The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 14th season known as the British League.
Summary The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previous season. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fourth season.
Coventry Bees won their second title and their first for ten years. Belle Vue Aces were runners-up for the fourth time in five seasons and would receive a double blow when losing in the final of the Knockout Cup. Two time world champion Ole Olsen was in sensational form for Coventry and made the difference throughout the season. Olsen would also seal his third world individual crown by the end of the season. The Coventry side consisted of an array of overseas riders including Olsen and fellow Dane Alf Busk, New Zealander Mitch Shirra, Australian Gary Guglielmi and Jiří Štancl from Czechoslovakia.
League table Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Coventry Bees362709542 Belle Vue Aces3626010523 Hull Vikings3622212464 Wimbledon Dons3622113455 Cradley Heathens3621114436 Ipswich Witches3621114437 Exeter Falcons3620115418 Sheffield Tigers3619215409 Bristol Bulldogs36190173810 Poole Pirates36173163711 Leicester Lions36170193412 Halifax Dukes36143193113 King's Lynn Stars36142203014 Reading Racers36133202915 White City Rebels36123212716 Swindon Robins36123212717 Wolverhampton Wolves36111242318 Birmingham Brummies36111242319 Hackney Hawks361012521M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results
Top ten riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Malcolm Simmons Poole 10.78 2 Ole Olsen Coventry 10.71 3 Scott Autrey Exeter 10.45 4 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.44 5 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.40 6 Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.31 7 Dave Jessup Reading 10.24 8 Billy Sanders Ipswich 10.23 9 Phil Crump Bristol 9.99 10 Ivan Mauger Hull 9.91
British League Knockout Cup The 1978 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 40th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two29/04 Kings Lynn 40-38 Hull26/04 Hull 39-39 Kings Lynn10/04 Exeter 44-34 Coventry08/04 Coventry 44-34 Exeter17/04 Birmingham 37-41 Poole12/04 Poole 48-30 Birmingham15/06 Coventry 37.5-40.5 Exeter01/06 Exeter 48-30 Coventry Second round Date Team one Score Team two19/07 Poole 49-29 Swindon15/07 Swindon 37-41 Poole09/06 Hackney 51-26 Kings Lynn03/06 Kings Lynn 31-46 Hackney06/07 Sheffield 45-33 Exeter Exeter 52-26 Sheffield10/06 Swindon 36-42 Poole21/06 Poole 36-42 Swindon03/06Belle Vue 44-34 Wimbledon08/06 Wimbledon 41-37 Belle Vue23/06 Bristol 35-43 Leicester06/06 Leicester 39-39 Bristol10/06 Cradley Heath 38-40 Reading05/06 Reading37-41 Cradley Heath13/06 White City 52-26 Halifax10/06 Halifax43-34 White City09/06 Wolverhampton 40-38 Ipswich08/06Ipswich 43-34 Wolverhampton Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/08 White City 23-54 Ipswich05/08 Belle Vue 44-34 Poole04/08 Poole 34-43 Belle Vue29/07 Cradley Heath 48-30 Leicester27/07 Ipswich52-26 White City21/07 Hackney 34-44 Exeter11/07 Leicester 39-39 Cradley Heath17/07 Exeter 58-20 Hackney Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two14/09 Ipswich 44-34 Cradley Heath13/09 Cradley Heath 40-38 Ipswich26/08 Belle Vue 57-21 Exeter25/08 Exeter 51-27 Belle Vue Final
First leg
Second leg
Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.
Riders' Championship Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the fourth time (and third in a row), it was held at Hyde Road on 21 October and sponsored by British Leyland Cars.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Ole Olsen 1 3 3 3 3 132 Peter Collins 2 2 3 3 2 12+3 3 Steve Bastable 3 2 3 3 1 12+24 Larry Ross 1 3 3 1 3 115 Scott Autrey 2 3 2 2 1 10 6 Malcolm Simmons 3 3 0 1 3 10 7 Billy Sanders 2 1 1 2 3 9 8 John Titman 3 1 2 3 0 9 9 Ian Cartright 0 2 1 2 2 7 10 Phil Crump 0 2 2 1 2 7 11 Doug Wyer 3 0 1 1 2 7 12 Ivan Mauger 2 1 0 2 EF 5 13 Phil Herne0 0 2 R 1 3 14 Andy Heyes (res) 0 1 F R 0 1 0215 Michael Lee 1 R - - -116 Hans Nielsen FX 1 0 0 - 117 Dave Jessup R - - - -0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Pairs The British League Pairs Championship sponsored by Gauloises, was held at Foxhall Stadium on 12 October and was jointly won by Cradley Heath Heathens and Coventry Bees. The meeting was abandoned after 14 heats due to fog but the result stood.
