# 1984 British League season

The 1984 British League season was the 50th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 20th known as the British League.

## Team changes

Three teams dropped out and four teams replaced them. Midland's clubs Birmingham Brummies and Leicester Lions both dropped out and Hackney Hawks dropped to the National League, becoming the Hackney Kestrels after taking over from the Crayford Kestrels. The new teams to the league were Oxford Cheetahs, Newcastle Diamonds, Exeter Falcons (all from the National League) and the returning Wolverhampton Wolves who did not ride in 1982 and 1983. Exeter took over the Leicester licence.

## Summary

Oxford Cheetahs returned to the league, financed by David Hawkins of Northern Sports, and spent heavily over the off-season. They bought Hans Nielsen from Birmingham for a record £30,000, Simon Wigg for £25,000 from Cradley Heath, Marvyn Cox for £15,000 from Rye House, Melvyn Taylor for £12,000 from King's Lynn and Jens Rasmussen. Defending champions Cradley Heath couldn't hold onto their title after losing Simon Wigg to Oxford and loaning Jan O. Pedersen to Sheffield Tigers because of their huge combined c.m.a. being over the limit.
The 50th season of British speedway saw a close fight between Ipswich Witches, Belle Vue Aces and Cradley Heathens. A resounding home win over Ipswich and a string of away wins meant Belle Vue looked favourites to win the league, but in October Ipswich took 3 points from Cradley home and away to end the midlanders hopes and clinched the title with a win at previously unbeaten at home Reading. They made it a cup double by beating Belle Vue home and away in the final with Belle Vue also missing out in the League Cup final to Cradley Heath. The Suffolk team had a great season despite losing their leading rider Dennis Sigalos who rode for Wolverhampton Wolves until breaking his leg early in the league season. Australian Billy Sanders remained one of the team's main scorers and he was supported by strong season scoring from American showman John Cook, Finn Kai Niemi and the English international pair of Jeremy Doncaster and Richard Knight.
The league season saw some notable absentees. Kenny Carter made no league appearances after breaking his leg and aggravating the injury in attempting to qualify for the World Final. Remarkably he won the British Final despite being barely able to walk. Michael Lee was judged to have endangered the safety of other riders when storming off the track in the wrong direction and received a season long ban (reduced from 3 years after appeal) and made no league appearances for Poole
Draconian measures were brought in to exclude any rider pushing the tapes, as opposed to breaking them. The aforementioned Lee walked out of an England / USA test match after falling foul of the rule strictly applied by the referee. Erik Gundersen scored heavily in the league but his high average was hampered by a string of exclusions for tape infringements so much that he finished outside the top 10 rider averages. In the World Championship, the FIM didn't apply the same strictness and he went on to win his first individual World Title.
A scandal broke in September when the Sunday People newspaper published a story about race fixing and riders being paid to forfeit their place in the British Final. Riders named were Simon Wigg, Malcolm Simmons, John Louis, Mark Courtney, Kelly Moran and Alan Grahame. Specifically Simmons dropping out for Wigg in the British Final and rides by Wigg's opponents in that final came under scrutiny. Wigg was disqualified from the 1985 World Championship.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Ipswich Witches | 30 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 52 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Aces | 29 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 49 |
| 3 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 30 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 44 |
| 4 | Reading Racers | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 35 |
| 5 | Sheffield Tigers | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| 6 | King's Lynn Stars | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| 7 | Wimbledon Dons | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| 8 | Oxford Cheetahs | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 29 |
| 9 | Swindon Robins | 29 | 12 | 2 | 15 | 26 |
| 10 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 26 |
| 11 | Eastbourne Eagles | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 25 |
| 12 | Coventry Bees | 30 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 24 |
| 13 | Poole Pirates | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 21 |
| 14 | Halifax Dukes | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 21 |
| 15 | Exeter Falcons | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 18 |
| 16 | Newcastle Diamonds | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 18 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Hans Nielsen | Oxford Cheetahs | 10.78 |
| 2 | Chris Morton | Belle Vue Aces | 10.72 |
| 3 | Jan Andersson | Reading Racers | 10.36 |
| 4 | Simon Wigg | Oxford Cheetahs | 9.98 |
| 5 | Phil Crump | Swindon Robins | 9.96 |
| 6 | Bobby Schwartz | Eastbourne Eagles | 9.82 |
| 7 | Billy Sanders | Ipswich Witches | 9.73 |
| 8 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue Aces | 9.68 |
| 9 | Shawn Moran | Sheffield Tigers | 9.66 |
| 10 | John Cook | Ipswich Witches | 9.36 |

