# 1991 British League season

The 1991 British League season was the 57th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 27th known as the British League.

## Summary

Wolverhampton Wolves won the league for the first time in their history. The club which was first founded in 1928 had only ever won the Provincial Midland League in 1962 and the Provincial League in 1963. They were led by their American star Sam Ermolenko, who became the first rider to push Hans Nielsen from the top of the averages after eight consecutive years at the top. The Wolves team relied on two more American riders, Ronnie Correy and Sam's younger brother Charles Ermolenko, in addition to Englishman Graham Jones to seal the title from Bradford. Bradford gained consolation by winning the Knockout Cup, led by English international pair Simon Wigg and Gary Havelock.
Wimbledon Dons started the season but only ran until June before withdrawing from the league. The entire team was relocated to Arlington Stadium and raced as the Eastbourne Eagles for the remainder of the season.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 24 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 49 |
| 2 | Bradford Dukes | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 43 |
| 3 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 41 |
| 4 | Belle Vue Aces | 24 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 33 |
| 5 | Berwick Bandits | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 32 |
| 6 | Ipswich Witches | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | Coventry Bees | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 30 |
| 8 | King's Lynn Stars | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 30 |
| 9 | Oxford Cheetahs | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 25 |
| 10 | Poole Pirates | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 23 |
| 11 | Reading Racers | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 21 |
| 12 | Eastbourne Eagles | 24 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 18 |
| 13 | Swindon Robins | 24 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 13 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## British League Knockout Cup

The 1991 British League Knockout Cup was the 53rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Bradford Dukes were the winners.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 25/05 | Cradley Heath | 50-39 | Ipswich |
| 22/05 | Wimbledon | 52-38 | Kings Lynn |
| 20/05 | Reading | 48-42 | Poole |
| 16/05 | Ipswich | 46-44 | Cradley Heath |
| 13/05 | Wolverhampton | 50-40 | Oxford |
| 10/05 | Oxford | 49-41 | Wolverhampton |
| 30/04 | Poole | 47-43 | Reading |
| 27/04 | Kings Lynn | 40-50 | Wimbledon |
| 27/04 | Swindon | 46-44 | Belle Vue |
| 26/04 | Belle Vue | 55-35 | Swindon |
| 26/04 | Berwick | 47-43 | Coventry |
| 20/04 | Coventry | 46-44 | Berwick |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 07/09 | Cradley Heath | 50-39 | Reading |
| 02/09 | Reading | 46-43 | Cradley Heath |
| 02/08 | Berwick | 43-47 | Bradford |
| 02/08 | Eastbourne | 50-40 | Reading |
| 16/07 | Bradford | 50-40 | Berwick |
| 01/07 | Reading | 56-34 | Eastbourne |
| 14/06 | Belle Vue | 44-46 | Wolverhampton |
| 10/06 | Wolverhampton | 42.5-47.5 | Belle Vue |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 02/09 | Reading | 46-43 | Cradley |
| 07/09 | Cradley | 50-39 | Reading |
| 05/10 | Bradford | 56-34 | Belle Vue |
| 11/10 | Belle Vue | 51-39 | Bradford |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Bradford Dukes were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 97-83.

## Riders' Championship

Sam Ermolenko won the British League Riders' Championship, sponsored by Dunlop Tyres. It was the held at Odsal Stadium on 20 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
| 1 | Sam Ermolenko | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Hans Nielsen | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 |
| 3 | Joe Screen | 2 3 2 2 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Ronnie Correy | 3 1 3 2 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Kelvin Tatum | 1 3 3 2 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Marvyn Cox | 0 2 2 3 3 | 10 |
| 7 | Jan Staechmann | 2 2 2 1 2 | 9 |
| 8 | Gary Havelock | 2 2 0 3 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Jan O. Pedersen | 3 1 0 0 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Henka Gustafsson | 1 0 1 2 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Dave Bargh | 2 1 1 0 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Les Collins | 0 2 0 1 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Leigh Adams | 1 0 0 0 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Alan Grahame | 0 1 2 0 0 | 3 |
| 15 | Shane Parker | 1 0 1 1 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Tommy Knudsen | 0 0 1 1 0 | 2 |
* ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

