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1984 British League season

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British speedway season

1984 British League season
League	British League
Champions	Ipswich Witches
Knockout Cup	Ipswich Witches
League Cup	Cradley Heathens
Individual	Chris Morton
Pairs	Belle Vue Aces
Midland Cup	Cradley Heathens
Highest average	Hans Nielsen
Division/s below	1984 National League
←1983 1985 →

The1984 British League season was the 50th season of the top tier ofmotorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 20th known as theBritish League.^[1]

Team changes

[edit]

Three teams dropped out and four teams replaced them. Midland's clubsBirmingham Brummies andLeicester Lions both dropped out andHackney Hawks dropped to the National League, becoming theHackney Kestrels after taking over from theCrayford Kestrels. The new teams to the league wereOxford Cheetahs,Newcastle Diamonds,Exeter Falcons (all from the National League) and the returningWolverhampton Wolves who did not ride in 1982 and 1983. Exeter took over the Leicester licence.^[2]

Summary

[edit]

Oxford Cheetahs returned to the league, financed by David Hawkins of Northern Sports, and spent heavily over the off-season. They boughtHans Nielsen from Birmingham for a record £30,000,Simon Wigg for £25,000 from Cradley Heath,Marvyn Cox for £15,000 from Rye House,Melvyn Taylor for £12,000 from King's Lynn andJens Rasmussen.^[3] Defending champions Cradley Heath couldn't hold onto their title after losing Simon Wigg to Oxford and loaningJan O. Pedersen to Sheffield Tigers because of their huge combined c.m.a. being over the limit.

The 50th season of British speedway saw a close fight betweenIpswich Witches,Belle Vue Aces andCradley Heathens. A resounding home win over Ipswich and a string of away wins meant Belle Vue looked favourites to win the league, but in October Ipswich took 3 points from Cradley home and away to end the midlanders hopes and clinched the title with a win at previously unbeaten at home Reading. They made it a cup double by beating Belle Vue home and away in the final with Belle Vue also missing out in the League Cup final to Cradley Heath. The Suffolk team had a great season despite losing their leading riderDennis Sigalos who rode forWolverhampton Wolves until breaking his leg early in the league season. AustralianBilly Sanders remained one of the team's main scorers and he was supported by strong season scoring from American showmanJohn Cook, FinnKai Niemi and the English international pair ofJeremy Doncaster andRichard Knight.^[4]^[5]

The league season saw some notable absentees.Kenny Carter made no league appearances after breaking his leg and aggravating the injury in attempting to qualify for the World Final. Remarkably he won the British Final despite being barely able to walk.Michael Lee was judged to have endangered the safety of other riders when storming off the track in the wrong direction and received a season long ban (reduced from 3 years after appeal) and made no league appearances forPoole

Draconian measures were brought in to exclude any rider pushing the tapes, as opposed to breaking them. The aforementioned Lee walked out of an England / USA test match after falling foul of the rule strictly applied by the referee.Erik Gundersen scored heavily in the league but his high average was hampered by a string of exclusions for tape infringements so much that he finished outside the top 10 rider averages. In the World Championship, the FIM didn't apply the same strictness and he went on to win his first individual World Title.

A scandal broke in September when theSunday People newspaper published a story about race fixing and riders being paid to forfeit their place in the British Final. Riders named wereSimon Wigg,Malcolm Simmons,John Louis,Mark Courtney,Kelly Moran andAlan Grahame. Specifically Simmons dropping out for Wigg in the British Final and rides by Wigg's opponents in that final came under scrutiny. Wigg was disqualified from the 1985 World Championship.

Final table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Ipswich Witches	30	25	2	3	52
2	Belle Vue Aces	29	23	3	3	49
3	Cradley Heath Heathens	30	21	2	7	44
4	Reading Racers	30	17	1	12	35
5	Sheffield Tigers	30	15	0	15	30
6	King's Lynn Stars	30	15	0	15	30
7	Wimbledon Dons	30	15	0	15	30
8	Oxford Cheetahs	30	14	1	15	29
9	Swindon Robins	29	12	2	15	26
10	Wolverhampton Wolves	30	13	0	17	26
11	Eastbourne Eagles	30	12	1	17	25
12	Coventry Bees	30	11	2	17	24
13	Poole Pirates	30	10	1	19	21
14	Halifax Dukes	30	9	3	18	21
15	Exeter Falcons	30	8	2	20	18
16	Newcastle Diamonds	30	9	0	21	18

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

Fixtures and results

[edit]