## British League Knockout Cup

The 1984 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 46th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/07 | Eastbourne | 41-36 | Poole |
| 30/06 | Swindon | 36-42 | Ipswich |
| 29/06 | Exeter | 32-46 | Wolverhampton |
| 28/06 | Wimbledon | 46-32 | Coventry |
| 25/06 | Reading | 41-36 | Cradley Heath |
| 18/06 | Wolverhampton | 45-33 | Exeter |
| 16/06 | Coventry | 52-26 | Wimbledon |
| 09/06 | Cradley Heath | 46-32 | Reading |
| 09/06 | Kings Lynn | 49-29 | Newcastle |
| 07/06 | Ipswich | 45-33 | Swindon |
| 06/06 | Poole | 37-41 | Eastbourne |
| 12/05 | Halifax | 37-41 | Sheffield |
| 05/05 | Belle Vue | 53-25 | Oxford |
| 26/04 | Sheffield | 49-29 | Halifax |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 16/09 | Eastbourne | 42-34 | Kings Lynn |
| 06/09 | Sheffield | 40-38 | Wolverhampton |
| 01/09 | Belle Vue | 50-28 | Coventry |
| 27/08 | Coventry | 42-36 | Belle Vue |
| 25/08 | Kings Lynn | 57-21 | Eastbourne |
| 10/08 | Wolverhampton | 42-36 | Sheffield |
| 26/07 | Ipswich | 46-32 | Cradley Heath |
| 25/07 | Cradley Heath | 40-38 | Ipswich |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 14/10 | Belle Vue | 56-22 | Wolverhampton |
| 05/10 | Wolverhampton | 40-38 | Belle Vue |
| 27/09 | Ipswich | 57-21 | Kings Lynn |
| 26/09 | Kings Lynn | 44-34 | Ipswich |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.

## League Cup

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Cradley Heath Heathens beating Belle Vue Aces in the final 80–76 on aggregate.
South Group
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Reading Racers | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 22 |
| 2 | Wimbledon Dons | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 22 |
| 3 | Ipswich Witches | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 21 |
| 4 | Eastbourne Eagles | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 19 |
| 5 | Oxford Cheetahs | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 18 |
| 6 | Poole Pirates | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 7 | King's Lynn Stars | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| 8 | Swindon Robins | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| 9 | Exeter Falcons | 16 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
North Group
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| 2 | Cradley Heathens | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 3 | Newcastle Diamonds | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 4 | Coventry Bees | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 5 | Sheffield Tigers | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 7 | Halifax Dukes | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 21/07 | Belle Vue | 55–23 | Wimbledon |
| 04/08 | Cradley Heath | 52–26 | Reading |
| 09/08 | Wimbledon | 38–40 | Belle Vue |
| 13/08 | Reading | 42–36 | Cradley Heath |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Cradley won on aggregate 80-76.

## Riders' Championship

Chris Morton won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
| 1 | Chris Morton | 3 1 3 3 3 | 13+3 |
| 2 | Hans Nielsen | 3 2 2 3 3 | 13+2 |
| 3 | Erik Gundersen | 3 3 2 3 2 | 13+1 |
| 4 | Peter Ravn | 2 3 3 2 2 | 12 |
| 5 | Shawn Moran | 2 2 2 2 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Tommy Knudsen | 0 3 3 3 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Billy Sanders | 3 3 1 X 1 | 8 |
| 8 | Malcolm Simmons | 2 2 1 1 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Sam Ermolenko | 0 1 3 0 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Jan Andersson | 2 2 0 0 2 | 6 |
| 11 | Bobby Schwartz | 0 0 0 2 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Phil Crump | 1 1 1 2 X | 5 |
| 13 | Neil Evitts | 0 1 2 1 0 | 4 |
| 14 | Martin Scarisbrick | 1 0 1 1 1 | 4 |
| 15 | John Louis | 1 0 0 - - | 1 |
| 16 | Andy Campbell | 1 0 0 1 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Lee Edwards (res) | 0 0 - - - | 0 |
| 18 | Glenn Hornby (res) | 0 0 - - - | 0 |
* ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

## Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Monmore Green Stadium on 11 September and was won by Belle Vue.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Scorers |
| 1 | Belle Vue | 17 | Morton & Collins |
| 2 | King's Lynn | 14 | Louis & Jessup |
| 3 | Exeter | 14 | Campbell & Robinson |
| 4 | Ipswich | 8 | Sanders & Cook |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Scorers |
| 1 | Reading | 18 | Shirra & Hunt |
| 2 | Halifax | 14 | Evitts & Baker |
| 3 | Cradley | 13 | Gundersen & Collins |
| 4 | Poole | 9 | Ermolenko & Middleditch |
Group C :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Scorers |
| 1 | Coventry | 17 | Knudsen & Guglielmi |
| 2 | Eastbourne | 15 | Schwartz & Woods |
| 3 | Oxford | 14 | Wigg & Cox |
| 4 | Newcastle | 8 | Owen J & Ingels |
Group D :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Scorers |
| 1 | Wimbledon | 16 | Simmons & Davis |
| 2 | Sheffield | 16 | Moran S & Collins N |
| 3 | Wolves | 14 | Ravn & Grahame |
| 4 | Swindon | 8 | Crump & Petersen |
Semi finals
* Belle Vue beat Coventry 7–2
* Reading beat Wimbledon 7–2
Final
* Belle Vue beat Reading 5–4

## Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of five teams and was sponsored by Marlboro.
First round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Wolverhampton | Oxford | 43–35, 45–33 |
Semi final round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Coventry | Swindon | 45–33, 33–45 |
| Coventry | Swindon | 46–32, 32–46 |
| Coventry | Swindon | 40–38, 34–43 |
| Cradley | Wolverhampton | 40–38, 39–39 |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Cradley Heath won on aggregate 83–72

