1978 British League season

The 1978 Gulf British League season was the fourteenth season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

1978 British League season

League	British League
Season	1978
Champions	Coventry Bees
No. of competitors	19
Knockout Cup	Ipswich Witches
Division/s below	1978 National League

Summary

The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previous season. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fourth season. Coventry Bees won their second title and their first for ten years. Belle Vue Aces were runners-up for the fourth time in five seasons.

League table

Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
Coventry Bees	36	27	0	9	54
Belle Vue Aces	36	26	0	10	52
Hull Vikings	36	22	2	12	46
Wimbledon Dons	36	22	1	13	45
Cradley Heathens	36	21	1	14	43
Ipswich Witches	36	21	1	14	43
Exeter Falcons	36	20	1	15	41
Sheffield Tigers	36	19	2	15	40
Bristol Bulldogs	36	19	0	17	38
Poole Pirates	36	17	3	16	37
Leicester Lions	36	17	0	19	34
Halifax Dukes	36	14	3	19	31
King's Lynn Stars	36	14	2	20	30
Reading Racers	36	13	3	20	29
White City Rebels	36	12	3	21	27
Swindon Robins	36	12	3	21	27
Wolverhampton Wolves	36	11	1	24	23
Birmingham Brummies	36	11	1	24	23
Hackney Hawks	36	10	1	25	21

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

Top Ten Riders

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Malcolm Simmons		Poole Pirates	10.78
2	Ole Olsen		Coventry Bees	10.71
3	Scott Autrey		Exeter Falcons	10.45
4	Peter Collins		Belle Vue Aces	10.44
5	Michael Lee		King's Lynn Stars	10.40
6	Chris Morton		Belle Vue Aces	10.31
7	Dave Jessup		Reading Racers	10.24
8	Billy Sanders		Ipswich Witches	10.23
9	Phil Crump		Bristol Bulldogs	9.99
10	Ivan Mauger		Hull Vikings	9.91

British League Knockout Cup

The 1978 British League Knockout Cup was the 40th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.[2]

First Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
29/04	Kings Lynn	40-38	Hull
26/04	Hull	39-39	Kings Lynn
10/04	Exeter	44-34	Coventry
08/04	Coventry	44-34	Exeter
17/04	Birmingham	37-41	Poole
12/04	Poole	48-30	Birmingham
15/06	Coventry	37.5-40.5	Exeter
01/06	Exeter	48-30	Coventry

Second Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
19/07	Poole	49-29	Swindon
15/07	Swindon	37-41	Poole
09/06	Hackney	51-26	Kings Lynn
03/06	Kings Lynn	31-46	Hackney
06/07	Sheffield	45-33	Exeter#
	Exeter	52-26	Sheffield
10/06	Swindon	36-42	Poole
21/06	Poole	36-42	Swindon
03/06	Belle Vue	44-34	Wimbledon
08/06	Wimbledon	41-37	Belle Vue
23/06	Bristol	35-43	Leicester
06/06	Leicester	39-39	Bristol
10/06	Cradley Heath	38-40	Reading
05/06	Reading	37-41	Cradley Heath
13/06	White City	52-26	Halifax
10/06	Halifax	43-34	White City
09/06	Wolverhampton	40-38	Ipswich
08/06	Ipswich	43-34	Wolverhampton

Quarter Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
09/08	White City	23-54	Ipswich
05/08	Belle Vue	44-34	Poole
04/08	Poole	34-43	Belle Vue
29/07	Cradley Heath	48-30	Leicester
27/07	Ipswich	52-26	White City
21/07	Hackney	34-44	Exeter
11/07	Leicester	39-39	Cradley Heath
17/07	Exeter	58-20	Hackney

Semi Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
14/09	Ipswich	44-34	Cradley Heath
13/09	Cradley Heath	40-38	Ipswich
26/08	Belle Vue	57-21	Exeter
25/08	Exeter	51-27	Belle Vue

Final

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
19/10	Ipswich	53-25	Belle Vue
14/10	Belle Vue	39-39	Ipswich

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "1978 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.

• British League Seasons