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1981 British League season

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British speedway season

1981 British League season
League	British League
No. of competitors	16
Champions	Cradley Heath Heathens
Knockout Cup	Ipswich Witches
League Cup	Coventry Bees
Individual	Kenny Carter
Midland Cup	Coventry Bees
London Cup	Hackney Hawks
Highest average	Bruce Penhall
Division/s below	1981 National League
←1980 1982 →

The1981 British League season was the 47th season of the top tier ofmotorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 17th known as theBritish League.^[1]

Summary

[edit]

The league comprised 16 teams - one fewer than the previous season.Wolverhampton Wolves had dropped down to theNational League.^[2]

AmericanBruce Penhall (who would be crowned world champion by the end of the season) topped the averages and helpedCradley Heathens win their first title. The Cradley team included Penhall, rising Danish starErik Gundersen and British internationalsAlan Grahame andPhil Collins. The league runner-upIpswich Witches gained some consolation by winning the Knockout Cup.^[3]

The year saw a changing of the guard as a number of young riders broke through as heat leaders. American duo Penhall andDennis Sigalos led Cradley Heath and Ipswich respectively, Danish trio Gundersen,Hans Nielsen andTommy Knudsen all qualified for theWorld Final, andKenny Carter finished as top Englishman in the World Final and won theLeague Riders' Championship.^[4]

Final league table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Cradley Heathens	30	26	1	3	53
2	Ipswich Witches	30	21	4	5	46
3	Swindon Robins	30	19	3	8	41
4	Belle Vue Aces	30	19	1	10	39
5	Coventry Bees	30	18	0	12	36
6	Birmingham Brummies	30	13	1	16	27
7	Halifax Dukes	30	13	1	16	27
8	Hackney Hawks	30	12	2	16	26
9	Poole Pirates	30	12	2	16	26
10	Sheffield Tigers	30	13	0	17	26
11	Reading Racers	30	9	7	14	25
12	Hull Vikings	30	10	4	16	24
13	Eastbourne Eagles	30	10	3	17	23
14	King's Lynn Stars	30	10	2	18	22
15	Leicester Lions	30	11	0	19	22
16	Wimbledon Dons	30	7	3	20	17

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

Fixtures and results

[edit]

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

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	Bruce Penhall	Cradley	11.08
2	Kenny Carter	Halifax	10.50
3	Phil Crump	Swindon	10.39
4	Michael Lee	King's Lynn	10.34
5	Erik Gundersen	Cradley	10.26
6	Chris Morton	Belle Vue	10.26
7	Jan Andersson	Reading	10.02
8	Gordon Kennett	Eastbourne	9.95
9	Kelly Moran	Eastbourne	9.83
10	Hans Nielsen	Birmingham	9.83

British League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1981 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 43rd edition of theKnockout Cup for tier one teams.Ipswich Witches were the winners.^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
04/06	Middlesbrough	43-53	Eastbourne
23/05	Berwick	39-57	Wimbledon
08/05	Peterborough	50-46	Halifax
04/05	Newcastle	40-56	Leicester
08/05	Edinburgh	49-47	Sheffield
12/04	Mildenhall	38-58	Poole
31/05	Rye House	34-62	Birmingham
03/05	Boston	47-48	Hull

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
08/07	Poole	49-47	Leicester
24/06	Hull	54-42	Belle Vue
23/06	Leicester	51-45	Poole
20/06	Cradley Heath	60-36	Eastbourne
14/06	Peterborough	38-58	Birmingham
13/06	Belle Vue	53-43	Hull
11/06	Wimbledon	40-56	Reading
08/06	Birmingham	63-33	Peterborough
08/06	Reading	55-41	Wimbledon
07/06	Eastbourne	49-47	Cradley Heath
30/05	Coventry	63-33	Hackney
30/05	Swindon	69-27	Edinburgh
29/05	Hackney	37-59	Coventry
01/05	Kings Lynn	47-49	Ipswich
21/05	Ipswich	53-43	Kings Lynn
12/06	Edinburgh	47-49	Swindon

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
03/09	Swindon	74-22	Leicester
25/08	Leicester	45-51	Swindon
20/08	Ipswich	54-42	Cradley Heath
12/08	Cradley Heath	48-48	Ipswich
03/08	Reading	51-45	Coventry
24/07	Birmingham	52-44	Hull
22/07	Hull	49-47	Birmingham
11/07	Coventry	49-45	Reading

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
28/09	Reading	49-47	Birmingham
18/09	Birmingham	54-42	Reading
18/09	Swindon	46-50	Ipswich
10/09	Ipswich	57-39	Swindon

Final

[edit]

First leg

16 October 1981

Birmingham Brummies Hans Nielsen 14 Kai Niemi 13 Andy Grahame 8 Bruce Cribb 8 Neil Evitts 4 Simon Wigg 0 Paul Thorp 0	47 - 49	Ipswich Witches Preben Eriksen 12 John Cook 11 Kevin Jolly 7 Dennis Sigalos 6 Tim Hunt 6 Mike Lanham 5 Nigel Flatman 2

Second leg

25 October 1981

Ipswich Witches Dennis Sigalos 11 John Cook 10 Preben Eriksen 8 Kevin Jolly 7 Mike Lanham 7 Tim Hunt 6 Nigel Flatman 2	51 - 45	Birmingham Brummies Hans Nielsen 17 Andy Grahame 17 Kai Niemi 8 Bruce Cribb 1 Neil Evitts 1 Mike Wilding 1 Paul Thorp 0

The Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup champions, winning on aggregate100-92.

League Cup

[edit]

The League Cup was inaugurated in 1981 with the 16 teams split into North and South sections comprising 8 teams each that met each other home and away. The winners of each section qualified for the two-legged final withCoventry Bees beatingKing's Lynn Stars in the final 120–70 on aggregate.

