The 1981 British League season was the 47th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 17th known as the British League.
Summary The league comprised 16 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Wolverhampton Wolves had dropped down to the National League.
American Bruce Penhall (who would be crowned world champion by the end of the season) topped the averages and helped Cradley Heathens win their first title. The Cradley team included Penhall, rising Danish star Erik Gundersen and British internationals Alan Grahame and Phil Collins. The league runner-up Ipswich Witches gained some consolation by winning the Knockout Cup.
The year saw a changing of the guard as a number of young riders broke through as heat leaders. American duo Penhall and Dennis Sigalos led Cradley Heath and Ipswich respectively, Danish trio Gundersen, Hans Nielsen and Tommy Knudsen all qualified for the World Final, and Kenny Carter finished as top Englishman in the World Final and won the League Riders' Championship.
Final league table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Cradley Heathens 30 26 1 3 532 Ipswich Witches 30 21 4 5 463 Swindon Robins 30 19 3 8 414 Belle Vue Aces 30 19 1 10 395 Coventry Bees 30 18 0 12 366 Birmingham Brummies 30 13 1 16 277 Halifax Dukes 30 13 1 16 278 Hackney Hawks 30 12 2 16 269 Poole Pirates 30 12 2 16 2610 Sheffield Tigers 30 13 0 17 2611 Reading Racers 30 9 7 14 2512 Hull Vikings 30 10 4 16 2413 Eastbourne Eagles 30 10 3 17 2314 King's Lynn Stars 30 10 2 18 2215 Leicester Lions 30 11 0 19 2216 Wimbledon Dons 30 7 3 20 17M = 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 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 The 1981 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 43rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two04/06 Middlesbrough 43-53 Eastbourne23/05 Berwick 39-57 Wimbledon08/05 Peterborough 50-46 Halifax04/05 Newcastle 40-56 Leicester08/05 Edinburgh 49-47 Sheffield12/04 Mildenhall 38-58 Poole31/05 Rye House 34-62 Birmingham03/05 Boston 47-48 Hull Second round Date Team one Score Team two08/07 Poole 49-47 Leicester24/06 Hull 54-42 Belle Vue23/06 Leicester 51-45 Poole20/06 Cradley Heath 60-36 Eastbourne14/06 Peterborough 38-58 Birmingham13/06 Belle Vue 53-43 Hull11/06 Wimbledon 40-56 Reading08/06 Birmingham 63-33 Peterborough08/06 Reading 55-41 Wimbledon07/06 Eastbourne 49-47 Cradley Heath30/05 Coventry 63-33 Hackney30/05 Swindon 69-27 Edinburgh29/05 Hackney 37-59 Coventry01/05 Kings Lynn 47-49 Ipswich21/05 Ipswich 53-43 Kings Lynn12/06 Edinburgh 47-49 Swindon Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two03/09 Swindon 74-22 Leicester25/08 Leicester 45-51 Swindon20/08 Ipswich 54-42 Cradley Heath12/08 Cradley Heath 48-48 Ipswich03/08 Reading 51-45 Coventry24/07 Birmingham 52-44 Hull22/07 Hull 49-47 Birmingham11/07 Coventry 49-45 Reading Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two28/09 Reading 49-47 Birmingham18/09 Birmingham 54-42 Reading18/09 Swindon 46-50 Ipswich10/09 Ipswich 57-39 Swindon
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.
League Cup 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 with Coventry Bees beating King's Lynn Stars in the final 120–70 on aggregate.
North Group
South Group
North Group Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Coventry Bees 14 12 0 2 242 Cradley Heathens 14 11 0 3 223 Belle Vue Aces 14 7 0 7 144 Sheffield Tigers 14 7 0 7 145 Birmingham Brummies 14 6 0 8 126 Hull Vikings 14 5 0 9 107 Leicester Lions 14 4 0 10 88 Halifax Dukes 14 4 0 10 8
South Group Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 King's Lynn Stars 14 10 1 3 212 Reading Racers 14 10 0 4 203 Ipswich Witches 14 9 0 5 184 Poole Pirates 14 7 0 7 145 Swindon Robins 14 7 0 7 146 Hackney Hawks 14 5 1 8 117 Eastbourne Eagles 14 5 0 9 108 Wimbledon Dons 14 2 0 12 4
Final Date Team one Score Team two10/10 Coventry 68–28 King's Lynn11/10 King's Lynn 42–54 Coventry
Riders' Championship Kenny Carter won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 17 October and sponsored by the Daily Mirror.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Kenny Carter 3 3 3 3 3 152 Chris Morton 3 3 2 2 3 13+33 Shawn Moran 3 2 3 2 3 13+24 Phil Crump 2 3 2 1 2 105 Dave Jessup 1 2 1 3 2 9 6 Hans Nielsen 1 3 3 1 0 87 Dennis Sigalos 2 1 0 2 3 8 8 Bruce Penhall 2 2 1 1 2 89 Les Collins 1 0 3 2 1 710 Malcolm Simmons 2 0 1 3 1 7 11 Gordon Kennett 1 2 2 0 1 6 12 Scott Autrey 3 0 1 0 1 513 Jan Andersson 0 1 2 0 2 514 Bo Petersen 0 1 0 3 0 415 Ole Olsen 0 1 0 1 2 16 Joe Owen 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Gary O'Hare (res)0 - - - - 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Final leading averages Rider Nat 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 Coventry won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.
First round Team one Team two ScoreBirmingham Swindon 39–39, 37–41
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicester Coventry33–44, 34–44Swindon Cradley44–33, 32–46
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 84–72
London Cup Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.
Results Team Score TeamWimbledon 43–36 HackneyHackney 46–32 Wimbledon
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
9.75 9.08 7.33 (3 matches only) 7.00 6.95 6.02 5.60 5.58 5.51 4.74
Birmingham
9.80 8.64 7.44 6.41 5.89 5.13 5.06 4.93 4.90 2.14
Coventry
9.42 9.41 8.13 6.61 6.58 6.17 5.55 5.46 3.29
Cradley Heath
11.01 9.72 9.11 7.58 5.23 5.00 3.86 0.70
Eastbourne
9.67 9.28 6.96 4.44 4.24 3.92 3.75 2.89 2.80
Hackney
9.58 7.83 7.04 6.28 5.52 5.19 4.94 3.58 3.13 1.06
Halifax
10.17 7.82 7.80 6.38 5.30 5.16 4.65 3.55 2.98 0.92
Hull
9.18 8.67 7.28 5.56 5.36 4.83 4.67 4.62 4.11
Ipswich
8.92 8.63 8.07 6.98 6.62 6.16 6.12
King's Lynn
10.30 9.56 7.34 6.93 4.51 4.13 3.65 3.16 2.96 2.42
Leicester
8.55 7.44 7.03 5.96 5.83 5.76 4.90 4.52 3.33
Poole
9.70 8.42 7.68 7.48 7.41 6.56 6.10 3.09 2.52 1.28 0.14
Reading
10.26 9.66 9.31 5.30 5.00 4.86 4.55 3.82 1.52
Sheffield
8.27 8.02 6.64 5.78 5.69 5.62 5.20 4.54 2.33 1.29
Swindon
10.30 8.55 7.52 7.05 6.88 6.03 4.98 4.70 1.78 0.42
Wimbledon
8.37 8.00 6.92 6.84 5.38 4.38 4.12 2.48 2.30 1.80
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References