# 1987 British League season

The 1987 British League season was the 53rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 23rd known as the British League.

## Summary

Coventry Bees comfortably won the league finishing 16 points clear of Cradley Heath. The same five main riders who made up the 1986 team rode through the 1987 season but crucially four of them improved on their 1986 averages. Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum both hit over 10, while Rick Miller and David Bargh both improved by about 2 points on average. John Jørgensen also remained consistent for the Bees. Coventry also won the League Cup but lost to Cradley in the final of the Knockout Cup. The double defending champions Oxford Cheetahs were forced to release Simon Wigg to Hackney and Per Sorensen because of the 45 point limit. They finished second from bottom despite Hans Nielsen topping the averages once again.
The second leg replay of the League Cup final was the last ever meeting held at Hyde Road.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Coventry Bees | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 52 |
| 2 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 36 |
| 3 | Swindon Robins | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 33 |
| 4 | Sheffield Tigers | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 32 |
| 5 | Bradford Dukes | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 30 |
| 6 | Ipswich Witches | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 29 |
| 7 | Reading Racers | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 28 |
| 8 | Belle Vue Aces | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 26 |
| 9 | Hackney Kestrels | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 20 |
| 10 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| 11 | Oxford Cheetahs | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 16 |
| 12 | King's Lynn Stars | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 11 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## British League Knockout Cup

The 1987 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 49th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the second successive year if including the tied 1986 final.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 10/07 | Hackney | 48-42 | Bradford |
| 10/07 | Oxford | 51-39 | Belle Vue |
| 04/07 | Kings Lynn | 41-49 | Sheffield |
| 13/06 | Swindon | 47-43 | Wolverhampton |
| 04/06 | Sheffield | 51-39 | Kings Lynn |
| 01/06 | Wolverhampton | 44-46 | Swindon |
| 30/05 | Belle Vue | 47-43 | Oxford |
| 30/05 | Bradford | 49-41 | Hackney |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/09 | Bradford | 41-49 | Cradley Heath |
| 15/08 | Swindon | 43-47 | Reading |
| 07/08 | Oxford | 48-42 | Ipswich |
| 06/08 | Ipswich | 47-43 | Oxford |
| 05/08 | Cradley Heath | 55-35 | Bradford |
| 27/07 | Reading | 48-41 | Swindon |
| 13/07 | Sheffield | 48-42 | Coventry |
| 11/07 | Coventry | 51-38 | Sheffield |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 30/09 | Coventry | 48-42 | Reading |
| 30/09 | Oxford | 47-43 | Cradley Heath |
| 16/09 | Cradley Heath | 39-33 A | Oxford |
| 07/09 | Reading | 47-43 | Coventry |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.

## League Cup

The League Cup was contested as a league format. Coventry Bees won the final over two legs defeating Belle Vue Aces 84–72 on aggregrate. It was the last time that the competition was contested.
Qualifying table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Coventry Bees | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 43 |
| 2 | Oxford Cheetahs | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 39 |
| 3 | Belle Vue Aces | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 38 |
| 4 | Cradley Heathens | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 36 |
| 5 | Sheffield Tigers | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 33 |
| 6 | Reading Racers | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 31 |
| 7 | Swindon Robins | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 26 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 23 |
| 9 | Bradford Dukes | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 22 |
| 10 | Hackney Kestrels | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 17 |
| 11 | King's Lynn Stars | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 12 |
| 11 | Ipswich Witches | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 10 |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 14/08 | Oxford | 42–36 | Belle Vue |
| 22/08 | Belle Vue | 44–34 | Oxford |
| 31/08 | Coventry | 45–33 | Cradley Heath |
| 31/08 | Cradley Heath | 36–42 | Coventry |

### Final

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/09 | Coventry | 41–37 | Belle Vue |
| 18/10 | Belle Vue | 41–37 | Coventry |
Replay first leg
Replay second leg
Coventry were declared League Cup winners, winning on aggregate 84-72.

## Riders' Championship

Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second successive year. It was the held at Hyde Road on 12 October, shortly before the venue closed for good.
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
| 1 | Hans Nielsen | 3 2 3 3 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Chris Morton | 3 3 1 3 3 | 13 |
| 3 | Kelly Moran | 2 2 2 2 3 | 11+3 |
| 4 | Kelvin Tatum | 2 3 2 2 2 | 11+2 |
| 5 | Tommy Knudsen | TX 2 3 3 2 | 10 |
| 6 | Richard Knight | 3 1 1 3 2 | 10 |
| 7 | Jan Andersson | 1 1 3 2 3 | 10 |
| 8 | Mitch Shirra | 1 3 3 0 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Simon Wigg | 1 2 2 1 1 | 7 |
| 10 | Jan O. Pedersen | 2 3 0 1 0 | 6 |
| 11 | Sean Willmott | 2 1 1 1 1 | 6 |
| 12 | Jimmy Nilsen | 0 TX 0 2 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Preben Eriksen | 1 0 2 1 0 | 4 |
| 14 | Erik Gundersen | 3 0 0 0 1 | 4 |
| 15 | Bernie Collier (res) | 0 0 1 1 0 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Louis Carr | 0 - - - - - | 0 |
| 17 | Shawn Moran | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
* ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

## Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Smallmead Stadium on 12 July and was won by Oxford for the third consecutive year.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Cradley | 17 | Pedersen 9 Gundersen 8 |
| 2 | Belle Vue | 14 | Thorp 10 Morton 4 |
| 3 | Sheffield | 12 | Moran S 12 Carr 0 |
| 4 | King's Lynn | 11 | Knight 6 Regeling 5 |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Oxford | 17 | Nielsen 12 Grahame 5 |
| 2 | Swindon | 16 | Shirra 9 Nilsen 7 |
| 3 | Hackney | 14 | Galvin 8 Wigg 6 |
| 4 | Bradford | 5 | King 3 Evitts 2 |
Group C :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Wolves | 14 | Eriksen 9 Ermolenko 5 |
| 2 | Coventry | 14 | Tatum 8 Knudsen 6 |
| 3 | Reading | 13 | Jonsson 7 Andersson 6 |
| 4 | Ipswich | 13 | Doncaster 8 Niemi 5 |
Semi Final :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Swindon | 16 | Shirra 8, Nilsen 8 |
| 2 | Oxford | 14 | Nielsen 12 Grahame 2 |
| 3 | Cradley | 13 | Pedersen 7, Gundersen 6 |
| 4 | Wolverhampton | 11 | Ermolenko 11, Eriksen 0 |
Final
In the final Nilsen fell and was excluded and Shirra touched the tapes and was excluded, leaving Nielsen and Grahame to complete a 7-0 (pts) uncontested heat.

## Leading final averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Hans Nielsen | Oxford | 11.38 |
| Erik Gundersen | Cradley Heath | 10.44 |
| Tommy Knudsen | Coventry | 10.25 |
| Kelvin Tatum | Coventry | 10.06 |
| Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton | 9.86 |
| Jeremy Doncaster | Ipswich | 9.67 |
| Jimmy Nilsen | Swindon | 9.61 |
| Jan O. Pedersen | Cradley Heath | 9.60 |
| Shawn Moran | Sheffield | 9.47 |
| Simon Wigg | Hackney | 9.38 |

## Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Reading | Swindon | 38–39, 37–41 |
| Wolverhampton | Cradley | 38–39, 31–47 |
Semi final round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Coventry | Swindon | 48–30, 36–42 |
| Cradley | Oxford | 43–35, 40–38 |

### Final

Because of cancellations due to bad weather the final of the competition doubled up as the Knockout Cup final (see above for details).

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Chris Morton 8.92
* Paul Thorp 8.41
* Peter Ravn 8.38
* Andy Smith 6.35
* Kenny McKinna 5.82
* Carl Blackbird 5.55
* David Blackburn 3.92
* Glenn Hornby 2.65
Bradford
* Neil Evitts 8.58
* Lance King 8.47
* Sean Willmott 7.35
* Gary Havelock 7.31
* Steve Bastable 5.73
* Randy Green 5.71
* Michael Graves 4.97
* Anthony Hulme 1.48
Coventry
* Tommy Knudsen 10.25
* Kelvin Tatum 10.06
* Rick Miller 8.20
* John Jørgensen 7.80
* David Bargh 7.46
* David Clarke 3.44
* Andy Hackett 2.58
* Wayne Broadhurst 2.18
* Darren Slater 2.13
Cradley Heath
* Erik Gundersen 10.44
* Jan O. Pedersen 9.60
* Simon Cross 9.33
* David Walsh 5.10
* Alan Grahame 4.94
* Jan Jakobsen 3.94
* Dean Barker 3.79
* Paul Fry 3.47
* Wayne Garratt 1.18
Hackney
* Simon Wigg 9.38
* Roland Danno 7.03
* Andy Galvin 6.10
* Allan Johansen 5.60
* Malcolm Simmons 5.40
* Alan Mogridge 5.22
* Barry Thomas 5.20
* Mark Loram 5.08
Ipswich
* Jeremy Doncaster 9.67
* Armando Castagna 8.00
* Kai Niemi 7.61
* Gerd Riss 6.39
* Andy Hines 5.03
* Louis Carr 4.58
* Martin Hagon 4.05
* Robbie Fuller 3.97
* Jamie Luckhurst 2.20
King's Lynn
* Richard Knight 8.35
* John Cook 6.67
* Steve Regeling 6.42
* Ian Barney 6.25
* Andy Campbell 5.34
* Stephen Davies 5.27
* Einar Kyllingstad 4.94
* Mick Poole 4.93
* Ray Morton 4.39
Oxford
* Hans Nielsen 11.38
* Marvyn Cox 8.53
* Andy Grahame 7.87
* Jens Rasmussen 5.68
* Nigel De'ath 4.39
* Kevin Smart 3.72
* Alastair Stevens 3.63
* Jon Surman 3.04
Reading
* Per Jonsson 9.34
* Jan Andersson 8.99
* John Davis 6.95
* Tony Olsson 6.60
* Peter Glanz 6.45
* Malcolm Holloway 6.02
* Gary Tagg 2.57
* Rodney Payne 1.33
Sheffield
* Shawn Moran 9.47
* Kelly Moran 9.23
* Neil Collins 7.59
* Peter Carr 7.26
* Sean Wilson 5.50
* Ian M Stead 4.72
* Adrian Stevens 3.88
Swindon
* Jimmy Nilsen 9.61
* Mitch Shirra 9.36
* Andrew Silver 7.35
* Richard Hellsen 6.73
* Brian Karger 6.55
* Alun Rossiter 6.37
* Conny Ivarsson 5.73
* Matthew Cross 1.54
* Stephen Rose 0.63
Wolverhampton
* Sam Ermolenko 9.86
* Preben Eriksen 7.28
* Ronnie Correy 6.33
* Jan Stæchmann 6.01
* Lars Munkedal 5.48
* Andy Phillips 4.74
* Chris Cobby 3.20
* Andy Sumner 1.26
* Torben Hansen 0.40