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Chris Morton 10.31
* Peter Collins 9.10
* Larry Ross 7.75
* Andy Smith 7.25
* Mark Courtney 7.14
* Peter Carr 6.66
* Kenny McKinna 6.39
* Barry Ayres 2.00
Coventry
* Tommy Knudsen 7.87
* Gary Guglielmi 7.79
* Steve Bastable 6.89
* Rick Miller 6.64
* John Jørgensen 6.18
* Sam Nikolajsen 5.31
* Kevin Hawkins 5.19
* Steve Payne 2.62
Cradley Heath
* Erik Gundersen 9.54
* Lance King 8.65
* Phil Collins 8.40
* Alan Grahame 7.87
* Simon Cross 7.27
* Finn Jensen 5.08
* Mike Wilding 1.96
* Steve Collins 1.49
Eastbourne
* Bobby Schwartz 9.42
* John Eskildsen 8.07
* Paul Woods 8.05
* Antonín Kasper Jr. 6.76
* Colin Richardson 6.01
* Olli Tyrväinen 4.91
* Denzil Kent 4.37
* Steve Lucero 4.18
* Martin Goodwin 4.00
* Paul Bosley 3.81
Exeter
* Ivan Mauger 8.08
* Andy Campbell 6.90
* Sean Willmott 6.01
* Leif Wahlman 5.29
* Buddy Robinson 5.27
* Rob Maxfield 5.05
* Frank Andersen 4.98
* Louis Carr 4.15
* Kevin Price 2.59
* Steve Bishop 2.08
* Keith Millard 2.00
* Michael Coles 1.00
Halifax
* Kenny Carter 9.21
* Neil Evitts 7.44
* Steve Baker 6.08
* Eric Monaghan 5.16
* Doug Wyer 4.95
* Steve Finch 4.64
* Craig Pendlebury 4.58
* Kurt Hansen 3.52
Ipswich
* Billy Sanders 9.69
* John Cook 8.83
* Jeremy Doncaster 8.16
* Kai Niemi 7.98
* Richard Knight7.43
* Nigel Flatman 5.29
* Carl Blackbird 4.97
* Carl Baldwin 3.53
King's Lynn
* John Louis 8.29
* Dave Jessup 7.42
* Richard Hellsen 6.72
* Steve Regeling 6.61
* Kevin Jolly 6.38
* Martin Dixon 6.05
* Keith Bloxsome 4.00
Newcastle
* Joe Owen 8.04
* Rod Hunter 7.01
* David Bargh 6.68
* Eddie Ingels 5.84
* Steve McDermott 5.18
* Phil White 4.82
* Martin Scarisbrick 4.62
* Reg Wilson 4.13
* Alan Mason 3.92
Oxford
* Hans Nielsen 10.76
* Simon Wigg 9.69
* Marvyn Cox 6.29
* Melvyn Taylor 6.06
* Jens Rasmussen 5.57
* Ian Clark 4.59
* Nigel Sparshott 4.48
* Klaus Lausch 4.15
* Martin Yeates 2.00
* Dave Perks 1.93
Poole
* Michael Lee 9.24
* Sam Ermolenko 6.71
* Finn Thomsen 6.32
* Stan Bear 6.15
* Brian Jakobsen 5.85
* Neil Middleditch 5.77
* Kevin Smith 5.62
* Gerd Riss 4.57
* Leif Wahlman 3.54
Reading
* Jan Andersson 10.05
* Mitch Shirra 9.26
* Per Jonsson 6.52
* Tim Hunt 5.75
* Malcolm Holloway 5.43
* Pierre Brannefors 5.41
* Peter Glanz 4.87
Sheffield
* Shawn Moran 9.85
* Neil Collins 8.03
* Les Collins 7.83
* Dave Morton 6.00
* Jan O. Pedersen 6.00
* Martin Hagon 5.18
* Reg Wilson 4.77
* Nigel Crabtree 3.59
* Alan Mason 2.94
Swindon
* Phil Crump 9.94
* Bo Petersen 8.33
* Ari Koponen 6.15
* Bjorn Andersson 5.73
* Shawn McConnell 5.33
* Alun Rossiter 5.01
* Alf Busk 4.95
* Per Sorensen 4.65
* Martin Yeates 3.78
Wimbledon
* John Davis 8.38
* Malcolm Simmons 8.38
* Kelvin Tatum 7.18
* Gordon Kennett 6.04
* John Titman 5.82
* Roger Johns 5.69
* Mike Ferreira 5.45
* Andy Galvin 2.95
Wolverhampton
* Dennis Sigalos 9.87
* Preben Eriksen 8.45
* Peter Ravn 7.47
* Andy Grahame 7.23
* Steve Lucero 4.61
* Louis Carr 4.52
* Rob Pfetzing 4.51
* Kent Noer 3.69
* David Cheshire 3.23
* Steve Schofield 3.00
* Paul Thorp 2.90