1967 British League season

1967 British League season
League	British League
Season	1967
No. of competitors	19
Champions	Swindon Robins
Knockout Cup	Coventry Bees
Individual	Barry Briggs
London Cup	West Ham Hammers
Midland Cup	Swindon Robins
Highest average	Barry Briggs
	← 1966; 1968 →;

The 1967 British League season was the 33rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the third season known as the British League.^[1]^[2]

Summary

The league was made up of the same 19 teams that competed in the previous year.^[3] Swindon Robins led by the world champion Barry Briggs won their first top tier league title but were pushed all the way by Coventry Bees and West Ham Hammers. Swindon finished with four riders with averages over eight, Briggs topped the entire league with 11.05 but the contributions from Martin Ashby (8.83), Bob Kilby (8.61) and Mike Broadbank (8.55) were pivotal in the Swindon's success.^[4] Coventry Bees gained some consolation for finishing runner-up two seasons running by winning the Knockout Cup.

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away	BV	COV	CH	ED	EX	GLA	HAC	HAL	KL	LE	ND	NW	OX	PP	SHE	SWI	WH	WIM	WOL
Belle Vue Aces		43–35	48–30	35–43	43–35	47–31	46–31	45–33	46–32	34–44	47–31	44–32	39–38	40–38	37–41	43–35	34–43	40–38	45–33
Coventry Bees	44–31		56–22	48–30	46–32	56–22	51–27	56–22	57–21	44–34	54–24	41–36	57–21	46–32	54–24	37–41	47–31	44–34	44–33
Cradley Heathens	54–24	36–41		34–44	47–30	37–41	44–34	36–42	39–39	45–33	37–41	35–43	38–39	40–37	42–36	46–31	42–35	46–32	41–37
Edinburgh Monarchs	56–22	49–29	59–19		55–23	38–40	45–33	45–33	49–28	46–32	47–31	50–28	47–31	45–32	50–28	50–28	39–39	46–31	45–33
Exeter Falcons	41–36	36–42	54–24	51–27		50–28	49–29	43–35	50–28	46–32	51–27	38–40	50–28	47–31	61–17	48–30	42–36	42–36	44–34
Glasgow Tigers	36–41	42–35	46–32	41–37	42–34		48–30	43–35	48–30	50–28	36–42	43–34	44–34	39–39	49–29	35–43	32–46	40–38	57–21
Hackney Hawks	45–33	42–36	48–30	42–35	50–28	39–39		43–35	54–24	42–36	46–31	44–34	40–38	44–34	49–29	45–33	41–37	57–21	53–25
Halifax Dukes	47–31	39–39	38–39	42–36	49–29	45–33	43–35		61–17	43–35	54–24	60–18	52–26	52–26	46–32	42–36	48–29	52–26	44–34
King's Lynn Stars	53–24	47–31	47–31	36–42	48–29	42–35	35–43	45–33		55–23	43–35	35–42	44–34	44–34	36–42	46–32	34–44	43–35	38–40
Long Eaton Archers	42–36	32–46	50–28	40–38	52–26	38–40	44–34	40–38	40–38		40–38	41–36	45–33	40–38	47–31	41–37	39–39	39–39	39–39
Newcastle Diamonds	43–35	51–27	40–38	45–32	45–33	56–22	58–20	34–44	43–35	40–38		47–31	44–33	40–38	49–29	32–46	54–24	46–32	40–38
Newport Wasps	42–36	39–39	55–22	38–40	43–35	44–34	56–22	41–37	49–29	50–28	45–33		50–28	37–41	53–25	38–40	41–37	46–32	52–26
Oxford Cheetahs	44–34	38–39	51–27	45–33	47.5–30.5	41–36	55–23	55–23	47–31	46–32	49–29	56–22		39–39	44–34	46–32	43–34	36–42	40–38
Poole Pirates	38–40	48–30	45–33	39–39	42–36	48–30	43–34	47–31	57–21	57–21	45–33	45–33	52–25		48–30	48–30	46–31	40–38	41–37
Sheffield Tigers	43.5–34.5	41–37	48–27	59–19	53–25	44–34	46–32	43–35	45–33	47–31	41–37	47–31	42–36	41–37		43–35	33–45	39–39	40–37
Swindon Robins	51–27	47–31	44–33	46–32	56–22	52–26	55–23	52–26	44–34	47–31	53–24	52–26	53–25	42–35	51–27		50–28	47–31	45–33
West Ham Hammers	53–25	48–30	52–26	51–27	48–30	51–27	37–40	46–32	42–36	45–33	49–28	60–18	52–26	44–34	54–24	44–34		43–35	43–35
Wimbledon Dons	41–37	35–42	43–35	46–32	45–33	43–34	42–36	44–33	42–36	42–35	43–35	48–29	43–35	42–36	47–31	38–39	39–39		52–26
Wolverhampton Wolves	47–31	45–33	51–27	40–38	47–31	58–20	38–39	46–32	51–27	48–27	42–36	43–35	49–28	45–32	49–29	42–35	43–35	40–38

Source: ^[5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final table

		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Swindon Robins	36	24	0	12	1536	1266	48
2	Coventry Bees	36	22	2	12	1524	1275	46
3	West Ham Hammers	36	21	3	12	1514	1288	45
4	Edinburgh Monarchs	36	20	2	14	1485	1318	42
5	Hackney Hawks	36	20	1	15	1402	1400	41
6	Poole Pirates	36	17	3	16	1462	1339	37
7	Halifax Dukes	36	18	1	17	1456	1347	37
8	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	18	1	17	1423	1376	37
9	Sheffield Tigers	36	18	1	17	1333.5	1470.5	37
10	Newcastle Diamonds	36	18	0	18	1386	1417	36
11	Wimbledon Dons	36	16	3	17	1392	1409	35
12	Newport Wasps	36	17	1	18	1387	1413	35
13	Glasgow Tigers	36	16	2	18	1343	1457	34
14	Oxford Cheetahs	36	16	1	19	1368.5	1432.5	33
15	Exeter Falcons	36	16	0	20	1384.5	1418.5	32
16	Belle Vue Aces	36	16	0	20	1333.5	1463.5	32
17	Long Eaton Archers	36	14	3	19	1322	1481	31
18	Cradley Heath Heathens	36	12	0	24	1262	1533	24
19	King's Lynn Stars	36	11	0	25	1297	1505	22

