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1983 British League season

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British speedway season

1983 British League season
League	British League
Champions	Cradley Heathens
Knockout Cup	Cradley Heathens
League Cup	Belle Vue Aces
Individual	Erik Gundersen
Midland Cup	Cradley Heathens
London Cup	Wimbledon Dons
Highest average	Hans Nielsen
Division/s below	1983 National League
←1982 1984 →

The1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier ofmotorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as theBritish League.^[1]

Summary

[edit]

Cradley Heathens won the league and cup double.^[2] Despite losing their double world championBruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well.Erik Gundersen,Simon Wigg andLance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up byPhil Collins,Alan Grahame andPeter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from DenmarkJan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future.^[3]

This would also be the final season of speedway for three-time world championOle Olsen, who announced his retirement.^[4]

Final table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Cradley Heath Heathens	28	26	0	2	52
2	Ipswich Witches	28	22	1	5	45
3	Coventry Bees	28	19	0	9	38
4	Reading Racers	28	17	0	11	34
5	Belle Vue Aces	28	15	3	10	33
6	Wimbledon Dons	28	15	1	12	31
7	Hackney Hawks	28	14	0	14	28
8	King's Lynn Stars	28	12	1	15	25
9	Birmingham Brummies	28	12	0	16	24
10	Sheffield Tigers	28	10	2	16	22
11	Halifax Dukes	28	10	1	17	21
12	Leicester Lions	28	9	2	17	20
13	Poole Pirates	28	9	0	19	18
14	Eastbourne Eagles	28	7	1	20	15
15	Swindon Robins	28	7	0	21	14

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

Fixtures and results

[edit]

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	COV	CH	EAS	HAC	HAL	IPS	KL	LEI	PP	RR	SHE	SWI	WIM
Belle Vue		42–36	42–36	29–49	45–33	46–31	45–33	41–37	46–32	41–37	49–28	42–36	42–36	47–31	42–36
Birmingham	40–38		38–40	36–42	55–23	38–39	53–25	40–38	48–30	45–33	52–26	44–33	50–28	43–35	36–42
Coventry	55–23	46–32		40–38	58–20	43–34	54–24	36–42	47–31	45–33	47–31	48–30	52–26	53–25	43–35
Cradley Heath	55–23	42–36	49–29		56–22	55–23	56–22	49–29	59–19	56–22	57–21	45–33	56–22	53–25	59–19
Eastbourne	40–38	41–36	36–42	22–56		31–47	42–36	35–43	40–38	43–35	38–40	32–46	45–33	40–38	39–39
Hackney	41–37	42–36	38–39	29–49	45–33		41–37	35–43	40–38	60–18	41–37	43–35	54–24	49–29	32–46
Halifax	38–40	44–34	36–42	37–41	51–27	43–35		38–40	47–31	46–32	47–31	40–38	48–30	43–35	43–35
Ipswich	39–39	50–28	41–37	46–32	45–33	47–31	50–28		42–36	42–36	47–31	42–36	43–35	41–37	47–31
King's Lynn	40–38	43–35	53–25	31–47	51–27	43–35	43–34	31–47		45–33	47–31	43–35	53–25	49–29	50–28
Leicester	39–39	42–36	40–38	22–56	50–28	48–30	40–38	35–43	39–39		44–34	37–41	55–23	38–40	50–28
Poole	41–36	42–36	36–42	27–51	38–40	49–28	56–22	37–41	45–33	43–35		36–42	38–40	41–37	42–36
Reading	45–33	41–37	43–35	35–43	43–34	43–35	50–28	45–33	46–32	40–37	46–32		51–27	48–30	44–34
Sheffield	39–39	44–34	41–37	32–46	54–24	44–34	39–39	41–37	40–38	37–41	45–33	42–36		47–30	38–40
Swindon	34–44	30–47	28–50	29–49	46–32	38–40	45–33	37–41	44–34	40–38	43–35	34–44	40–38		35–43
Wimbledon	52–26	45–33	47–30	35–43	45–33	37–40	45–33	37–41	43–35	46–31	42–36	46–32	62–16	48–30

