotorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League.^[1]

Summary

[edit]

The league was sponsored for the first time byGulf Oil.Reading Racers returned after a one-season absence to increase the size of the league back to eighteen teams and the ban on overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad was lifted.^[2]

TheIpswich Witches won their first title, defeatingBelle Vue Aces by a solitary point.John Louis andBilly Sanders scored heavily throughout the season for Ipswich. Belle Vue found consolation by winning theKnockout Cup.^[3]^[4]

In their last season at the Cowley track,Oxford Rebels won the Midland Cup, beatingWolverhampton Wolves^[5]^[6] but the competition was overshadowed by the death of riderGary Peterson.^[7]

Final table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Ipswich Witches	34	26	1	7	53
2	Belle Vue Aces	34	25	2	7	52
3	Newport	34	24	1	9	49
4	Exeter Falcons	34	20	3	11	45
5	Sheffield Tigers	34	21	0	13	42
6	Reading Racers	34	21	0	13	42
7	Oxford Rebels	34	18	0	16	36
8	Leicester Lions	34	16	4	14	36
9	Wimbledon Dons	34	16	2	16	34
10	Halifax Dukes	34	15	3	16	33
11	Cradley United	34	15	2	17	32
12	King's Lynn Stars	34	14	3	17	31
13	Wolverhampton Wolves	34	13	1	20	27
14	Hull Vikings	34	10	4	20	24
15	Poole Pirates	34	10	3	21	23
16	Coventry Bees	34	9	2	23	20
17	Hackney Hawks	34	9	1	24	19
18	Swindon Robins	34	8	0	26	16

M = Matches;W = Wins;D = Draws;L = Losses;Pts = Total Points

Fixtures and results

[edit]

Home \ Away	BV	COV	CH	EX	HAC	HAL	HV	IPS	KL	LEI	NEW	OX	PP	RR	SHE	SWI	WIM	WOL
Belle Vue		49–29	42–36	55–23	49–29	42–36	46–32	50–28	46–32	47–31	49–29	42–36	45–33	50–28	51–27	48–30	53–25	55–23
Coventry	30–48		44–34	42–36	44.5–33.5	35–43	39–39	41–37	39–39	38–40	33–45	52–26	41–7	38–40	37–41	44–34	41–37	35–42
Cradley Heath	39–39	58–20		39–39	42–36	47–31	51–27	38–40	45–33	42–35	45–32	40–38	44–34	35–43	43–35	43–35	35–43	50–28
Exeter	41–37	58–20	30–48		55–23	41–37	51–27	45–33	46–32	45–33	36–42	43–35+	46–32	43–35	42–36	47–31	43–35	50–28
Hackney	35–43	43–35	58–20	39–39		52–26	41–37	31–47	38–40	30–48	43–35	37–41	36–42	35–43	42–36	49–29	34–44	42–36
Halifax	34–44	40–38	45–33	43–35	43–35		39–39	35–43	42–36	39–39	47–31	44–34	49–29	44–34	33–44	42–36	47–31	41–37
Hull	39–39	42–36	47–31	36–42	42–36	39–39		37–41	36–41	43–35	35–43	40–38	49–29	36–42	38–40	43–35	42–36	47–31
Ipswich	42–36	53–25	45–33	42–36	46–32	59–19	50–28		50–28	42–36	42–36	40–38	43–34	50–27	55–23	47–31	50–28	46–32
King's Lynn	36–42	52–25	36–42	35–43	52–26	41–37	37–41	33–45		39–39	40–38	41–37	39–39	48–30	41–37	41–37	51–27	54–24
Leicester	40–38	45–33	49–29	37–41	43–35	34–44	43–35	39–39	47–31		43–35	43–35	43–35	45–33	43–35	46–32	48–30	45–33
Newport	55–23	58–20	49–29	40–38	58–20	53–25	46–32	56–22	52–26	52–26		52–26	56–22	51–27	61–17	47–31	47–30	50–28
Oxford	34–44	58–20	58–14	35–43	44–34	49–29	49–29	40–38	49–29	40–38	36–42		44–34	46–32	44–34	44–34	44–34	43–35
Poole	37–41	42–36	48–30	42–36	46–32	46–32	42–36	36–42	43–35	39–39	39–39	45–33		37–41	31–47	45–33	36–42	37–41
Reading	41–37	48–30	40–38	43–34	53–25	42–36	48–30	36–42	46–32	41–37	42–36	41–37	50–28		41–37	50–28	40–38	52–26
Sheffield	38–40	47–31	46–32	41–37	51–27	40–38	48–30	42–36	50–28	45–33	34–44	41–36	51–27	42–36		51–27	44–33	49–29
Swindon	40–38	37–41	33–45	36–41	46–31	32–46	42–36	36–42	36–42	42–36	29–49	37–41	44–34	48–30	33–45		41–37	40–38
Wimbledon	36–42	45–33	53–25	39–39	40–38	52–26	45–33	44–34	35–43	43–35	40–38	42–35	50–28	42–36	37–41	42–35		43–35
Wolverhampton	40–38	47–31	45–33	32–46	34–44	40–38	42–36	31–47	46–32	43–35	37–41	31–47	46–32	47–31	45–33	46–32	39–39

