The 1982 British League season was the 48th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 18th known as the British League.
Summary Hull Vikings had disbanded following the loss of their home at the Boulevard.
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. Cradley Heath went on to win their third Knockout Cup in four years and the League Cup. The Midlands' club had been in position to take the league title, but their heat leader Bruce Penhall quit speedway immediately after winning his second world title in September to pursue an acting career (specifically for a role in CHiPs).
Hackney Wick Stadium was subject to a second fatal accident within three 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. Swindon rider Martin Hewlett suffered a stroke after the Swindon versus Birmingham fixture in September and died four days later on 15 September.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Belle Vue Aces 28 23 0 5 462 Cradley Heath Heathens 28 20 0 8 403 Ipswich Witches 28 16 2 10 344 Coventry Bees 28 16 2 10 345 Sheffield Tigers 28 14 3 11 316 Birmingham Brummies 28 13 1 14 277 Hackney Hawks 28 12 3 13 278 Swindon Robins 28 13 1 14 279 Reading Racers 28 12 2 14 2610 Leicester Lions 28 13 0 15 2611 Wimbledon Dons 28 12 2 14 2612 Eastbourne Eagles 28 11 3 14 2513 Halifax Dukes 28 10 1 17 2114 King's Lynn Stars 28 9 3 16 2115 Poole Pirates 28 3 3 22 9M = 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 Kenny Carter Halifax Dukes 11.05 2 Erik Gundersen Cradley Heathens 10.75 3 Hans Nielsen Birmingham Brummies 10.49 4 Bruce Penhall Cradley Heathens 10.39 5 Dennis Sigalos Ipswich Witches 10.26 6 Bobby Schwartz Reading Racers 10.11 7 Chris Morton Belle Vue 9.98 8 Shawn Moran Sheffield Tigers 9.98 9 Kelly Moran Eastbourne Eagles 9.97 10 Billy Sanders King's Lynn Stars 9.93
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.
First round Date Team one Score Team two08/06Leicester 45-33 Kings Lynn06/06 Eastbourne 46-32 Swindon05/06 Kings Lynn 48-30 Leicester29/05 Halifax45-33 Hackney28/05 Hackney 38-40 Halifax28/05 Ipswich 46-31 Coventry27/05 Sheffield 42-36 Cradley Heath22/05 Coventry 40-38 Ipswich22/05 Cradley Heath 43-35 Sheffield22/05 Swindon 38-40 Eastbourne17/05 Reading 38-40 Belle Vue15/05 Belle Vue 57-18 Reading12/05 Poole 44-34 Birmingham30/04 Birmingham 48-30 Poole
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two19/08 Wimbledon 40-38 Eastbourne09/08 Cradley Heath 41-37 Ipswich01/08 Eastbourne 43-35 Wimbledon29/07 Ipswich 38.5-39.5 Cradley Heath19/07 Birmingham 43-35 Kings Lynn17/07 Kings Lynn 43-35 Birmingham11/07 Halifax 41-37 Belle Vue10/07 Belle Vue 44-34 Halifax25/09 Kings Lynn 42-36 Birmingham13/09 Birmingham 40-38 Kings Lynn
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two03/10 Kings Lynn 36-42 Belle Vue02/10 Belle Vue 49-29 Kings Lynn19/09 Eastbourne 41-36 Cradley Heath18/09 Cradley Heath 48-30 Eastbourne
Final
First leg
Second leg
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.
North Group Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Cradley Heathens 12 8 2 2 182 Coventry Bees 12 9 0 3 183 Belle Vue Aces 12 6 2 4 144 Halifax Dukes 11 6 1 4 135 Birmingham Brummies 12 3 1 8 76 Leicester Lions 11 3 1 7 77 Sheffield Tigers 12 2 1 9 5
South Group Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Ipswich Witches 14 12 0 2 242 Eastbourne Eagles 14 8 2 4 183 Wimbledon Dons 14 8 1 5 174 Poole Pirates 14 6 0 8 125 Hackney Hawks 14 6 0 8 126 Reading Racers 14 6 0 8 127 King's Lynn Stars 14 5 0 9 108 Swindon Robins 14 3 1 10 7
Final Date Team one Score Team two19/06 Cradley Heath 42–36 Ipswich24/06 Ipswich 37–41 Cradley Heath
North Group
South Group
Riders' Championship Kenny Carter won the British League Riders' Championship for the second consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Kenny Carter 3 3 3 3 3 152 Shawn Moran 2 3 3 3 3 143 Hans Nielsen 3 2 3 2 3 134 Erik Gundersen 2 3 2 0 3 10 5 Bobby Schwartz 3 1 2 2 1 96 Les Collins 0 1 3 3 2 97 Jan Andersson 3 0 2 1 2 88 Steve Bastable 2 3 1 1 0 79 Billy Sanders 0 2 2 1 2 7 10 Ole Olsen 0 1 1 3 1 6 11 Chris Morton 1 2 1 2 0 612 Finn Thomsen 1 1 0 2 1 5 13 Dennis Sigalos 2 0 r - 414 Dave Jessup 1 0 1 0 1 3 15 Gordon Kennett 1 0 0 0 2 3 16 John Davis 0 - - - - 017 Andy Smith (res) 0 0 1 0 - 118 Lee Edwards (res) 0 0 - - - 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Kenny Carter Halifax 11.03 2 Bruce Penhall Cradley 10.74 =3 Erik Gundersen Cradley 10.18 =3 Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.18 5 Dennis Sigalos Ipswich 10.10 6 Jan Andersson Reading 9.96 7 Hans Nielsen Birmingham 9.89 8 Bobby Schwartz Reading 9.83 9 Gordon Kennett Eastbourne 9.72 10 Michael Lee King's Lynn 9.65
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of five teams.
First round Team one Team two ScoreSwindonBirmingham 44–34, 41–37
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreCoventryLeicester 37–41, 44–34 CradleySwindon 49–29, 54–24
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 79–77
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
10.18 9.37 8.78 6.01 5.65 5.44 4.98 4.40
Birmingham
9.89 9.03 6.20 6.03 6.03 5.65 5.23 5.03 4.72 3.56 0.80
Coventry
9.22 9.09 7.38 6.69 5.79 5.19 3.48 3.25
Cradley Heath
10.74 10.18 9.22 7.29 6.67 6.30 3.45 3.02 3.00 2.69 1.78
Eastbourne
9.72 9.62 9.18 6.62 3.55 3.55 3.37 3.36 3.27
Hackney
9.38 7.29 6.59 6.53 5.96 5.53 4.00 3.52
Halifax
11.03 7.52 7.28 6.39 5.51 5.36 4.98 4.71 0.80
Ipswich
10.10 8.53 7.77 6.98 6.07 5.79 5.67 5.16 4.40
King's Lynn
9.65 9.09 7.00 5.78 4.90 4.04 3.00 1.76 1.58 0.44
Leicester
8.77 7.07 6.42 5.93 5.87 5.57 5.41 5.09
Poole
8.68 8.13 6.01 5.86 5.83 5.30 4.49 4.20 3.29
Reading
9.96 9.83 5.57 5.28 5.23 5.08 4.66 4.00 3.87 2.78
Sheffield
9.55 6.84 6.50 6.48 6.46 5.57 4.95 3.82 1.71
Swindon
9.47 7.58 6.46 5.97 5.26 5.19 4.18 4.13 3.26
Wimbledon
8.77 8.75 8.04 5.82 5.37 5.37 5.09 4.08 2.06
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References