Source:^[5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top ten riders (league averages)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Dennis Sigalos	Ipswich	10.99
2	Hans Nielsen	Birmingham	10.77
3	Erik Gundersen	Cradley	10.59
4	Mitch Shirra	Reading	10.38
5	Michael Lee	Poole	10.36
6	Kenny Carter	Halifax	10.34
7	Billy Sanders	Ipswich	10.27
8	Chris Morton	Belle Vue	10.17
9	Phil Crump	Swindon	9.88
10	Jan Andersson	Reading	9.61

British League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of theKnockout Cup for tier one teams.Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/07	Belle Vue	56-22	Halifax
30/06	Wimbledon	46-32	Swindon
25/06	Halifax	41-37	Belle Vue
25/06	Swindon	34-44	Wimbledon
19/06	Eastbourne	34-43	Kings Lynn
11/06	Coventry	45-33	Sheffield
11/06	Cradley Heath	46-32	Hackney
11/06	Kings Lynn	47-31	Eastbourne
09/06	Sheffield	37-41	Coventry
30/05	Birmingham	43-35	Reading
30/05	Reading	44-34	Birmingham
27/05	Hackney	35-43	Cradley Heath
24/05	Leicester	40-38	Ipswich
19/05	Ipswich	43-34	Leicester

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
21/08	Kings Lynn	45-33	Belle Vue
20/08	Belle Vue	58-20	Kings Lynn
23/07	Coventry	44-34	Wimbledon
21/07	Wimbledon	38-40	Coventry
18/07	Reading	40-38	Ipswich
13/07	Poole	35-43	Cradley Heath
09/07	Cradley Heath	53-25	Poole
07/07	Ipswich	39-39	Reading

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/10	Belle Vue	38-40	Coventry
08/10	Coventry	44-34	Belle Vue
24/09	Cradley Heath	47-31	Reading
19/09	Reading	32-46	Cradley Heath

Final

First leg=

12 October 1983

Coventry Bees Ole Olsen 10 Gary Guglielmi 8 Sam Nikolajsen 7 Steve Bastable 5 Rick Miller4 Finn Thomsen (guest) 3 Kevin Hawkins 2	39 - 39	Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 13 Simon Wigg 11 Phil Collins 8 Alan Grahame 3 Peter Ravn 2 Jan O. Pedersen 2 Lance King R/R
	^[7]

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

17 October 1983

Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 13 Alan Grahame 9 Peter Ravn 7 Simon Wigg 7 Phil Collins 6 Jan O. Pedersen 5 Lance King R/R	47 - 31	Coventry Bees Ole Olsen 10 Gary Guglielmi 10 Bo Petersen (guest) 7 Steve Bastable 2 Rick Miller 1 Kevin Hawkins 1 Sam Nikolajsen 0
	^[7]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate86-70.

League Cup

[edit]

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won byBelle Vue Aces beatingCoventry Bees in the final 86–70 on aggregate.

North Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	12	9	1	2	19
2	Belle Vue Aces	12	8	0	4	16
3	Cradley Heathens	12	7	1	4	15
4	Halifax Dukes	12	5	0	7	10
5	Leicester Lions	12	4	0	8	8
6	Sheffield Tigers	12	4	0	8	8
7	Birmingham Brummies	12	4	0	8	8

South Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	14	11	0	3	22
2	Ipswich Witches	14	9	0	5	18
3	Reading Racers	14	8	0	6	16
4	Poole Pirates	14	8	0	6	16
5	Hackney Hawks	14	8	0	6	16
6	King's Lynn Stars	13	6	1	6	13
7	Eastbourne Eagles	14	2	1	11	5
8	Swindon Robins	13	2	0	11	4

