1982 British League season

The 1982 British League season was the 48th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 18th known as the British League.[1][2]

1982 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsBelle Vue Aces
No. of competitors15
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
League CupCradley Heath Heathens
IndividualKenny Carter
Highest averageKenny Carter
Division/s below1982 National League

Summary

After a ten year drought Belle Vue Aces won the league pushing defending champions Cradley Heath into second place. A special performance was going to be needed to finish ahead of the star-studded Cradley Heath team and it was the consistency of the support riders which helped Belle Vue achieve this. England international Chris Morton was the heat leader but he was supported by a group of consistent scorers throughout the season that included Larry Ross (a former 5 times New Zealand champion), the former world champion Peter Collins, the Carr brothers Louis and Peter, Dane Peter Ravn and Scot Jim McMillan.[3][4]Cradley Heath went on to win their third Knockout Cup in four years and the League Cup.

Hackney Wick Stadium was subject to a second fatal accident within two years when American Denny Pyeatt lost his life in a league match on 16 July. Pyeatt riding for Reading Racers crashed into a lamp standard.[5][6]


Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Belle Vue Aces 28 23 0 5 46
2 Cradley Heath Heathens 28 20 0 8 40
3 Ipswich Witches 28 16 2 10 34
4 Coventry Bees 28 16 2 10 34
5 Sheffield Tigers 28 14 3 11 31
6 Birmingham Brummies 28 13 1 14 27
7 Hackney Hawks 28 12 3 13 27
8 Swindon Robins 28 13 1 14 27
9 Reading Racers 28 12 2 14 26
10 Leicester Lions 28 13 0 15 26
11 Wimbledon Dons 28 12 2 14 26
12 Eastbourne Eagles 28 11 3 14 25
13 Halifax Dukes 28 10 1 17 21
14 King's Lynn Stars 28 9 3 16 21
15 Poole Pirates 28 3 3 22 9

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

Leading averages
Rider Team Average
Kenny CarterHalifax11.03
Bruce PenhallCradley Heath10.74
Chris MortonBelle Vue10.18
Erik GundersenCradley Heath10.18
Dennis SigalosIpswich10.10
Jan AnderssonReading9.96
Hans NielsenBirmingham9.89
Bobby SchwartzReading9.83
Gordon KennettEastbourne9.72
Michael LeeKings Lynn9.65
Kelly MoranEastbourne9.62
Shawn MoranSheffield9.55

British League Knockout Cup

The 1982 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 44th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.[7]

First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
08/06Leicester45-33Kings Lynn
06/06Eastbourne46-32Swindon
05/06Kings Lynn48-30Leicester
29/05Halifax45-33Hackney
28/05Hackney38-40Halifax
28/05Ipswich46-31Coventry
27/05Sheffield42-36Cradley Heath
22/05Coventry40-38Ipswich
22/05Cradley Heath43-35Sheffield
22/05Swindon38-40Eastbourne
17/05Reading38-40Belle Vue
15/05Belle Vue57-18Reading
12/05Poole44-34Birmingham
30/04Birmingham48-30Poole

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
19/08Wimbledon40-38Eastbourne
09/08Cradley Heath41-37Ipswich
01/08Eastbourne43-35Wimbledon
29/07Ipswich38.5-39.5Cradley Heath
19/07Birmingham43-35Kings Lynn
17/07Kings Lynn43-35Birmingham
11/07Halifax41-37Belle Vue
10/07Belle Vue44-34Halifax
25/09Kings Lynn42-36Birmingham
13/09Birmingham40-38Kings Lynn

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
03/10Kings Lynn36-42Belle Vue
02/10Belle Vue49-29Kings Lynn
19/09Eastbourne41-36Cradley Heath
18/09Cradley Heath48-30Eastbourne

First leg
Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 15
Lance King 13
Phil Collins 7
Simon Wigg 5
Andy Reid 3
Alan Grahame 3
Wayne Jackson 0		46 - 32Belle Vue Aces
Chris Morton 12
Peter Collins 6
Peter Ravn 6
Larry Ross 4
Louis Carr 2
Peter Carr
Jim McMillan 1
[8]

Second leg
Belle Vue Aces
Chris Morton 10
Peter Collins 7
Peter Ravn 7
Larry Ross 6
Rod Hunter 6
Louis Carr 5
Andy Smith 2		43 - 35Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 15
Lance King 8
Alan Grahame 8
Simon Wigg 2
Phil Collins 1
Andy Reid 1
[8]

Cradley were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 81-75.

League Cup

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Cradley Heath Heathens beating Ipswich Witches in the final 83-73 on aggregate.

South Group
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Ipswich Witches 14 12 0 2 24
2 Eastbourne Eagles 14 8 2 4 18
3 Wimbledon Dons 14 8 1 5 17
4 Poole Pirates 14 6 0 8 12
5 Hackney Hawks 14 6 0 8 12
6 Reading Racers 14 6 0 8 12
7 King's Lynn Stars 14 5 0 9 10
8 Swindon Robins 14 3 1 10 7

North Group
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Cradley Heathens 12 8 2 2 18
2 Coventry Bees 12 9 0 5 18
3 Belle Vue Aces 12 6 2 4 14
4 Halifax Dukes 11 6 1 4 13
5 Birmingham Brummies 12 3 1 8 7
6 Leicester Lions 11 3 1 7 7
7 Sheffield Tigers 12 2 1 9 5

Final
Date Team One Score Team Two
19/06Cradley Heath42–36Ipswich
24/06Ipswich37–41Cradley Heath

Teams

Belle Vue Aces

Birmingham Brummies

Coventry Bees

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne Eagles

Hackney Hawks

Halifax Dukes

Ipswich Witches

King's Lynn Stars

Leicester Lions

Poole Pirates

Reading Racers

Sheffield Tigers

Swindon Robins

Wimbledon Dons

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. "1982 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. "1982 FactFile" (PDF). Retro Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. "Denny Pyeatt". Speedway Bikes. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  6. "Speedway Star Cover Men". wwosbackup. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. "1982 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. "Coventry Bees 1982 season". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.