The 1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier of
motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League.
Summary
The league was sponsored for the first time by
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
.
Reading Racers
Reading Racers are a British motorcycle speedway team. Formed in 1968, they won four British League titles during their history. The club closed in October 2008 after the lease on Smallmead Stadium was sold and the site was demolished. In 2016 a ...
returned after a one-season absence to increase the size of the league back to eighteen teams and the ban on Overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad was lifted.
The
Ipswich Witches
The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first r ...
won their first title, defeating
Belle Vue Aces
The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 13 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wi ...
by a solitary point.
John Louis and
Billy Sanders
William Robert Sanders (9 September 1955 – 23 April 1985Oakes, P (1982). ''Daily Mirror 1982 Speedway Yearbook''. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ) was an Australian international Speedway rider who won six Australian Championships and w ...
scored heavily throughout the season for Ipswich. Belle Vue found consolation by winning the
Knockout Cup.
In their last season at the Cowley track,
Oxford Rebels won the Midland Cup, beating
Wolverhampton Wolves
Wolverhampton Wolves are a British speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They are sponsored by Parry's International Travel, and signed a deal with owner Dave Parry (previous speedway rider for the Wolverhampton Wolves) for the 20 ...
Final table
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
British League Knockout Cup
The 1975 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 37th edition of the
Knockout Cup for tier one teams.
Belle Vue Aces
The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 13 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, wi ...
were the winners.
First round
Second round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
First leg
Second leg
Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.
Riders' Championship
Peter Collins won the
British League Riders' Championship
The British League Riders Championship was an individual motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders (or two riders) with the highest average from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top division of the league during ...
for the second time, it was held at
Hyde Road on 18 October.
*ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded
Leading final averages
London Cup
Wimbledon retained the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London.
Results
Riders & final averages
Belle Vue
* 11.13
* 9.27
* 8.76
* 7.14
* 6.21
* 5.03
* 4.00
* 3.55
Coventry
* 8.66
* 8.02
* 5.37
* 5.14
* 4.82
* 4.43
* 4.36
* 3.84
* 2.23
* 1.71
Cradley Heath
* 8.73
* 8.58
* 7.68
* 7.53
* 4.87
* 4.84
* 4.56
* 3.08
Exeter
* 11.52
* 9.19
* 7.50
* 6.07
* 5.89
* 5.71
* 4.96
* 4.72
* 3.44
Hackney
* 8.54
* 7.81
* 7.61
* 5.84
* 4.68
* 4.60
* 4.46
* 3.86
Halifax
* 8.77
* 8.03
* 7.58
* 7.11
* 5.92
* 5.74
* 4.89
* 4.32
* 3.83
Hull
* 9.69
* 7.29
* 7.20
* 6.64
* 6.53
* 5.22
* 5.14
* 5.10
* 3.49
* 3.45
Ipswich
* 10.58
* 9.58
* 7.75
* 6.44
* 5.13
* 4.99
* 4.78
* 4.00
King's Lynn
* 8.87
* 7.48
* 7.43
* 6.20
* 5.77
* 5.76
* 4.75
* 4.56
* 4.07
* 4.00
* 4.00
Leicester
* 10.41
* 9.90
* 5.91
* 5.84
* 5.70
* 4.93
* 4.17
* 3.75
Newport
* 11.15
* 8.98
* 8.70
* 7.32
* 7.13
* 6.34
* 6.11
* 3.26
Oxford
* 10.04
* 8.41
* 7.48
* 6.57
* 5.73
* 4.75
* 4.15
* 2.46
Poole
* 10.41
* 7.50
* 6.23
* 5.39
* 5.29
* 4.48
* 3.77
* 2.53
Reading
* 10.90
* 7.37
* 7.06
* 5.59
* 5.56
* 5.21
* 4.99
Sheffield
* 9.79
* 9.37
* 7.91
* 6.41
* 6.09
* 5.88
* 3.17
Swindon
* 10.13
* 8.26
* 5.43
* 4.95
* 4.56
* 4.42
* 4.27
* 3.18
* 2.79
Wimbledon
* 10.12
* 9.23
* 7.24
* 6.11
* 4.97
* 4.85
* 4.76
* 4.40
* 2.19
Wolverhampton
* 10.79
* 6.99
* 6.29
* 5.85
* 4.55
* 3.19
* 3.16
* 2.96
See also
*
List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
*
Knockout Cup (speedway)
Knockout Cup (sometimes referred to as the KO Cup) is a type of British motorcycle speedway competition, examples of which have run annually since 1929.
Each tier of British Speedway has its own respective Knockout Cup. The current Knockout Cup c ...
References
{{British Speedway League seasons
British League
1975 in British motorsport
1975 in speedway