Home \ Away	BV	COV	CH	EAS	EX	HAL	IPS	KL	NEW	OX	PP	RR	SHE	SWI	WIM	WOL
Belle Vue		44–34	44–34	64–14	50–28	54–24	55–23	48–30	47–31	49–29	57–21	53–25	49–29	n-h	61–17	49–29
Coventry	39–39		37–41	48–30	59–19	53–25	40–38	50–28	51–27	36–42	42–36	42–36	47–31	38–40	43–35	37–41
Cradley Heath	48–30	46–32		44–34	52–26	44–34	39–39	51–27	56–22	46–32	44–34	48–30	49–29	51–27	36–42	47–31
Eastbourne	36–42	43–35	42–35		49–28	52–26	38–40	36–42	54–24	45–33	40–38	35.5–42.5	48–30	40–38	47–30	47–31
Exeter	38–40	42–35	36–42	41–37		51–27	39–39	33–45	47–31	43–35	46–32	39–39	38–40	44–34	48–30	37–41
Halifax	36–42	39–39	39–39	41–37	44–34		31–47	45–33	41–37	46–32	44–34	42–36	35–43	42–36	45–33	35–43
Ipswich	42–36	52–26	46–32	51–27	51–27	58–20		46–32	60–17	46–32	51–27	41–37	48–29	40–38	48–30	52–26
King's Lynn	31–47	43–35	29–49	44–34	50–28	57–21	34–44		47–31	37–41	48–30	45–33	44–34	45–33	41–37	40–38
Newcastle	37–41	42–35	29–49	37–40	48–30	45–33	28–50	35–43		44–34	50–28	44–34	38–40	46–32	46–31	40–38
Oxford	39–39	43–35	45–33	40.5–37.5	56–22	57–21	35–43	37–41	41–37		43–35	46–32	34–44	41–37	46–32	40.5–37.5
Poole	38–40	41–37	35–43	41–37	41–37	39–39	37–41	44–34	43–35	46–32		31–40	40–38	41–37	41–37	45–33
Reading	40–37	47–30	40–38	43–35	54–24	49–29	32–46	50–28	49–29	41–37	45–33		42–36	46–32	47–31	41–37
Sheffield	37–41	51–27	32–46	47–31	55–23	48–30	43–35	48–30	55–23	40–38	50–28	38–40		41–37	43–35	35–43
Swindon	39–39	47–31	32–46	39–39	53–25	49–29	32–46	48–30	51.5–26.5	40–38	44–34	41–37	40–38		46–32	45–33
Wimbledon	33–44	45–33	43–35	42–36	43–35	47–31	37–41	44–34	42–36	40–38	52–26	44–34	46–32	40–38		47–31
Wolverhampton	37–41	35–43	33–45	41–36	41–37	43–35	38–39	46–31	57–21	37–41	42–36	39–37	43–35	41–37	36–42

Source:^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top ten riders (league averages)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Hans Nielsen	Oxford	10.78
2	Chris Morton	Belle Vue	10.72
3	Jan Andersson	Reading	10.36
4	Simon Wigg	Oxford	9.98
5	Phil Crump	Swindon	9.96
6	Bobby Schwartz	Eastbourne	9.82
7	Billy Sanders	Ipswich	9.73
8	Peter Collins	Belle Vue	9.68
9	Shawn Moran	Sheffield	9.66
10	John Cook	Ipswich	9.36

British League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1984Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 46th edition of theKnockout Cup for tier one teams.Ipswich Witches were the winners.^[7]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
15/07	Eastbourne	41-36	Poole
30/06	Swindon	36-42	Ipswich
29/06	Exeter	32-46	Wolverhampton
28/06	Wimbledon	46-32	Coventry
25/06	Reading	41-36	Cradley Heath
18/06	Wolverhampton	45-33	Exeter
16/06	Coventry	52-26	Wimbledon
09/06	Cradley Heath	46-32	Reading
09/06	Kings Lynn	49-29	Newcastle
07/06	Ipswich	45-33	Swindon
06/06	Poole	37-41	Eastbourne
12/05	Halifax	37-41	Sheffield
05/05	Belle Vue	53-25	Oxford
26/04	Sheffield	49-29	Halifax

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
16/09	Eastbourne	42-34	Kings Lynn
06/09	Sheffield	40-38	Wolverhampton
01/09	Belle Vue	50-28	Coventry
27/08	Coventry	42-36	Belle Vue
25/08	Kings Lynn	57-21	Eastbourne
10/08	Wolverhampton	42-36	Sheffield
26/07	Ipswich	46-32	Cradley Heath
25/07	Cradley Heath	40-38	Ipswich