North Group

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	COV	CH	HAL	LEI	SHE
Belle Vue		48–30	48–30	41–37	45–33	41–37	52–26
Birmingham	42–36		36–42	35–40	48–30	42–36	40–38
Coventry	40–38	40–38		39–39	37–40	53–25	49–29
Cradley	52–26	56–22	35–43		43–35	45–33	50–28
Halifax	38–40	44–34	36–42	41–37		43–35	43–35
Leicester	42–36	43–35	38–40	37–41	47–31		43–35
Sheffield	31–47	44–34	37–41	43–35	45–33	42–36

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

South Group

Home \ Away	EAS	HAC	IPS	KL	PP	REA	SWI	WIM
Eastbourne		37–41	43–35	39–39	32–46	32–46	43–35	31–47
Hackney	48–30		41–36	41–36	48–30	40–38	50–28	33–45
Ipswich	43–35	37–41		43–35	44–37	40–38	42–36	42–36
King's Lynn	54–24	46–32	34–44		44–34	42–36	37–35a	46–32
Poole	45–33	48–30	40–37	42–36		38–40	42–36	47–31
Reading	47–31	47–31	35–43	46–32	41–37		42–36	33–45
Swindon	43–35	43–35	34–44	31–47	36–42	32–46		37–41
Wimbledon	40–38	45–33	51–27	43–35	42–36	40–38	44–34

Source:^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
22/10	Coventry	39–39	Belle Vue
23/10	Belle Vue	47–31	Coventry

Leading final averages

[edit]

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

[edit]

Erik Gundersen won theBritish League Riders' Championship, held atHyde Road on 15 October.^[10]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Erik Gundersen	33323	14
2	Michael Lee	03333	12
3	Hans Nielsen	23322	12
4	Kenny Carter	11233	10
5	John Louis	03123	9
6	Billy Sanders	31131	9
7	Mitch Shirra	22031	8
8	Bo Petersen	32102	8
9	Phil Crump	30221	8
10	Ole Olsen	12202	7
11	Jan Andersson	21211	7
12	Paul Woods	22010	5
13	David Bargh	10112	5
14	Chris Morton	11300	5
15	Mark Courtney	00010	1
16	Kai Niemi	000--	0
17	Martin Scarisbrick (res)	0----	0
18	David Wild (res)	0----	0

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

Midland Cup

[edit]

Cradley Heath won theMidland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams.^[11]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Swindon	38–40, 32–46

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Coventry	Birmingham	48–30, 38–40
Cradley	Swindon	60–18, 40–38

Final

[edit]

First leg

19 October 1983

Coventry Seve Bastable 11 Rick Miller 7 Kevin Hawkins 6 Sam Nikolajsen 5 Gary Guglielmi 4 John Davis (guest) 4 Keith White 1	38–40	Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 11 Simon Wigg 6 Alan Grahame 6 Phil Collins 6 Peter Ravn 5 Jan O Pedersen 3 Simon Cross 3

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

24 October 1983

Cradley Heath Lance King 11 Erik Gundersen 10 Alan Grahame 9 Phil Collins 9 Peter Ravn 7 Simon Wigg 6 Jan O Pedersen 4	56–22	Coventry Jan Andersson (guest) 12 Rick Miller 4 Gary Guglielmi 3 Seve Bastable 1 Kevin Hawkins 1 Sam Nikolajsen 1 Keith White 0

Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley won on aggregate96–60

London Cup

[edit]

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.^[12]

Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	50–28	Hackney
Hackney	43–35	Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

References

[edit]

^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^"1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
^"1983".Cradley Speedway. Retrieved30 July 2021.
^"SportsSnaps".Daily Mirror. 21 February 1983. Retrieved21 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"1983 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved26 March 2025.
^"1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^^a ^b"Coventry Bees 1983 season"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved25 June 2021.
^"1983 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved8 October 2025.
^"1983 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved8 October 2025.
^"Dane wins".Sunday Mirror. 16 October 1983. Retrieved4 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Cradley's treble glory!".Birmingham Mail. 25 October 1983. Retrieved21 October 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1983 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