The 1980 British League season was the 46th season of the top tier of

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the 16th season known as the British League.

Summary

The league comprised 17 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Exeter Falcons had dropped down to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. Hackney Hawks underwent a dramatic transformation from being the bottom side in 1979 to title contenders in 1980, but their challenge faded in the last few weeks and Reading Racers were crowned champions for the second time. Reading's success came down to three strong heat leaders, Swedish champion Jan Andersson, their new American signing

Bobby Schwartz Robert Benjamin 'Bobby' Schwartz (born August 10, 1956) is an American professional speedway rider. He became World Pairs Champion with Bruce Penhall in 1981 and Dennis Sigalos in 1982. Career Born in Santa Barbara, California, Schwartz was in ...

and England international John Davis. All three produced season averages around the 10 mark, which enabled the team to constantly pick up victories. Cradley Heathens successfully retained their Knockout Cup crown overcoming a huge first leg deficit in the final.

Final table

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

British League Knockout Cup

The 1980 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 42nd edition of the

Knockout Cup A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Second leg Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-100.

Final leading averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue * 10.67 * 10.09 * 7.69 * 6.33 * 6.24 * 5.35 * 5.17 * 4.91 * 4.25 * 4.22 Birmingham * 8.57 * 8.24 * 7.39 * 6.22 * 6.09 * 5.97 * 5.93 * 5.56 * 3.70 * 2.70 Coventry * 9.52 * 8.54 * 8.10 * 6.83 * 6.27 * 5.83 * 5.61 * 4.00 Cradley Heath * 10.39 * 8.32 * 8.17 * 8.13 * 8.09 * 5.32 * 5.16 * 4.84 * 4.23 * 4.05 * 1.78 * 0.73 Eastbourne * 9.71 * 8.35 * 6.28 * 6.12 * 5.57 * 4.87 * 4.64 * 4.24 * 3.87 * 3.61 * 1.81 Hackney * 10.27 * 8.12 * 7.76 * 5.49 * 5.29 * 5.19 * 4.94 * 4.24 Halifax * 8.92 * 7.92 * 6.54 * 6.06 * 5.80 * 5.39 * 3.50 * 2.86 Hull * 9.32 * 9.00 * 7.57 * 6.68 * 6.47 * 5.17 * 4.84 * 4.67 * 4.65 * 4.17 Ipswich * 9.09 * 8.80 * 8.34 * 7.20 * 6.37 * 5.82 * 5.77 * 5.33 * 4.80 * 4.72 King's Lynn * 10.39 * 10.14 * 8.95 * 6.52 * 5.22 * 4.26 * 3.82 Leicester * 8.93 * 7.69 * 7.42 * 6.38 * 6.20 * 5.91 * 5.60 * 5.23 Poole * 9.40 * 9.11 * 7.26 * 6.96 * 6.76 * 4.95 * 4.77 * 4.00 * 1.11 Reading * 10.04 * 10.00 * 9.59 * 7.37 * 5.87 * 5.30 * 4.98 * 1.80 Sheffield * 8.00 * 7.11 * 6.37 * 6.20 * 5.09 * 5.04 * 4.86 * 4.37 * 3.67 * 3.23 Swindon * 9.92 * 9.59 * 7.41 * 7.24 * 6.53 * 5.54 * 5.42 * 5.31 * 5.00 * 2.72 * 2.00 Wimbledon * 9.12 * 8.22 * 8.08 * 6.36 * 5.82 * 5.08 * 3.06 * 2.46 * 2.24 Wolverhampton * 10.69 * 7.08 * 7.01 * 5.85 * 5.73 * 5.36 * 5.33 * 5.07 * 3.93 * 3.68 * 2.62

References

{{British Speedway League seasons British League 1980 in British motorsport 1980 in speedway