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1976 British League season

The 1976 Gulf British League season was the 42nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 12th season known as the British League.

Summary

The White City Rebels made their debut as did 1975 National League champions Birmingham Brummies. Oxford Cheetahs dropped down a division with White City inheriting both their riders and their nickname. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a second season.

Ipswich Witches won their second consecutive title. The Witches team was once again headed by John Louis and Billy Sanders but this time Tony Davey also scored well with an average of 8.37, resulting in a comfortable league title success for the Suffolk team. The team then went on to claim the double on 28 October by winning the Knockout Cup.

Wimbledon Dons had the worst possible start to a season when their leading rider and the man touted to be a world champion Tommy Jansson died during a 1976 Individual Speedway World Championship meeting in Stockholm, on 20 May.

Final table

<small>M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points</small>

Fixtures and results

Top ten riders (league averages)

British League Knockout Cup

The 1976 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 38th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 91-63.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held at Hyde Road on 16 October and sponsored by Leyland Cars.

  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Foxhall Stadium on 19 October and was won by Ipswich Witches.

Final leading averages

Spring Gold Cup

East Group

West Group

East Group

West Group

Final

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.

First round

Semi final round

Final

First leg

Second leg

Coventry won on aggregate 87–67

Northern Trophy

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue

  • 11.06
  • 9.53
  • 7.56
  • 6.34
  • 5.75
  • 5.37
  • 5.18
  • 4.41
  • 3.83

Birmingham

  • 8.00
  • 6.71
  • 6.69
  • 6.07
  • 5.23
  • 4.99
  • 4.72
  • 4.37
  • 1.78
  • 1.00

Coventry

  • 11.05
  • 8.26
  • 6.81
  • 6.67
  • 6.53
  • 4.64
  • 4.60
  • 2.10

Cradley Heath

  • 9.79
  • 9.16
  • 7.72
  • 5.71
  • 5.21
  • 5.20
  • 3.16

Exeter

  • 10.86
  • 9.24
  • 6.99
  • 6.45
  • 5.16
  • 4.86
  • 3.54
  • 3.48
  • 2.23

Hackney

  • 10.18
  • 7.92
  • 6.67
  • 6.33
  • 5.51
  • 5.37
  • 4.95
  • 4.80
  • 4.18

Halifax

  • 8.74
  • 7.69
  • 7.49
  • 5.98
  • 5.87
  • 4.95
  • 4.46
  • 4.00
  • 3.29
  • 3.14

Hull

  • 8.94
  • 8.86
  • 8.75
  • 7.55
  • 7.50
  • 6.17
  • 6.07
  • 5.88
  • 5.69

Ipswich

  • 11.08
  • 9.44
  • 8.37
  • 6.21
  • 5.87
  • 5.71
  • 4.21
  • 3.87
  • 3.70

King's Lynn

  • 9.71
  • 9.43
  • 7.83
  • 5.68
  • 5.40
  • 4.56
  • 3.85
  • 3.50
  • 2.80

Leicester

  • 9.28
  • 7.89
  • 7.86
  • 5.08
  • 4.53
  • 3.86
  • 3.08
  • 2.37
  • 0.76

Newport

  • 10.67
  • 9.70
  • 7.41
  • 6.15
  • 5.00
  • 4.90
  • 4.71
  • 4.62
  • 4.17
  • 3.92

Poole

  • 10.17
  • 7.14
  • 6.67
  • 6.16
  • 5.05
  • 5.04
  • 4.32

Reading

  • 10.35
  • 9.33
  • 6.75
  • 6.42
  • 5.37
  • 5.16
  • 3.67
  • 2.32

Sheffield

  • 9.62
  • 8.51
  • 5.80
  • 5.36
  • 5.23
  • 3.72
  • 3.21
  • 3.08
  • 3.03

Swindon

  • 9.88
  • 9.22
  • 7.62
  • 6.46
  • 6.38
  • 6.02
  • 5.52
  • 3.89
  • 2.00

White City

  • 9.69
  • 7.76
  • 7.07
  • 6.67
  • 6.00
  • 5.34
  • 5.05
  • 4.85
  • 3.41

Wimbledon

  • 10.25 (only 8 matches)
  • 7.32
  • 7.27
  • 7.24
  • 4.14
  • 4.10
  • 4.05
  • 3.91
  • 2.13

Wolverhampton

  • 8.97
  • 7.58
  • 7.55
  • 4.95
  • 4.89
  • 3.84
  • 3.22

See also

References