1982 British League season explained

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.^{[1] [2]}

Summary

Hull Vikings had disbanded following the loss of their home at the Boulevard.^[3]

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.^{[4] [5]} 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.^{[6] [7]} Swindon rider Martin Hewlett suffered a stroke after the Swindon v Birmingham fixture in September and died four days later.

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

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.^[8]

First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
08/06	Leicester	45-33	Kings Lynn
06/06	Eastbourne	46-32	Swindon
05/06	Kings Lynn	48-30	Leicester
29/05	Halifax	45-33	Hackney
28/05	Hackney	38-40	Halifax
28/05	Ipswich	46-31	Coventry
27/05	Sheffield	42-36	Cradley Heath
22/05	Coventry	40-38	Ipswich
22/05	Cradley Heath	43-35	Sheffield
22/05	Swindon	38-40	Eastbourne
17/05	Reading	38-40	Belle Vue
15/05	Belle Vue	57-18	Reading
12/05	Poole	44-34	Birmingham
30/04	Birmingham	48-30	Poole

Quarter-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
19/08	Wimbledon	40-38	Eastbourne
09/08	Cradley Heath	41-37	Ipswich
01/08	Eastbourne	43-35	Wimbledon
29/07	Ipswich	38.5-39.5	Cradley Heath
19/07	Birmingham	43-35	Kings Lynn
17/07	Kings Lynn	43-35	Birmingham
11/07	Halifax	41-37	Belle Vue
10/07	Belle Vue	44-34	Halifax
25/09	Kings Lynn	42-36	Birmingham
13/09	Birmingham	40-38	Kings Lynn

Semi-finals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
03/10	Kings Lynn	36-42	Belle Vue
02/10	Belle Vue	49-29	Kings Lynn
19/09	Eastbourne	41-36	Cradley Heath
18/09	Cradley Heath	48-30	Eastbourne

Final

First legSecond 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.

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	3	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

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
19/06	Cradley Heath	42–36	Ipswich
24/06	Ipswich	37–41	Cradley Heath

Riders' Championship

Kenny Carter won the British League Riders' Championship for the second consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.^[9]

width=25px	Pos.	width=200px	Rider	width=70px	Heat Scores	width=50px	Total
1		3 3 3 3 3	15
2		2 3 3 3 3	14
3		3 2 3 2 3	13
4		2 3 2 0 3	10
5		3 1 2 2 1	9
6		0 1 3 3 2	9
7		3 0 2 1 2	8
8		2 3 1 1 0	7
9		0 2 2 1 2	7
10		0 1 1 3 1	6
11		1 2 1 2 0	6
12		1 1 0 2 1	5
13		2 0 r -	4
14		1 0 1 0 1	3
15		1 0 0 0 2	3
16		0 - - - -	0
17	Andy Smith (res)	0 0 1 0 -	1
18	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.^[10]

First round

width=150	Team one	width=150	Team two	width=120	Score
Swindon	Birmingham	44–34, 41–37

Semi final round

width=150	Team one	width=150	Team two	width=120	Score
Coventry	Leicester	37–41, 44–34
Cradley	Swindon	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)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
2. Web site: HISTORY ARCHIVE. British Speedway. 3 July 2021.
3. News: Speedway battle is destined for courts . Hull Daily Mail . 17 October 1981 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 21 September 2024.
4. Web site: 1982 league tables. Speedway GB.
5. Web site: 1982 FactFile. Retro Speedway Researcher. 12 August 2021.
6. Web site: Denny Pyeatt. Speedway Bikes. 30 July 2021.
7. Web site: Speedway Star Cover Men. wwosbackup. 30 July 2021.
8. Web site: 1982 British League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
9. News: Carter's maximum . Sunday Sun (Newcastle) . 17 October 1982 . 4 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
10. News: Heathens Misery . Sandwell Evening Mail . 12 October 1982 . British Newspaper Archive. 21 October 2023 . subscription .