1988 British League season

1988 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors11
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
IndividualJan O. Pedersen
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1988 National League

The 1988 British League season was the 54th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 24th known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary

Coventry Bees won the league for the second successive year and again by a 16-point margin. The Bees also reached the Knockout Cup final losing to Cradley Heath. Remarkably it was Cradley's seventh Cup win in 10 years. With the League Cup scrapped the Coventry team had less fixtures to ride and their pairing of Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum were once again the catalyst for the seasons success finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the averages. Hans Nielsen topped the averages again for the sixth consecutive season.[3]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Coventry Bees 40 31 2 7 18 82
2 Belle Vue Aces 40 26 1 13 13 66
3 Cradley Heath Heathens 39 22 1 16 15 60
4 Oxford Cheetahs 40 20 6 14 13 59
5 Reading Racers 40 20 3 17 12 55
6 Sheffield Tigers 39 19 2 18 8 48
7 Swindon Robins 40 17 1 22 8 43
8 Wolverhampton Wolves 40 15 3 22 8 41
9 King's Lynn Stars 40 14 3 23 7 38
10 Ipswich Witches 39 13 0 26 4 30
11 Bradford Dukes 39 10 0 29 2 22

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

Fixtures and results

A fixtures

Home \ Away BV BRA COV CH IPS KL OX RR SHE SWI WOL
Belle Vue 61–29 42.5–46.5 47–42 50–40 48–42 47–43 54–36 55–35 53–37 51–39
Bradford 42–48 46–44 50–40 49–41 50–40 44–46 43–47 43–47 48–42 46–43
Coventry 48–42 61–29 55–35 46–44 56–34 51–39 45–45 47–43 50–40 52–38
Cradley Heath 48–42 57–33 43–47 42–48 53–37 39–51 47–43 52–38 51–39 48–42
Ipswich 52–38 46–44 36–54 40–50 46–44 44–46 47–43 37–53 52–38 46–44
King's Lynn 51–39 56–34 36–54 49–41 48–42 45–45 42–48 48–42 45–45 53–37
Oxford 45–45 49–41 46–44 49–41 54–36 53–37 45–45 49–41 49–41 45–45
Reading 48–42 52–38 43–47 46–44 53–37 42–48 46–44 53–37 56–34 60–29
Sheffield 53–37 48–42 35–55 45–45 53–37 46–44 45–45 41–49 48–42 49–41
Swindon 39–51 57–33 44–46 39–50 41–49 48–42 43–47 48–42 53–37 53–37
Wolverhampton 47–43 63–27 47–43 39–51 50–40 50–40 48–42 45–45 53–37 42–48
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away BV BRA COV CH IPS KL OX RR SHE SWI WOL
Belle Vue 61–29 53–37 48–42 58–32 58–32 49–41 51–39 51.5–38.5 65–25 46–44
Bradford 40–50 40–50 43–47 n–h 62–28 46–44 41–49 49–41 42–48 57–33
Coventry 46–44 57–33 46–44 50–40 55–35 45–45 56–34 59–31 65–25 44–46
Cradley Heath 50–40 48–41 42–48 57–33 55–35 48–42 47–43 62–28 55–35 53–37
Ipswich 40–50 50–40 40–50 48–41 47–43 42–38 49–38 42–48 42–47 47–43
King's Lynn 56–34 51–39 40–50 44–46 46–44 53–37 42–48 41–49 50–39 46–44
Oxford 50–40 53–33 38–51 43–47 53–37 53.5–36.5 47–42 54–36 41–49 42–48
Reading 43–47 63–2 48–42 49–41 48–42 56–33 42–48 43–7 53–37 49–41
Sheffield 44–46 53–37 42–48 n–h 51–39 58–32 46–43 48–41 60–30 48–42
Swindon 44–46 46–44 40–49 46–44 51–39 40–49 47.5–42.5 46–44 46–44 46–44
Wolverhampton 51–39 64–26 51–39 47–43 52–38 45–45 37–53 47–43 44–46 42–48
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

British League Knockout Cup

The 1988 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 50th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the third successive year if including the tied 1986 final.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
09/07 King's Lynn 47-43 Ipswich
08/07 Ipswich 34-55 King's Lynn
23/06 Sheffield 43-47 Cradley Heath
18/06 Cradley Heath 51-39 Sheffield
03/06 Belle Vue 53-37 Bradford
28/05 Bradford 36-54 Belle Vue

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
13/08 King's Lynn 40-50 Cradley Heath
10/08 Cradley Heath 53-37 King's Lynn
19/07 Coventry 53-37 Reading
15/07 Belle Vue 53-37 Wolverhampton
14/07 Oxford 48-42 Swindon
11/07 Reading 49-41 Coventry
11/07 Wolverhampton 45-45 Belle Vue

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
14/10 Belle Vue 48-42 Cradley Heath
13/10 Oxford 38-49 Coventry
08/10 Coventry 44-46 Oxford
14/09 Cradley Heath 49-41 Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 11
Kelvin Tatum 11
Rick Miller 6
John Jørgensen 5
Andy Hackett 5
David Clarke 2
Neville Tatum 0		40 - 50Cradley Heath
Alan Grahame 13
Jan O. Pedersen 11
Simon Cross 9
Erik Gundersen 8
David Walsh 7
Gert Handberg 1
Wayne Garratt 1
[7]

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Alan Grahame 10
Gert Handberg 9
Simon Cross 8
Erik Gundersen 8
Jan O. Pedersen 7
David Walsh 5
Wayne Garratt 3		50 - 40Coventry Bees
Tommy Knudsen 13
John Jørgensen 9
Andy Hackett 6
David Clarke 6
Kelvin Tatum 5
Rick Miller 1
Neville Tatum 0
[7]

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-80.

Riders' Championship

Jan O. Pedersen won the British League Riders' Championship. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 9 October.[8]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Jan O. Pedersen 3 2 3 3 3 14
2 Erik Gundersen 3 3 3 1 3 13
3 Hans Nielsen 0 3 3 3 3 12+3
4 Chris Morton 2 2 3 2 3 12+2
5 Shawn Moran 1 3 2 2 2 10
6 Richard Knight 2 3 1 2 1 9
7 Ronnie Correy 1 2 2 3 1 9
8 Simon Wigg 2 1 0 3 2 8
9 Kelvin Tatum 2 0 2 2 1 7
10 Per Jonsson 3 2 0 0 0 5
11 Gary Havelock 1 1 0 1 2 5
12 Jan Andersson 1 1 1 1 1 5
13 Kelly Moran 0 0 2 1 2 5
14 Brian Karger 3 1 1 0 0 5
15 Tommy Knudsen 0 1 0 1
16 Paul Smith (res) 0 0 0
17 Carl Stonehewer (res) 0 0 0
18 Jeremy Doncaster 0 0 0 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Leading final averages

Rider Team Average
Hans Nielsen Oxford 11.03
Tommy Knudsen Coventry 10.08
Erik Gundersen Cradley Heath 10.06
Kelvin Tatum Coventry 10.04
Jan O. Pedersen Cradley Heath 9.88
Shawn Moran Sheffield 9.51
Sam Ermolenko Wolverhampton 9.40
Jeremy Doncaster Ipswich 9.34
Chris Morton Belle Vue 9.01
Steve Bastable Bradford 9.00

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. ^ "1988 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ "1988 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  5. ^ "1988 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  6. ^ "1988 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ^ a b "Coventry Bees 1988 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Pedersen powers to title joy". Sandwell Evening Mail. 10 October 1988. Retrieved 5 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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