# 1990 British League season

The 1990 British League season was the 56th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 26th known as the British League.

## Summary

Reading Racers won the league for the first time since 1980. The domination of speedway in recent years by Oxford Cheetahs, Coventry Bees and Cradley Heathens had come to an end. The Reading team was an extremely strong all round squad, highlighted by the fact that Per Jonsson who finished third in the Reading averages would become World Champion by the end of the season. Veteran English international Jeremy Doncaster and their new Australian signing Todd Wiltshire topped the Reading averages and they were supported by fans favourite Jan Andersson, Dave Mullett and Tony Olsson. The team went on to complete the league and cup double after beating Bradford in the cup final. Hans Nielsen of Oxford topped the averages for an incredible eighth season running and also won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Reading Racers | 32 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 54 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 17 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 49 |
| 3 | Belle Vue Aces | 32 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 47 |
| 4 | Oxford Cheetahs | 32 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 46 |
| 5 | Bradford Dukes | 32 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 41 |
| 6 | Swindon Robins | 32 | 15 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 41 |
| 7 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 32 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 32 |
| 8 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 10 | 3 | 19 | 7 | 30 |
| 9 | King's Lynn Stars | 32 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 2 | 21 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## British League Knockout Cup

The 1990 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 52nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Reading Racers were the winners.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 04/04 | Coventry | 45-45 | Oxford |
| 18/05 | Oxford | 44-46 | Coventry |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 21/07 | Coventry | 37-53 | Swindon |
| 11/07 | Cradley Heath | 45-45 | Bradford |
| 14/07 | Bradford | 54-36 | Cradley Heath |
| 07/07 | Swindon | 56-34 | Coventry |
| 15/06 | Belle Vue | 61-29 | Wolverhampton |
| 21/05 | Wolverhampton | 34-56 | Belle Vue |
| 23/04 | Reading | 54-36 | King's Lynn |
| 21/04 | King's Lynn | 47-42 | Reading |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 20/09 | Swindon | 50-40 | Bradford |
| 13/09 | Bradford | 51-39 | Swindon |
| 27/07 | Belle Vue | 57-33 | Reading |
| 16/07 | Reading | 53-36 | Belle Vue |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Reading Racers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98-82.

## Riders' Championship

Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 14 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
| 1 | Hans Nielsen | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Kelly Moran | 2 3 2 3 2 | 12+3 |
| 3 | Ronnie Correy | 3 2 3 2 2 | 12+2 |
| 4 | Marvyn Cox | 1 3 3 2 3 | 12+1 |
| 5 | Sam Ermolenko | 0 3 2 3 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Andrew Silver | 2 2 0 1 3 | 8 |
| 7 | John Jørgensen | 3 1 1 3 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Jeremy Doncaster | 1 1 3 2 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Shawn Moran | 3 2 2 0 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Gary Havelock | 2 1 1 1 2 | 7 |
| 11 | Mark Loram | 2 1 1 1 1 | 6 |
| 12 | Todd Wiltshire | 0 2 2 0 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Jimmy Nilsen | 1 0 0 0 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Kelvin Tatum | 1 0 1 1 0 | 3 |
| 15 | Bobby Ott | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Greg Hancock | 0 0 0 0 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Martin Dugard | 0 0 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Richard Musson | 0 | 0 |
* ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

## Final leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Hans Nielsen | Oxford | 10.36 |
| Jan O. Pedersen | Cradley Heath | 9.37 |
| Jeremy Doncaster | Reading | 9.09 |
| Kelvin Tatum | Coventry | 8.93 |
| Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton | 8.87 |
| Ronnie Correy | Wolverhampton | 8.85 |
| Todd Wiltshire | Reading | 8.77 |
| Simon Cross | Cradley Heath | 8.73 |
| Marvyn Cox | Bradford | 8.63 |
| Jimmy Nilsen | Swindon | 8.57 |

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Kelly Moran 8.42
* Shawn Moran 8.00
* Bobby Ott 7.18
* Chris Morton 7.01
* Joe Screen 6.69
* Peter Ravn 5.76
* Richard Musson 4.73
* Max Schofield 3.08
Bradford
* Marvyn Cox 8.63
* Gary Havelock 8.50
* Andy Smith 7.69
* Paul Thorp 6.90
* Glenn Doyle 6.16
* Neil Evitts 6.13
* Bryan Larner 2.02
* Phil Disney 2.00
Coventry
* Kelvin Tatum 8.93
* John Jørgensen 7.82
* Rick Miller 6.77
* Roman Matoušek 5.85
* Tommy Knudsen 5.74
* Sean Wilson 5.55
* Andy Hackett 5.33
* Andy Phillips 2.86
* Andy Meredith 1.95
* Lee Coleman 0.67
Cradley Heath
* Jan O. Pedersen 9.37
* Simon Cross 8.73
* Billy Hamill 6.80
* Alan Grahame 6.21
* Gert Handberg 6.18
* Greg Hancock 5.51
* Mark Robinson 2.48
King's Lynn
* Mark Loram 7.77
* Richard Knight 7.38
* Henka Gustaffson 7.09
* Gary Hicks 5.90
* Dennis Löfqvist 5.63
* Stephen Davies 5.57
* Bohumil Brhel 5.33
* Roger Horspool 0.89
Oxford
* Hans Nielsen 10.36
* Martin Dugard 8.26
* Simon Wigg 7.52
* Dean Barker 5.81
* Alastair Stevens 5.54
* Troy Butler 5.05
* Paul Dugard 3.47
* John Bostin 1.84
Reading
* Jeremy Doncaster 9.09
* Todd Wiltshire 8.77
* Per Jonsson 8.39
* Jan Andersson 7.22
* Armando Castagna 6.42
* Dave Mullett 6.31
* Tony Olsson 6.25
* Nathan Murray 2.51
* Davd Steen 2.16
Swindon
* Jimmy Nilsen 8.57
* Brian Karger 7.91
* Andrew Silver 7.53
* Peter Nahlin 7.31
* John Davis 7.15
* Leigh Adams 7.01
* Phil Crump 5.67
* David Smart 5.08
Wolverhampton
* Sam Ermolenko 8.87
* Ronnie Correy 8.85
* Graham Jones 6.18
* Neil Collins 5.70
* Jan Stæchmann 5.57
* Carl Stonehewer 5.42
* Peter Karlsson 4.73
* Wayne Carter 3.45