Pos TeamPts Riders1 Cradley Heath 18 Steve Bastable 10, Bruce Penhall 81 Coventry 18 Ole Olsen 10, Mitch Shirra 83 Belle Vue 12 Peter Collins 10, Chris Morton 24 Ipswich 11 Billy Sanders 8, Tony Davey 35 Exeter 10 Scott Autrey 5, Reidar Eide 56 Reading 8 Dave Jessup 5, John Davis 37 King's Lynn 7 Terry Betts 4, Michael Lee 3
Leading final averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Malcolm Simmons Poole 10.77 2 Ole Olsen Coventry 10.56 3 Peter Collins Belle Vue 10.41 4 Scott Autrey Exeter 10.40 5 Michael Lee King's Lynn 10.23 6 Dave Jessup Reading 10.20 7 Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.11 8 Billy Sanders Ipswich 9.94 9 Phil Crump Bristol 9.92 10 Ivan Mauger Hull 9.77
Spring Gold Cup
East Group Team PL W D L PtsKing's Lynn 6 4 1 1 9 Ipswich 6 4 1 1 9 Reading 6 2 1 3 5 Hackney 6 0 1 5 1
West Group Team PL W D L Pts Exeter 6 4 0 2 8 Poole 6 3 1 2 7 Wimbledon 6 3 0 3 6Bristol 6 1 0 5 2
East Group
West Group
Final Team one Team two ScoreKing's Lynn Exeter 43-35, 25-53
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreSwindonLeicester 16–26, 27–51WolverhamptonBirmimgham38–40, 47–30
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreCradleyLeicester 44–34, 26–52 WolverhamptonCoventry36–42, 36–42
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 93–63
Northern Trophy M W D L Pts 1Belle Vue 6 5 0 1 10 2 Halifax 6 4 0 2 8 3 Sheffield 6 2 0 4 4 4 Hull 6 1 0 5 2
London Cup Wimbledon won the London Cup but White City did not compete and therefore the competition consisted of just two teams.
Results Team Score TeamHackney 39–38 WimbledonWimbledon 55–23 Hackney
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
10.41 10.11 8.00 7.73 4.90 4.52 4.45 4.36 4.30 1.14
Birmingham
8.56 8.30 6.80 6.66 5.05 4.94 4.31 4.17
Bristol
9.92 9.15 7.29 5.90 5.32 5.12 4.69 4.49 3.65 3.48
Coventry
10.56 9.49 7.85 6.23 6.07 5.60 4.94 4.24 2.86
Cradley Heath
9.51 9.26 8.21 6.56 6.22 5.44 5.23 5.22 5.05 3.68
Exeter
10.40 8.44 8.35 7.01 6.75 6.09 6.06 5.86
Hackney
7.70 6.70 6.54 6.28 6.14 5.27 5.24 4.00 3.65 1.60
Halifax
8.35 8.06 7.45 6.19 5.98 5.83 5.40 4.81
Hull
9.77 9.06 7.26 7.01 6.74 6.63 6.49 5.04 2.33
Ipswich
9.94 9.60 9.03 6.82 4.79 4.40 3.94 3.09
King's Lynn
10.23 8.10 7.01 5.93 5.79 4.44 4.35 3.57 3.37 3.30 2.09
Leicester
8.94 8.70 8.41 4.94 4.84 4.47 4.33 3.06 2.12 2.00
Poole
10.77 7.67 7.25 6.46 6.03 6.00 5.62 4.51 3.36
Reading
10.20 8.93 5.91 5.90 4.53 4.00 3.69 2.94 2.56
Sheffield
9.35 8.59 6.93 6.65 6.45 3.35 3.20 2.94 2.53
Swindon
8.44 8.05 7.68 6.55 4.39 4.00 3.17 2.42 2.29 1.88 1.60 0.00
White City
9.52 7.17 6.67 5.48 5.16 5.05 4.95 4.66
Wimbledon
9.29 8.61 7.82 7.26 6.67 6.53 6.46 3.56
Wolverhampton
8.85 8.58 8.58 4.37 3.87 3.70 3.62 2.56
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References