Source:^[8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

+ Match awarded to Oxford

Top ten riders (league averages)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger	Exeter	11.45
2	Peter Collins	Belle Vue	11.27
3	Phil Crump	Newport	11.17
4	Anders Michanek	Reading	11.03
5	Ole Olsen	Wolverhampton	10.79
6	John Louis	Ipswich	10.67
7	Dave Jessup	Leicester	10.45
8	Malcolm Simmons	Poole	10.37
9	Dag Lövaas	Oxford	10.22
10	Reg Wilson	Sheffield	10.18

British League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1975 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 37th edition of theKnockout Cup for tier one teams.Belle Vue Aces were the winners.^[9]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
22/05	Sheffield	44–34	Exeter
19/04	Belle Vue	49–29	Wolverhampton
18/04	Wolverhampton	37–41	Belle Vue
14/04	Exeter	47–31	Sheffield

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/07	Leicester	47–31	Hackney
27/06	Hackney	40–38	Leicester
23/06	Cradley Heath	46–32	Kings Lynn
21/06	Kings Lynn	42–36	Cradley Heath
19/06	Oxford	60–18	Coventry
19/06	Ipswich	42–36	Belle Vue
16/06	Exeter	43–35	Poole
16/06	Reading	38–40	Newport
14/06	Swindon	47–31	Hull
14/06	Coventry	33–45	Oxford
11/06	Poole	41–37	Exeter
11/06	Hull	46–32	Swindon
07/06	Halifax	58–20	Wimbledon
06/06	Newport	46–32	Reading
05/06	Wimbledon	49–29	Halifax
04/06	Belle Vue	49–28	Ipswich

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/08	Cradley Heath	51–27	Newport
09/08	Belle Vue	45–33	Oxford
08/08	Newport	49–29	Cradley Heath
07/08	Oxford	36–42	Belle Vue
02/08	Swindon	32–46	Leicester
29/07	Leicester	42–36	Swindon
17/07	Exeter	43–35	Halifax
05/07	Halifax	47–31	Exeter

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
05/10	Belle Vue	44–34	Cradley Heath
27/09	Halifax	37–40	Leicester
26/09	Leicester	47–31	Halifax
22/09	Cradley Heath	32–45	Belle Vue

Final

[edit]

First leg

7 October 1975

Leicester Lions Dave Jessup 11 Ila Teromaa 10 Ray Wilson 9 Frank Auffret 6 Doug Underwood 2 Tony Lomas 0 Keith White 0	38–40	Belle Vue Aces Peter Collins 12 Chris Morton 9 Sören Sjösten 7 Geoff Pusey 4 Alan Wilkinson 4 Russ Hodgson 3 Paul Tyrer 1
	^[10]

Leicester Stadium

Second leg

22 October 1975

Belle Vue Aces Peter Collins 12 Sören Sjösten 8 Paul Tyrer 8 Alan Wilkinson 8 Chris Morton 7 Russ Hodgson 2 Geoff Pusey 1	46–32	Leicester Lions Dave Jessup 8 Ray Wilson 7 Frank Auffret 6 Doug Underwood 6 Tony Lomas 3 Ila Teromaa 1 Keith White 1
	^[10]

Belle Vue Stadium

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate86-70.

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Peter Collins won theBritish League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held atHyde Road on 18 October.^[11]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Peter Collins	33333	15
2	Phil Crump	23313	12
3	Martin Ashby	31232	11
4	John Louis	32033	11
5	Doug Wyer	32122	10
6	Malcolm Simmons	23121	9
7	Chris Pusey	10332	9
8	Dave Jessup	20222	8
9	Anders Michanek	212R3	8
10	Ivan Mauger	10311	6
11	Tommy Jansson	03111	6
12	Terry Betts	11201	5
13	Jim McMillan	20200	4
14	Bob Valentine	0111EF	3
15	Dag Lövaas	12000	3
16	John Boulger	00000	0

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

Leading final averages

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger	Exeter	11.52
2	Phil Crump	Newport	11.15
3	Peter Collins	Belle Vue	11.13
4	Anders Michanek	Reading	10.90
5	Ole Olsen	Wolverhampton	10.79
6	John Louis	Ipswich	10.58
7	Dave Jessup	Leicester	10.41
8	Malcolm Simmons	Poole	10.41
9	Martin Ashby	Swindon	10.13
10	Tommy Jansson	Wimbledon	10.12
11	Dag Lövaas	Oxford	10.04
12	Ray Wilson	Wolverhampton	9.90
13	Reg Wilson	Sheffield	9.79
14	Jim McMillan	Hull	9.69
15	Billy Sanders	Ipswich	9.58
16	Doug Wyer	Sheffield	9.37
17	Chris Morton	Belle Vue	9.27
18	Barry Briggs	Wimbledon	9.23
19	Scott Autrey	Exeter	9.19
20	Reidar Eide	Newport	8.98