North Group

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	COV	CH	HAL	HUL	LEI	SHE
Belle Vue		54–42	47–49	51–45	50–45	51–45	51–45	46.5–49.5
Birmingham	51–45		42–54	35–61	66–30	51–5	49–47	68–28
Coventry	69–27	59–36		65–31	59–37	53–43	50–46	53–45
Cradley	55–41	58–38	57–39		65–31	63–33	53–43	54–42
Halifax	47–48	50–46	32–64	42–54		60–36	52–42	58–38
Hull	50–46	55–41	43–53	44–52	54–42		68–28	53–43
Leicester	54–42	42–54	47–49	42–54	60–36	59–37		54–42
Sheffield	47–49	49–47	57–39	51–45	50–46	49–47	53–43

Source:^[7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

South Group

Home \ Away	EAS	HAC	IPS	KL	PP	REA	SWI	WIM
Eastbourne		50–45	39–56	38–57	55–41	47–49	50–46	59–37
Hackney	52–44		51–45	48–48	51–43	48–47	41–55	59–37
Ipswich	61–35	63–33		65–31	53–42	47–49	59–37	71–24
King's Lynn	53–43	52–44	58–38		50–46	50–46	55–40	66–29
Poole	55–41	64–32	53–43	48.5–47.5		56–40	54–42	62–34
Reading	55–40	59–37	57–38	54.5–41.5	63–33		64–32	55–41
Swindon	57–39	62–34	42–54	56–40	47–49	50–46		52–44
Wimbledon	40–56	49.5–46.5	44–52	46–50	52–44	40–56	46–49

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

North Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	L	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	14	12	2	24
2	Cradley Heathens	14	11	3	22
3	Belle Vue Aces	14	7	7	14
4	Sheffield Tigers	14	7	7	14
5	Birmingham Brummies	14	6	8	12
6	Hull Vikings	14	5	9	10
7	Leicester Lions	14	4	10	8
8	Halifax Dukes	14	4	10	8

South Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	King's Lynn Stars	14	10	1	3	21
2	Reading Racers	14	10	0	4	20
3	Ipswich Witches	14	9	0	5	18
4	Poole Pirates	14	7	0	7	14
5	Swindon Robins	14	7	0	7	14
6	Hackney Hawks	14	5	1	8	11
7	Eastbourne Eagles	14	5	0	9	10
8	Wimbledon Dons	14	2	0	12	4

Final

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
10/10	Coventry	68–28	King's Lynn
11/10	King's Lynn	42–54	Coventry

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Kenny Carter won theBritish League Riders' Championship, held atHyde Road on 17 October and sponsored by the Daily Mirror.^[4]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Kenny Carter	33333	15
2	Chris Morton	33223	13+3
3	Shawn Moran	32323	13+2
4	Phil Crump	23212	10
5	Dave Jessup	12132	9
6	Hans Nielsen	13310	8
7	Dennis Sigalos	21023	8
8	Bruce Penhall	22112	8
9	Les Collins	10321	7
10	Malcolm Simmons	20131	7
11	Gordon Kennett	12201	6
12	Scott Autrey	30101	5
13	Jan Andersson	01202	5
14	Bo Petersen	01030	4
15	Ole Olsen	0101	2
16	Joe Owen	00000	0
17	Gary O'Hare (res)	0----	0

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

Final leading averages

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Bruce Penhall	Cradley	11.01
2	Kenny Carter	Halifax	10.17
=3	Phil Crump	Swindon	10.30
=3	Michael Lee	King's Lynn	10.30
5	Jan Andersson	Reading	10.26
6	Hans Nielsen	Birmingham	9.80
7	Chris Morton	Belle Vue	9.75
8	Erik Gundersen	Cradley	9.72
9	John Davis	Poole	9.70
10	Gordon Kennett	Eastbourne	9.67

Midland Cup

[edit]

Coventry won theMidland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams and was sponsored by theTrustee Savings Bank.^[9]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Birmingham	Swindon	39–39, 37–41

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Coventry	33–44, 34–44
Swindon	Cradley	44–33, 32–46

Final

First leg

14 October 1981

Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 12 Bruce Penhall 11 Alan Grahame 9 Phil Collins 3 John McNeill 2 Dave Shields 2 Bent Rasmussen 0	39–39	Coventry Ole Olsen 9 Tommy Knudsen 8 Gary Guglielmi 7 Keith White 6 Kevin Hawkins 5 Steve Wilcock 3 Mitch Shirra 1

Dudley Wood Stadium

Second leg

15 October 1981

Coventry Ole Olsen 12 Tommy Knudsen 8 Mitch Shirra 7 Keith White 7 Gary Guglielmi 6 Kevin Hawkins 4 Rob Hollingworth 1	45–33	Cradley Heath Bruce Penhall 12 Alan Grahame 12 Dave Shields 5 Erik Gundersen 3 Phil Collins 1 Bent Rasmussen 0 John McNeill 0

Brandon Stadium

Coventry won on aggregate84–72

London Cup

[edit]

Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.^[10]

Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	43–36	Hackney
Hackney	46–32	Wimbledon

Riders and final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

References

[edit]

^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^"HISTORY ARCHIVE".British Speedway. Retrieved3 July 2021.
^"1981".Cradley Speedway. Retrieved30 July 2021.
^^a ^b"Speedway".Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 18 October 1981. Retrieved4 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1981 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved24 March 2025.
^"1981 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^"1981 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved7 October 2025.
^"1981 fixtures & results"(PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved7 October 2025.
^"Heathens Fury".Sandwell Evening Mail. 11 October 1981. Retrieved21 October 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1981 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