# 1985 British League season

The 1985 British League season was the 51st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 21st known as the British League.

## Team changes

Wimbledon Dons dropped to the National league, this was the first time that Wimbledon would not compete in the top tier of speedway.

## Summary

Oxford Cheetahs won the league and cup double. The Oxford team, financed by the Oxford Stadium owners Northern Sports and headed by David Hawkins was the most expensive team assembled in the history of the league. The team included Danish international Hans Nielsen (signed for a record £30,000) in 1984. Nielsen had topped the previous season's averages on Oxford's return to the league and was imperious during 1985, finishing with an exceptional average, way ahead of any other rider. The team eased to the league title by a clear ten points, with Simon Wigg, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox, Jens Rasmussen and Melvyn Taylor all riding over 50 matches each during the season.
Defending champions Ipswich Witches finished mid-table which was not surprising taking into account that just three matches into the season their leading rider Billy Sanders committed suicide on 23 April. The news shocked the club and the wider speedway world at the time.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 43 |
| 2 | Sheffield Tigers | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 33 |
| 3 | Coventry Bees | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| 4 | Halifax Dukes | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 24 |
| 5 | Ipswich Witches | 20 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 24 |
| 6 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 24 |
| 7 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 19 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 24 |
| 8 | Swindon Robins | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 23 |
| 9 | Reading Racers | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 22 |
| 10 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 14 |
| 11 | King's Lynn Stars | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 10 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## British League Knockout Cup

The 1985 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 47th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Oxford Cheetahs were the winners.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 19/07 | Oxford | 43-35 | Coventry |
| 29/06 | Swindon | 36-42 | Ipswich |
| 24/06 | Wolverhampton | 49-29 | Halifax |
| 15/06 | Coventry | 35-43 | Oxford |
| 30/05 | Ipswich | 45-33 | Swindon |
| 25/05 | Halifax | 48-30 | Wolverhampton |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 23/09 | Reading | 43-34 | Sheffield |
| 22/08 | Sheffield | 39-39 | Reading |
| 29/08 | Ipswich | 43-34 | Wolverhampton |
| 19/08 | Wolverhampton | 39-39 | Ipswich |
| 31/07 | Oxford | 47-31 | Belle Vue |
| 20/07 | Belle Vue | 40-38 | Oxford |
| 11/07 | Sheffield | 46-32 | Reading |
| 08/07 | Reading | 46-32 | Sheffield |
| 07/07 | Cradley Heath | 53-25 | Kings Lynn |
| 06/07 | Kings Lynn | 39-39 | Cradley Heath |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 22/10 | Reading | 38-40 | Oxford |
| 16/10 | Oxford | 41-36 | Reading |
| 11/09 | Cradley Heath | 36-42 | Ipswich |
| 19/09 | Ipswich | 43-35 | Cradley Heath |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Oxford Cheetahs were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-76.

## League Cup

The League Cup was contested as a league format. Coventry Bees won the final over two legs defeating Oxford Cheetahs 86–70 on aggregrate.
Qualifying table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Cradley Heathens | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 34 |
| 2 | Oxford Cheetahs | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 32 |
| 3 | Ipswich Witches | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 32 |
| 4 | Coventry Bees | 20 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 30 |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 27 |
| 6 | Swindon Robins | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 26 |
| 7 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 24 |
| 8 | Reading Racers | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 21 |
| 9 | Halifax Dukes | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 20 |
| 10 | Sheffield Tigers | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 19 |
| 11 | King's Lynn Stars | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 10 |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/08 | Ipswich | 37–41 | Oxford |
| 25/09 | Cradley Heath | 40–38 | Coventry |
| 27/09 | Oxford | 39–39 | Ipswich |
| 02/10 | Coventry | 46–32 | Cradley Heath |

### Final

First leg
Second leg

## Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, the final was held at Hyde Road on 20 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
| 1 | Erik Gundersen | 3 3 3 2 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Peter Collins | 3 3 1 2 3 | 12+3 |
| 3 | Chris Morton | 2 2 3 3 2 | 12+2 |
| 4 | Tommy Knudsen | 0 3 3 3 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Kelvin Tatum | 3 3 2 1 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Hans Nielsen | 2 1 2 3 3 | 11 |
| 7 | Shawn Moran | 1 2 3 2 3 | 11 |
| 8 | Neil Evitts | 3 2 1 1 1 | 8 |
| 9 | John Cook | 1 1 2 1 1 | 6 |
| 10 | Bo Petersen | 0 0 1 3 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Jan Andersson | 1 2 0 2 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Simon Wigg | 2 1 1 1 0 | 5 |
| 13 | Dave Jessup | 0 1 2 0 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Phil Collins | 2 0 0 0 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Jeremy Doncaster | 0 0 0 0 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Peter Ravn | 1 0 0 0 1 | 2 |
* ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

## Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Monmore Green Stadium on 30 June and was won by Oxford.
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Oxford | 35 | Nielsen 23, Wigg 12 |
| 2 | Reading | 34 | Davis 20, Shirra 14 |
| 3 | Cradley | 33 | Gundersen 18, Collins P 15 |
| 4 | Sheffield | 26 | Moran S 20, Collins N 6 |
| 5 | Belle Vue | 23 | Morton 17, Collins P 6 |
| 6 | Coventry | 17 | Tatum 11, Knudsen 6 |
| 7 | Swindon | 15 | Petersen 15, Simmons 0 |

## Leading final averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Hans Nielsen | Oxford | 11.35 |
| Shawn Moran | Sheffield | 10.39 |
| Erik Gundersen | Cradley Heath | 10.38 |
| Kenny Carter | Halifax | 10.13 |
| Tommy Knudsen | Coventry | 10.13 |
| Bobby Schwartz | Wolverhampton | 9.80 |
| Chris Morton | Belle Vue | 9.77 |
| Jan Andersson | Reading | 9.43 |
| Bo Petersen | Swindon | 9.35 |
| John Cook | Ipswich | 9.33 |

## Midland Cup

Oxford won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Wolverhampton | Oxford | 32–46, 31–47 |
| Coventry | Reading | 38–40, 34–44 |
Semi final round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Cradley | Reading | 44–34, 37–41 |
| Oxford | Swindon | 42–36, 39–39 |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Oxford won on aggregate 85–71

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Chris Morton 9.77
* Peter Collins 8.92
* Andy Smith 7.59
* Carl Blackbird 6.16
* Kenny McKinna 5.83
* Andy Campbell 4.90
* Martin Scarisbrick 4.36
* Eddie Ingels 3.33
* Bernie Collier 1.33
* Mark Crang 1.10
Coventry
* Tommy Knudsen 10.13
* Kelvin Tatum 9.09
* John Jørgensen 6.68
* Rick Miller 6.12
* Steve Bastable 5.93
* David Bargh 5.76
* Frank Andersen 4.11
* Kevin Hawkins 3.41
Cradley Heath
* Erik Gundersen 10.38
* Phil Collins 7.93
* Jan O. Pedersen 7.91
* Alan Grahame 7.37
* Simon Cross 6.21
* Finn Jensen 5.41
* Kevin Smith 4.26
* Steve Collins 1.23
* Nigel Leaver 1.20
Halifax
* Kenny Carter 10.13
* Neil Evitts 7.26
* Larry Ross 6.62
* Rod Hunter 6.17
* Sean Willmott 5.41
* Eric Monaghan 5.40
* Kurt Hansen 5.16
* Doug Wyer 4.19
Ipswich
* John Cook 9.33
* Jeremy Doncaster 9.12
* Richard Knight 8.12
* Kai Niemi 6.14
* Louis Carr 5.47
* Dennis Sigalos 5.16
* Nigel Flatman 5.10
* Alan Farmer 3.07
* Andy Hines 2.38
King's Lynn
* Dave Jessup 7.80
* Michael Lee 7.20
* Steve Regeling 6.19
* Kevin Jolly 6.12
* Mark Courtney 5.91
* Richard Hellsen 5.76
* Steve Baker 4.84
* Paul Woods 4.54
Oxford
* Hans Nielsen 11.35
* Simon Wigg 9.10
* Andy Grahame 7.18
* Marvyn Cox 6.07
* Jens Rasmussen 6.07
* Melvyn Taylor 4.87
* Klaus Lausch 4.78
* Troy Butler 2.22
Reading
* Jan Andersson 9.43
* John Davis 9.01
* Mitch Shirra 6.79
* Martin Goodwin 6.33
* Per Jonsson 6.33
* Tim Hunt 5.59
* Peter Glanz 5.57
* Malcolm Holloway 4.72
* Neil Middleditch 4.67
* Mark Chessell 2.05
Sheffield
* Shawn Moran 10.39
* Neil Collins 7.33
* Les Collins 6.91
* Peter Carr 6.81
* Sam Nikolajsen 6.33
* Martin Hagon 5.85
* Alf Busk 5.50
* Steve Baker 4.22
* Gerald Short 3.34
Swindon
* Bo Petersen 9.35
* Phil Crump 8.92
* Malcolm Simmons 7.90
* Jimmy Nilsen 6.54
* Gordon Kennett 6.31
* Per Sorensen 5.54
* Alf Busk 5.40
* Ari Koponen 5.02
* Alun Rossiter 3.69
* Martin Yeates 1.71
Wolverhampton
* Bobby Schwartz 9.80
* Peter Ravn 7.72
* Preben Eriksen 7.69
* John Eskildsen 7.42
* Steve Schofield 4.97
* Martin Scarisbrick 4.89
* Brian Jakobsen 4.79
* Gerd Riss 3.88
* Jan Stæchmann 2.00