Spring Gold Cup

[edit]

East Group

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Reading	6	3	1	2	7
Ipswich	6	3	1	2	7
Hackney	6	3	0	3	6
King's Lynn	6	2	0	4	4

West Group

Team	PL	W	L	Pts
Newport	6	5	1	10
Poole	6	4	2	8
Exeter	6	2	4	4
Wimbledon	6	1	5	2

East Group

Home \ Away	HAC	IPS	KL	REA
Hackney		38–40	45–33	41–37
Ipswich	42–36		45–33	39–39
King's Lynn	37–41	44–34		44–34
Reading	51–27	41–37	44–34

Source:^[12]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

West Group

Home \ Away	EX	NEW	PP	WIM
Exeter		34–42	44–34	50–28
Newport	46–32		58–20	54–24
Poole	42–36	40–38		45–33
Wimbledon	40–38	34–44	34–44

Source:^[13]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final

Team one	Team two	Score
Newport	Reading	53–25, 33–54

Midland Cup

[edit]

Oxford won theMidland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.^[7]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Oxford	Swindon	39–39, 39–39
Oxford	Swindon	53–25, 33–44
Coventry	Cradley	40–37, 35–43

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Wolverhampton	Cradley	42–35, 44–34
Oxford	Leicester	46–32, 35–43

Final

First leg

5 October 1975

Oxford Dag Lovaas 10 Gordon Kennett 9 John Dews 6 Richard Greer 6 Trevor Geer 5 Paul Gachet 2 Richard Hellsen 2	40–38	Wolverhampton Martin Ashby (guest) 13 Finn Thomsen 10 George Hunter 10 Malcolm Shakespeare 4 Colin Meredith 1 Gary Peterson 0 Leif Berlin r/r

Oxford Stadium

Second leg

17 October 1975

Wolverhampton Ole Olsen 11 Malcolm Shakespeare 7 Finn Thomsen 6 Leif Berlin 6 Gary Peterson 4 Keith Anderson 3 Colin Meredith 1	38–39	Oxford Alan Grahame 12 Dag Lovaas 9 Gordon Kennett 7 Richard Greer 7 John Dews 3 Richard Hellsen 1 Brian Clark 0

Monmore Green Stadium

Oxford won on aggregate79–76

Northern Trophy

[edit]

		M	W	L	Pts
1	Belle Vue	6	5	1	10
2	Sheffield	6	4	2	8
3	Halifax	6	3	3	6
4	Hull	6	0	6	0

Home \ Away	BV	HAL	HUL	SHE
Belle Vue		52–26	45–33	40–38
Halifax	35–43		48–30	44–34
Hull	37–41	37–40		36–42
Sheffield	42–36	46–32	49–29

Source:^[14]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

London Cup

[edit]

Wimbledon retained the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.^[15]

Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	48–30	Hackney
Hackney	46–32	Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

References

[edit]

^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^Oakes, Peter (1981).1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100.ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
^"HISTORY ARCHIVE".British Speedway. Retrieved2 July 2021.
^Rogers, Martin (1978).The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133.ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^Lawson, K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”.ISBN 978-0-244-99725-0
^Bamford, R & Shailes, G (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway".ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0
^^a ^b"Speedway rider Gary Peterson killed".Reading Evening Post. 18 October 1975. Retrieved21 October 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1975 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved10 March 2025.
^"1975 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^^a ^b"Season 1975"(PDF).British Speedway. Retrieved25 June 2021.
^"Collins keeps his title".Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 19 October 1975. Retrieved2 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1975 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved29 September 2025.
^"1975 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved29 September 2025.
^"1975 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved29 September 2025.
^"1975 fixtures and results"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved1 October 2023.

v t e Speedway in the United Kingdom
Current leagues	SGB Premiership SGB Championship National Development League List of champions
Former leagues	Elite League Premier League National League (1932–1964) Provincial League (1960–1964) British League British League Division Two/National League Conference League National League Division Two National League Division Three English Dirt Track League/Northern League Southern League (1929–1931) Southern League (1952–1953) Provincial League (1936–1937) Southern Area League
Current team competitions	Knockout Cup League Pairs champions League Fours champions
Former team competitions	London Cup Midland Cup Craven and Young Shields Premiership Shield
Current individual competitions	British Speedway Championship League Riders' champions British U-21 British U-19 Scottish Open
Former individual competitions	London Riders' Midland Riders' Northern Riders' Southern Riders' Olympique Internationale
See also	Speedway British Speedway Promoters' Association Speedway Control Bureau

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		Speedway Elite League
Domestic cups:British League Knockout Cup		Speedway Elite League