1988 British League season

The 1988 British League season was the 54th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 24th known as the British League.[1][2]

1988 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsCoventry Bees
No. of competitors11
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
IndividualJan O. Pedersen
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1988 National League

Summary

Coventry Bees won the league for the second successive year and again by a 16 point margin. The Bees also reached the Knockout Cup final losing to Cradley Heath. Remarkably it was Cradley's seventh Cup win in 10 years. With the League Cup scrapped the Coventry team had less fixtures to ride and their pairing of Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum were once again the catalyst for the seasons success finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the averages. Hans Nielsen topped the averages again for the sixth consecutive season.[3]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Coventry Bees 40 31 2 7 18 82
2 Belle Vue Aces 40 26 1 13 13 66
3 Cradley Heath Heathens 39 22 1 16 15 60
4 Oxford Cheetahs 40 20 6 14 13 59
5 Reading Racers 40 20 3 17 12 55
6 Sheffield Tigers 39 19 2 18 8 48
7 Swindon Robins 40 17 1 22 8 43
8 Wolverhampton Wolves 40 15 3 22 8 41
9 King's Lynn Stars 40 14 3 23 7 38
10 Ipswich Witches 39 13 0 26 4 30
11 Bradford Dukes 39 10 0 29 2 22

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

Leading averages
Rider Team Average
Hans NielsenOxford11.03
Tommy KnudsenCoventry10.08
Erik GundersenCradley Heath10.06
Kelvin TatumCoventry10.04
Jan O. PedersenCradley Heath9.88
Shawn MoranSheffield9.51
Sam ErmolenkoWolverhampton9.40
Jeremy DoncasterIpswich9.34
Chris MortonBelle Vue9.01
Steve BastableBradford9.00

British League Knockout Cup

The 1988 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 50th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the third successive year if including the tied 1986 final.[4]

First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
09/07King's Lynn47-43Ipswich
08/07Ipswich34-55King's Lynn
23/06Sheffield43-47Cradley Heath
18/06Cradley Heath51-39Sheffield
03/06Belle Vue53-37Bradford
28/05Bradford36-54Belle Vue

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
13/08King's Lynn40-50Cradley Heath
10/08Cradley Heath53-37King's Lynn
19/07Coventry53-37Reading
15/07Belle Vue53-37Wolverhampton
14/07Oxford48-42Swindon
11/07Reading49-41Coventry
11/07Wolverhampton45-45Belle Vue

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
14/10Belle Vue48-42Cradley Heath
13/10Oxford38-49Coventry
08/10Coventry44-46Oxford
14/09Cradley Heath49-41Belle Vue

First leg
Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 11
Kelvin Tatum 11
Rick Miller 6
John Jørgensen 5
Andy Hackett 5
David Clarke 2
Neville Tatum 0		40 - 50Cradley Heath
Alan Grahame 13
Jan O. Pedersen 11
Simon Cross 9
Erik Gundersen 8
David Walsh 7
Gert Handberg 1
Wayne Garratt 1
[5]

Second leg
Cradley Heath
Alan Grahame 10
Gert Handberg 9
Simon Cross 8
Erik Gundersen 8
Jan O. Pedersen 7
David Walsh 5
Wayne Garratt 3		50 - 40Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 13
John Jørgensen 9
Andy Hackett 6
David Clarke 6
Kelvin Tatum 5
Rick Miller 1
Neville Tatum 0
[5]

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-80.

Teams

Belle Vue Aces

Bradford Dukes

Coventry Bees

Cradley Heath

Ipswich Witches

King's Lynn Stars

Oxford Cheetahs

Reading Racers

Sheffield Tigers

Swindon Robins

Wolverhampton Wolves

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. "1988 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. "1988 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. "Coventry Bees 1988 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
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