1973 British League season

The 1973 British League season was the ninth season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

1973 British League season
LeagueBritish League
Season1973
ChampionsReading Racers
No. of competitors18
Knockout CupBelle Vue Aces
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

Summary

Glasgow Tigers relocated to become Coatbridge Tigers. The Reading Racers won their first title.

Final table
Team PL W D L Pts
Reading Racers 34 25 1 8 51
Sheffield Tigers 34 22 3 9 47
King's Lynn Stars 34 20 3 11 43
Leicester Lions 34 21 0 13 42
Ipswich Witches 34 19 2 12 41
Belle Vue Aces 34 19 1 14 39
Wolverhampton Wolves 34 18 1 15 37
Exeter Falcons 34 16 3 15 35
Halifax Dukes 34 16 2 16 34
Newport Wasps 34 16 0 18 32
Oxford Rebels 34 14 2 18 30
Wimbledon Dons 34 14 1 19 29
Swindon Robins 34 13 3 18 29
Poole Pirates 34 13 2 19 28
Coventry Bees 34 13 0 21 26
Hackney Hawks 34 11 4 19 26
Coatbridge Tigers 34 12 1 21 25
Cradley United 34 7 4 23 18

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

Top Ten Riders

Both Michanek and Mauger recorded perfect 12 point average scores at home for the season, meaning they were unbeaten by any opposing rider on their own track in League competition.

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Anders Michanek Reading Racers 11.55
2 Ivan Mauger Exeter Falcons 11.30
3 Ole Olsen Wolverhampton Wolves 11.10
4 Eric Boocock Halifax Dukes 10.52
5 Dag Lövaas Reading Racers 10.37
6 Malcolm Simmons King's Lynn Stars 10.33
7 John Boulger Leicester Lions 10.25
8 Chris Pusey Belle Vue Aces 10.24
9 Martin Ashby Swindon Robins 10.11
10 John Louis Ipswich Witches 10.07

British League Knockout Cup

The 1973 British League Knockout Cup was the 35th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners after Peter Collins of Belle Vue defeated Anders Michanek of Reading in a race-off because the tie had finished 78-78 on aggregate.[2]

First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
28/04Belle Vue48-30Oxford
28/04Coventry44-34Reading
27/04Hackney43-35Swindon
26/04Oxford41-37Belle Vue

Second Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
25/06Reading56-22Coatbridge
22/06Coatbridge41-37Reading
15/06Wolverhampton43-35Exeter
14/06Sheffield29-49Belle Vue
12/06Leicester36-42Kings Lynn
02/06Belle Vue43-35Sheffield
02/06Halifax49-29Wimbledon
30/05Poole40-38Cradley Heath
26/05Kings Lynn42-36Leicester
18/05Newport45-33Ipswich
17/05Ipswich41-37Newport
17/05Wimbledon37-41Halifax
12/05Cradley Heath37-41Poole
12/05Swindon43-35Hackney
07/05Exeter37-41Wolverhampton
28/07Swindon52-25Hackney
15/06Hackney43-35Swindon

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
01/09Swindon39-39Wolverhampton
17/08Newport45-33Reading
17/08Wolverhampton43-35Swindon
13/08Halifax41-37Belle Vue
10/08Poole39-39Kings Lynn
30/07Reading55-23Newport
18/07Belle Vue57-21Halifax
23/06Kings Lynn47-31Poole

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
26/09Belle Vue48-30Wolverhampton
14/09Wolverhampton42-36Belle Vue
05/09Kings Lynn40-38Reading
03/09Reading52-26Kings Lynn

Final
Date Team One Score Team Two
01/10Reading47-31Belle Vue
24/10Belle Vue47-31Reading

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "1973 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.