The 1984 British League season was the 50th 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 and the 20th known as the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed the ...

Team changes

Three teams dropped out and four teams replaced them. Midland's clubs

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Lea ...

and

Leicester Lions Leicester Lions are a speedway team which originally operated from 1968 until 1983.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. The club returned to speedway for the 2011 Premier League season, moving up to the Elite League ...

both dropped out and

Hackney Hawks Hackney Hawks speedway opened in 1963 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London and operated until 1983. The team replaced the Hackney Wick Wolves who had raced at the stadium from 1935 to 1939. The Hawks were then themselves replaced by the ...

dropped to the National League, becoming the

Hackney Kestrels The Hackney Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1984, when the Crayford Kestrels transferred the promotion to Hackney, until their closure in 1990. History During their first season in the 1984 National League season the team fi ...

after taking over from the

Crayford Kestrels The Crayford Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1968 until their closure in 1983. They were based at Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium in Crayford. History Crayford were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968 and f ...

. The new teams to the league were

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964, 1985, 1986, 1989 and ...

Newcastle Diamonds Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the SGB Championship, every Sunday night during the season (March–October) from their home at the Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium, previously known as Broug ...

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History In 1947, the Falcons competed in a league for the first time when they finished fourth ...

(all from the National League) and the returning

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 2008 ...

who did not ride in 1982 and 1983.

Summary

Oxford Cheetahs were financed by David Hawkins of Northern Sports. They bought Hans Nielsen from Birmingham for a record £30,000,

Simon Wigg Simon Antony Wigg (15 October 1960 – 15 November 2000) was an English speedway, grasstrack and longtrack rider who won five World Long Track Championships and finished runner-up in the Speedway World Championship in 1989.Rogers, G.(2005) ...

for £25,000 from Cradley Heath,

Marvyn Cox Marvyn Cox (born 11 July 1964 in Whitstable, Kent) is a former Speedway rider . Cox was twice a winner of the German Individual Championship in 1993 and 1995, when he raced under a German licence. Domestic career In 1984 he was signed by Oxford ...

for £15,000 from Rye House,

Melvyn Taylor Melvyn Roy Taylor (born 26 April 1961) is a former speedway rider from England. Speedway career Taylor started his career at Mildenhall Fen Tigers The Mildenhall Fen Tigers are a British speedway team, founded in 1975 and currently riding ...

for £12,000 from King's Lynn and Jens Rasmussen. Defending champions Cradley Heath had a poor season after losing Wigg to Oxford and loaning

Jan O. Pedersen Jan Osvald Pedersen (born 9 November 1962 in Middelfart, Denmark) is a former Speedway rider who became Speedway World Champion in 1991 after finishing runner-up in 1986 and in third place in 1988 behind fellow Danes Erik ...

to Sheffield Tigers in the National League. The 50th season of British speedway saw

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 ra ...

win the league and cup double. The Suffolk team had a great season despite losing their leading rider

Dennis Sigalos Arthur Dennis Sigalos (born August 16, 1959) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway, speedway rider. Career Born in Garden Grove, California, Sigalos was a rising star in speedway racing during the late 1970s. Sigalos served no ...

who rode for

during the season. Australian

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 wa ...

remained one of the teams main scorers and he was supported by strong season scoring from American showman John Cook, Finn

Kai Niemi Kai Juhani Niemi (born 15 September 1955 in Pori, Finland) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who represented the Finland national speedway team. Career He reached four World Championship finals, finishing a career best fourth i ...

and the English international pair of

Jeremy Doncaster Jeremy Doncaster (born 16 June 1961 in Grimsby, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who won the World Team Cup in 1989, top scoring for Great Britain with 13 points. He also finished in third place in the 1989 World F ...

and Richard Knight.

Final table

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1984

Speedway Star 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 ...

British League Knockout Cup was the 46th 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.

were the winners.

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Second leg Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.

League Cup

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by

Cradley Heath Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

beating

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British motorcycle speedway, speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, League championship 13 times. They currently compete ...

in the final 80-76 on aggregate. South Group North Group Semi-finals Final

Riders' Championship

Chris Morton Christopher John Morton, MBE (born 22 July 1956) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. He rode bikes from a young age at the farm of Peter Collins' parents. Brief career summary Born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, Morton made his debut for Ellesme ...

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 ...

, held at Hyde Road on 20 October. *ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Pairs

The

British League Pairs Championship The British League Pairs Championship was a speedway contest between the top two riders from each club competing in the British League in the UK, or the top division thereof when it had multiple divisions. The meetings comprised a competition b ...

was held at

Monmore Green Stadium Monmore Green Stadium is a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located in Wolverhampton. The stadium has private suites, a restaurant and a number of bars. The venue is owned and operated by the Ladbrokes Coral group. Speedway Motorcycle sp ...

on 11 September and was won by Belle Vue. Semi finals *Belle Vue (Collins & Morton) beat Coventry (Guglielmi & Knudsen) *Reading (Shirra & Hunt) beat Sheffield (Moran & Collins N) Final *Belle Vue beat Reading 5-4

Leading final averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue * 10.31 * 9.10 * 7.75 * 7.25 * 7.14 * 6.66 * 6.39 * 2.00 Coventry * 7.87 * 7.79 * 6.89 * 6.64 * 6.18 * 5.31 * 5.19 * 2.62 Cradley Heath * 9.54 * 8.65 * 8.40 * 7.87 * 7.27 * 5.08 * 1.96 * 1.49 Eastbourne * 9.42 * 8.07 * 8.05 * 6.76 * 6.01 * 4.91 * 4.37 * 4.18 * 4.00 * 3.81 Exeter * 8.08 * 6.90 * 6.01 * 5.29 * 5.27 * 5.05 * 4.98 * 4.15 * 2.59 * 2.08 * 2.00 * 1.00 Halifax * 9.21 * 7.44 * 6.08 * 5.16 * 4.95 * 4.64 * 4.58 * 3.52 Ipswich * 9.69 * 8.83 * 8.16 * 7.98 *7.43 * 5.29 * 4.97 * 3.53 King's Lynn * 8.29 * 7.42 * 6.72 * 6.61 * 6.38 * 6.05 * 4.00 Newcastle * 8.04 * 7.01 * 6.68 * 5.84 * 5.18 * 4.82 * 4.62 * 4.13 * 3.92 Oxford * 10.76 * 9.69 * 6.29 * 6.06 * 5.57 * 4.59 * 4.48 * 4.15 * 2.00 * 1.93 Poole * 9.24 * 6.71 * 6.32 * 6.15 * 5.85 * 5.77 * 5.62 * 3.54 Reading * 10.05 * 9.26 * 6.52 * 5.75 * 5.43 * 5.41 * 4.87 Sheffield * 9.85 * 8.03 * 7.83 * 6.00 * 6.00 * 5.18 * 4.77 * 3.59 * 2.94 Swindon * 9.94 * 8.33 * 6.15 * 5.73 * 5.33 * 5.01 * 4.95 * 4.65 * 3.78 Wimbledon * 8.38 * 8.38 * 7.18 * 6.04 * 5.82 * 5.69 * 5.45 * 2.95 Wolverhampton * 9.87 * 8.45 * 7.47 * 7.23 * 4.61 * 4.52 * 4.51 * 3.69 * 3.23 *S 3.00 * 2.90

References

{{British Speedway League seasons British League 1984 in British motorsport 1984 in speedway