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

Top Ten Riders (League averages)

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Barry Briggs	Swindon	11.05
2	Charlie Monk	Glasgow	10.72
3	Nigel Boocock	Coventry	10.43
4	Ray Wilson	Long Eaton	10.43
5	Eric Boocock	Halifax	10.38
6	Sverre Harrfeldt	West Ham	10.30
7	Torbjörn Harrysson	Newport	10.05
8	Gote Nordin	Poole	10.00
9	Bengt Jansson	Hackney	9.86
10	Terry Betts	King's Lynn	9.70

Knockout Cup

The cup was won by Coventry Bees.^[6]

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the third consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 21 October.^[7]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Barry Briggs	3 3 3 3 3	15
2	Nigel Boocock	2 3 3 3 3	14
3	Ray Wilson	3 3 3 2 1	12
4	Torbjörn Harrysson	2 0 3 3 2	10
5	Eric Boocock	3 3 2 2 0	10
6	Ivan Mauger	1 2 2 3 2	10
7	Olle Nygren	1 2 2 1 3	9
8	Bengt Jansson	3 1 0 1 3	8
9	Göte Nordin	1 1 2 2 0	6
10	Ove Fundin	2 0 0 2 2	6
11	Charlie Monk	2 0 1 1 2	6
12	Jim Airey	ef 2 1 1 1	5
13	Ken McKinlay	0 2 1 0 1	4
14	Terry Betts	1 1 1 0 1	4
15	Wayne Briggs	0 1 0 r n	1
16	Roy Trigg	0 0 0 0 0	0
17	Brian Brett (res)	0 - - - -	0

ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Barry Briggs	Swindon	11.05
2	Nigel Boocock	Coventry	10.52
3	Charlie Monk	Glasgow	10.50
4	Ray Wilson	Long Eaton	10.43
5	Eric Boocock	Halifax	10.29
6	Sverre Harrfeldt	West Ham	10.25
7	Torbjörn Harrysson	Newport	10.05
8	Göte Nordin	Poole	9.99
9	Bengt Jansson	Hackney	9.87
10	Terry Betts	King's Lynn	9.74
11	Ove Fundin	Belle Vue	9.65
12	Arne Pander	Oxford	9.57
13	Ken McKinlay	West Ham	9.53
14	Olle Nygren	Wimbledon	9.52
15	Roy Trigg	Oxford	9.37
16	Ivan Mauger	Newcastle	9.32
17	Hasse Holmqvist	Wolverhampton	9.29
18	Bernt Persson	Edinburgh	9.19
19	Dave Younghusband	Halifax	9.12
20	Jim Airey	Wolverhampton	9.08

London Cup

West Ham won the three team London Cup for the third consecutive year.^[8]

Pos	Team	P	W	L	F	A	Pts
1	West Ham Hammers	4	4	0	230	154	8
2	Wimbledon Dons	4	1	3	181	202	24
3	Hackney Hawks	4	1	3	164	219	2

Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	62–33	Hackney
Hackney	42–54	West Ham
West Ham	60–36	Wimbledon
Wimbledon	37–59	West Ham
Hackney	50–46	Wimbledon
West Ham	57–39	Hackney

Midland Cup

Swindon won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams.^[9]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Long Eaton	Oxford	40–37, 35–43
Cradley	Wolverhampton	40–38, 29–49

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Swindon	Oxford	48–30, 40–38
Wolverhampton	Coventry	38–40, 29–49

Final

First leg

27 September 1967

Swindon Barry Briggs 12 Mike Broadbank 12 Martin Ashby 11 Mike Keen 5 Bob Kilby 5 Frank Shuter 3 Pete Munday 3	51–27	Coventry Nigel Boocock 11 Rick France 5 Les Owen 5 Ron Mountford 4 Col Cottrell 1 Roger Hill 1 Clive Hitch 0

Abbey Stadium

Second leg

4 October 1967

Coventry Nigel Boocock 11 Les Owen 9 Rick France 8 Col Cottrell 7 Roger Hill 6 Tom Ridley 0 Clive Hitch 0	41–37	Swindon Barry Briggs 14 Martin Ashby 8 Mike Broadbank 6 Bob Kilby 4 Pete Munday 2 Mike Keen 2 Frank Shuter 1

Brandon Stadium

Swindon won on aggregate 88–68

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Halifax

King's Lynn

Terry Betts 9.74
David Crane 7.95
Clive Featherby 6.27
Peter Moore 6.05
Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 5.72
Ted Laessing 4.39
Stan Stevens 4.00
John Mills 3.39
John Poyser 2.73
Doug White 2.73

Long Eaton

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

Hasse Holmqvist 9.29
Jim Airey 9.08
Peter Vandenberg 8.21
Pete Jarman 7.92
James Bond 5.56
Dave Hemus 5.04
Brian Maxted 4.72
Mick Handley 1.95

References

^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
^ "1967 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
^ "Coventry Speedway 1967 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
^ "Briggs wins title for third time". Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 22 October 1967. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "West Ham Hammers 1967" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
^ "Speedway Trophy won by Swindon". Bristol Evening Post. 5 October 1967. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.