## Leading final averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton | 10.74 |
| Hans Nielsen | Oxford | 10.50 |
| Kelvin Tatum | Berwick | 9.92 |
| Gary Havelock | Bradford | 9.89 |
| Jimmy Nilsen | Berwick | 9.63 |
| Ronnie Correy | Wolverhampton | 9.58 |
| Jan O. Pedersen | Cradley Heath | 9.54 |
| Andy Grahame | Eastbourne | 9.44 |
| Martin Dugard | Oxford | 9.12 |
| Henrik Gustafsson | Kings Lynn | 9.06 |

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Shawn Moran 8.45
* Kelly Moran 8.28
* Neil Collins 7.60
* Joe Screen 7.59
* Tony Olsson 7.32
* Carl Stonehewer 6.09
* Darren Sumner 5.22
* Paul Smith 5.09
* Nigel Leaver 3.88
* Frank Andersen 3.31
Berwick
* Kelvin Tatum 9.92
* Jimmy Nilsen 9.63
* Richard Knight 7.85
* David Walsh 5.86
* Scott Robson 4.73
* David Blackburn 4.56
* Rob Grant Sr. 3.89
* Kevin Little 2.65
* Michael Lowrie 1.70
* David Nagel 1.33
Bradford
* Gary Havelock 9.89
* Simon Wigg 8.43
* Paul Thorp 8.32
* Glenn Doyle 6.94
* Sean Wilson 6.79
* Craig Hodgson 6.61
* Michael Graves 3.51
Coventry
* Tommy Knudsen 8.64
* Rick Miller 7.90
* John Jørgensen 7.56
* Roman Matoušek 6.77
* Peter Ravn 6.76
* Michael Warren 4.84
* Andy Hackett 4.39
* Mark Robinson 3.38
* Andy Meredith 2.77
* David Haynes 0.19
Cradley Heath
* Jan O. Pedersen 9.54
* Billy Hamill 8.77
* Greg Hancock 8.24
* Gert Handberg 8.20
* Alan Grahame 6.56
* Simon Cross 5.29
* Mark Robinson 4.46
* Scott Smith 3.15
* Wayne Garratt 3.07
Eastbourne/Wimbledon
* Andy Grahame 9.44
* Bobby Ott 8.48
* Armando Castagna 6.67
* John Davis 6.59
* Nathan Simpson 5.88
* Gordon Kennett 4.98
* Deon Prinsloo 4.75
* Neville Tatum 4.29
* Jesper Olsen 3.59
Ipswich
* Chris Louis 8.44
* Tony Rickardsson 8.15
* Neville Tatum 7.33
* Zdenek Tesar 6.96
* David Norris 6.39
* Shane Parker 6.25
* Alastair Stevens 5.17
* Ben Howe 3.74
King's Lynn
* Henka Gustaffson 9.06
* Mark Loram 8.28
* Bohumil Brhel 7.08
* Dennis Lofqvist 5.51
* Nigel Leaver 4.50
* Kevin Brice 4.23
* Paul Fry 4.13
Oxford
* Hans Nielsen 10.50
* Martin Dugard 9.12
* Craig Boyce 7.17
* Dean Barker 7.13
* Mark Carlson 4.00
* Glenn Cunningham 2.95
* Kieran McCullagh 2.93
* Spencer Timmo 2.64
* Darren Grayling 1.91
Poole
* Marvyn Cox 8.67
* Steve Schofield 8.00
* Gary Allan 6.43
* Mick Poole 6.32
* Tony Langdon 6.21
* Tom P. Knudsen 4.78
* Alun Rossiter 4.08
* Steve Leigh 2.06
Reading
* Jeremy Doncaster 8.47
* Mitch Shirra 8.43
* Todd Wiltshire 8.41
* Jan Andersson 7.67
* Dave Mullett 6.78
* Ray Morton 6.50
* Scott Humphries 4.47
* Davd Steen 2.38
* Terry Mussett 1.41
Swindon
* Leigh Adams 8.55
* John Davis 8.47
* Andy Smith 7.75
* Peter Nahlin 7.12
* Dean Standing 6.36
* Andrew Silver 5.87
* Paul Smith 4.49
* Paul Dugard 4.38
* Rod Colquhoun 4.00
Wolverhampton
* Sam Ermolenko 10.74
* Ronnie Correy 9.58
* Graham Jones 7.25
* Charles Ermolenko 6.57
* Scott Norman 5.32
* Andy Phillips 5.32
* Wayne Carter 4.29
* Lars Munkedal 3.75