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
14/10	Belle Vue	56-22	Wolverhampton
05/10	Wolverhampton	40-38	Belle Vue
27/09	Ipswich	57-21	Kings Lynn
26/09	Kings Lynn	44-34	Ipswich

Final

First leg

27 October 1984

Belle Vue Aces McKinna 9 Collins 8 Morton 6 Smith 6 Ross 2 Carr 2 Courtney 0	33 - 45	Ipswich Witches Sanders 12 Cook 10 Knight 8 Doncaster 7 Niemi 6 Flatman 2 Blackbird 0
	^[8]

Hyde Road Stadium

Second leg

28 October 1984

Ipswich Witches Sanders 9 Doncaster 8 Cook 8 Blackbird 8 Niemi 6 Knight 5 Flatman 3	47 - 31	Belle Vue Aces Smith 9 Ross 9 Morton 6 McKinna 4 Carr 2 Collins 1 Courtney 0
	^[9]

Foxhall Stadium

Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate92-64.

League Cup

[edit]

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won byCradley Heath Heathens beatingBelle Vue Aces in the final 80–76 on aggregate.

North Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	L	Pts
1	Belle Vue Aces	12	10	2	20
2	Cradley Heathens	12	6	6	12
3	Newcastle Diamonds	12	6	6	12
4	Coventry Bees	12	5	7	10
5	Sheffield Tigers	12	5	7	10
6	Wolverhampton Wolves	12	5	7	10
7	Halifax Dukes	12	5	7	10

South Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Reading Racers	16	11	0	5	22
2	Wimbledon Dons	16	11	0	5	22
3	Ipswich Witches	16	10	1	5	21
4	Eastbourne Eagles	16	9	1	6	19
5	Oxford Cheetahs	16	9	0	7	18
6	Poole Pirates	16	8	0	8	16
7	King's Lynn Stars	16	7	0	9	14
8	Swindon Robins	16	5	1	10	11
9	Exeter Falcons	16	0	1	15	1

North Group

Home \ Away	BV	COV	CH	HAL	NEW	SHE	WOL
Belle Vue		54–24	51–27	54–24	60–18	53–25	48–30
Coventry	32–46		40–38	43–35	37–41	52–26	42–35
Cradley	40–38	41–37		50–28	42–36	43–35	42–35
Halifax	27–51	43–35	41–37		48–30	44–34	46–31
Newcastle	33–44	41–37	45–33	45–32		41–37	38–39
Sheffield	36–42	41–37	43–35	49–29	42–36		43–35
Wolverhampton	44–34	37–41	39–38	42–36	30–47	40–38

Source:^[10]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

South Group

Home \ Away	EAS	EX	IPS	KL	OX	PP	REA	SWI	WIM
Eastbourne		52–26	42–36	42–36	42–36	51.5–26.5	37–41	40–38	45–33
Exeter	39–39		38–40	35–43	37–41	35–42	30–47	28–50	34–44
Ipswich	49–29	51–27		40–38	36–42	54–24	40–38	47–31	48–30
King's Lynn	44–34	53–25	42–36		32–46	42–36	43–34	41–37	25–53
Oxford	35–43	59–19	29–49	43–35		42–35	37–41	43–35	38–40
Poole	37–41	52–26	39–38	41–37	40–38		32–46	40–38	40–38
Reading	47–31	45–33	37–41	44–34	37–41	44–34		47–31	41–37
Swindon	44–34	55–23	39–39	40–38	41–37	37–41	29–49		36–42
Wimbledon	46–32	52–26	43–35	42–36	37–41	45–33	40–38	42–36

Source:^[11]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
21/07	Belle Vue	55–23	Wimbledon
04/08	Cradley Heath	52–26	Reading
09/08	Wimbledon	38–40	Belle Vue
13/08	Reading	42–36	Cradley Heath

Final

First leg

7 October 1984

Cradley Heathens Collins Ph 12 Gundersen 11 King 10 Grahame 4 Cross 3 Jensen 3 Saunders (guest) 1	44 - 34	Belle Vue Aces Morton 11 Smith 5 Collins Pe 5 Carr 5 Ross 4 McKinna 3 Courtney 1
	^[12]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Second leg

14 October 1984

Belle Vue Aces Smith 9 Courtney 8 Collins Pe 7 Morton 7 Carr 6 Ross 3 McKinna 2	42 - 36	Cradley Heathens Gundersen 11 King 11 Collins Ph 7 Grahame 5 Cross 1 Collins S 1 Jensen 0
	^[12]

Hyde Road

Cradley won on aggregate80-76.

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Chris Morton won theBritish League Riders' Championship, held atHyde Road on 20 October.^[13]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Chris Morton	31333	13+3
2	Hans Nielsen	32233	13+2
3	Erik Gundersen	33232	13+1
4	Peter Ravn	23322	12
5	Shawn Moran	22223	11
6	Tommy Knudsen	03331	10
7	Billy Sanders	331X1	8
8	Malcolm Simmons	22111	7
9	Sam Ermolenko	01302	6
10	Jan Andersson	22002	6
11	Bobby Schwartz	00023	5
12	Phil Crump	1112X	5
13	Neil Evitts	01210	4
14	Martin Scarisbrick	10111	4
15	John Louis	100--	1
16	Andy Campbell	10010	2
17	Lee Edwards (res)	00---	0
18	Glenn Hornby (res)	00---	0

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

Pairs

[edit]

TheBritish League Pairs Championship was held atMonmore Green Stadium on 11 September and was won by Belle Vue.^[14]

Group A
Pos	Team	Pts	Scorers
1	Belle Vue	17	Morton & Collins
2	King's Lynn	14	Louis & Jessup
3	Exeter	14	Campbell & Robinson
4	Ipswich	8	Sanders & Cook

Group B
Pos	Team	Pts	Scorers
1	Reading	18	Shirra & Hunt
2	Halifax	14	Evitts & Baker
3	Cradley	13	Gundersen & Collins
4	Poole	9	Ermolenko & Middleditch

Group C
Pos	Team	Pts	Scorers
1	Coventry	17	Knudsen & Guglielmi
2	Eastbourne	15	Schwartz & Woods
3	Oxford	14	Wigg & Cox
4	Newcastle	8	Owen J & Ingels

Group D
Pos	Team	Pts	Scorers
1	Wimbledon	16	Simmons & Davis
2	Sheffield	16	Moran S & Collins N
3	Wolves	14	Ravn & Grahame
4	Swindon	8	Crump & Petersen

Semi finals

Belle Vue beat Coventry 7–2
Reading beat Wimbledon 7–2

Final

Belle Vue beat Reading 5–4

Midland Cup

[edit]

Cradley Heath won theMidland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of five teams and was sponsored byMarlboro.^[15]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Wolverhampton	Oxford	43–35, 45–33

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Coventry	Swindon	45–33, 33–45
Coventry	Swindon	46–32, 32–46
Coventry	Swindon	40–38, 34–43
Cradley	Wolverhampton	40–38, 39–39

Final

[edit]

First leg

25 October 1984

Swindon Phil Crump 12 Bo Petersen 10 Ari Koponen 6 Alf Busk 4 Shawn McConnell 3 Per Sorensen 2 Kevin Smith 0	37–40	Cradley Heath Lance King 8 Erik Gundersen 7 Phil Collins 7 Finn Jensen 7 Alan Grahame 6 Simon Cross 5 Steve Collins 0

Abbey Stadium

Second leg

27 October 1984

Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 10 Phil Collins 9 Lance King 8 Alan Grahame 6 Finn Jensen 6 Simon Cross 4 Steve Collins 0	43–35	Swindon Phil Crump 12 Bo Petersen 8 Per Sorensen 7 Ari Koponen 5 Alf Busk 1 Shawn McConnell 1 Kevin Smith 1

Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley Heath won on aggregate83–72

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Erik Gundersen 9.54
Lance King 8.65
Phil Collins 8.40
Alan Grahame 7.87
Simon Cross 7.27
Finn Jensen 5.08
Mike Wilding 1.96
Steve Collins 1.49

Eastbourne

Exeter

Halifax

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Newcastle

Oxford

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

References

[edit]

^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^"Collins turns down Halifax".Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 24 January 1984. Retrieved29 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007).The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 128–135.ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
^"1984 league tables". Speedway GB. Archived fromthe original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved30 May 2018.
^"Favourite-ever Ipswich Witches teams... FANS HAVE THEIR SAY".East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved21 December 2023.
^"1984 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved28 April 2025.
^"1984 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^"Speedway".Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 28 October 1984. Retrieved4 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Speedway".Daily Mirror. 29 October 1984. Retrieved27 June 2021 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1984 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved8 October 2025.
^"1984 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved8 October 2025.
^^a ^b"1984 Cradley season"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved6 October 2024.
^"Morton takes title".Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 21 October 1984. Retrieved4 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Morton Collins, perfect partners".Birmingham Mail. 12 September 1984. Retrieved17 May 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Cradley finish on high note".Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 28 October 1984. Retrieved21 October 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.

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