A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| League | British League |
|---|---|
| No. of competitors | 18 |
| Champions | Belle Vue Aces |
| Knockout Cup | Belle Vue Aces |
| Individual | Ole Olsen |
| Midland Cup | Leicester Lions |
| Highest average | Ole Olsen |
| Division/s below | British League (Div 2) |
The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League.[1]
Summary
Ipswich Witches moved up from Division Two but London lost two clubs, when the Wembley Lions closed and West Ham Hammers withrew during the early part of the season, reducing the league to eighteen teams.[2]
Belle Vue Aces won their third consecutive title. Their team was littered with great riders including Ivan Mauger, Sören Sjösten and the young Peter Collins; they were backed up by the consistency of Chris Pusey, Eric Broadbelt, Alan Wilkinson and Ken Eyre, which led to a comfortable title win by a clear 12 points.[3][4]
Oxford Cheetahs had a bizarre season when they were rebranded as Oxford Rebels following a takeover by a new consortium, which included former riders Bob Dugard and Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image. To make matters worse they signed a new Norwegian rider Svein Kaasa, who was quickly transferred to Glasgow following poor results. He died riding for Glasgow towards the end of the season (on 29 September) at Hampden Park. Kasa clipped Martin Ashby's bike in a race and hit the wooden fence receiving fatal injuries.[5][6]
Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 34 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 63 |
| 2 | Reading Racers | 34 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 51 |
| 3 | King's Lynn Stars | 34 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 51 |
| 4 | Sheffield Tigers | 34 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 49 |
| 5 | Leicester Lions | 34 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 39 |
| 6 | Ipswich Witches | 34 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 35 |
| 7 | Poole Pirates | 34 | 15 | 2 | 17 | 32 |
| 8 | Hackney Hawks | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 32 |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 30 |
| 10 | Coventry Bees | 34 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 28 |
| 11 | Exeter Falcons | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 28 |
| 12 | Halifax Dukes | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 28 |
| 13 | Wimbledon Dons | 34 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 26 |
| 14 | Glasgow Tigers | 34 | 12 | 2 | 20 | 25 |
| 15 | Swindon Robins | 34 | 12 | 1 | 21 | 25 |
| 16 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 34 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 25 |
| 17 | Oxford Rebels | 34 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 20 |
| 18 | Newport Wasps | 34 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 18 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Riders (League Averages)
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
| 1 | Ivan Mauger | 
|
Belle Vue | 11.42 |
| 2 | Ole Olsen | 
|
Wolverhampton | 11.36 |
| 3 | Eric Boocock | 
|
Halifax | 10.53 |
| 4 | Anders Michanek | 
|
Reading | 10.51 |
| 5 | Bernt Persson |
|
Cradley Heath | 10.50 |
| 6 | Terry Betts |
|
King's Lynn | 10.46 |
| 7 | Barry Briggs |
|
Swindon | 10.38 |
| 8 | Ronnie Moore |
|
Wimbledon | 10.31 |
| 9 | Ray Wilson |
|
Leicester | 10.16 |
| 10 | Martin Ashby |
|
Swindon | 10.07 |
British League Knockout Cup
The 1972 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners.[7]
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/05 | Ipswich | 46-32 | Sheffield |
| 08/05 | Exeter | 48-30 | Swindon |
| 06/05 | Halifax | 42-36 | Leicester |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/07 | Exeter | 50-28 | Wimbledon |
| 26/06 | Hackney | 52-26 | Cradley Heath |
| 21/06 | Poole | 52-26 | Halifax |
| 16/06 | Newport | 42-36 | Coventry |
| 16/06 | Wolverhampton | 38-40 | Reading |
| 15/06 | Oxford | 35-42 | Kings Lynn |
| 10/06 | Cradley Heath | 39-39 | Hackney |
| 03/06 | Belle Vue | 41-37 | Glasgow |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/08 | Ipswich | 38-40 | Reading |
| 05/08 | Belle Vue | 58-20 | Newport |
| 05/08 | Kings Lynn | 56-22 | Exeter |
| 04/08 | Hackney | 45-33 | Poole |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27/09 | Kings Lynn | 38-40 | Belle Vue |
| 22/09 | Hackney | 40-38 | Reading |
Final
First leg
| Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Barry Thomas 9 Geoff Maloney 7 Dave Kennett 6 Eddie Reeves 4 Laurie Etheridge 2 Hugh Saunders 0 | 40 - 37 | Belle Vue Aces Alan Wilkinson 11 Ivan Mauger 10 Peter Collins 6 Sören Sjösten 6 Chris Pusey 3 Eric Broadbelt 1 Ken Eyre 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Second leg
| Belle Vue Aces Sören Sjösten 10 Chris Pusey 9 Ivan Mauger 8 Ken Eyre 7 Peter Collins 5 Alan Wilkinson 4 Eric Broadbelt 2 | 45 - 33 | Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Geoff Maloney 10 Barry Thomas 6 Dave Kennett 3 Hugh Saunders 2 Eddie Reeves 0 Laurie Etheridge 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82-73.
Riders' Championship
Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 21 October.[9]
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole Olsen |
3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Martin Ashby |
2 3 3 3 3 | 14 |
| 3 | Ronnie Moore |
3 3 2 3 2 | 13 |
| 4 | John Louis |
1 1 3 3 3 | 11 |
| 5 | Anders Michanek |
3 2 1 2 1 | 9 |
| 6 | Terry Betts |
2 2 2 1 2 | 9 |
| 7 | Ivan Mauger |
3 3 ef ef 2 | 8 |
| 8 |  Garry Middleton |
2 2 2 2 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Christer Löfqvist |
2 0 1 1 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Bernt Persson |
ef 2 3 ex 1 | 6 |
| 11 | Ray Wilson |
0 1 2 2 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Bengt Jansson |
1 0 1 1 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Bob Kilby |
1 0 0 0 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Eric Boocock |
0 1 1 0 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Nigel Boocock |
1 ef 0 1 0 | 2 |
| 16 |  Jim McMillan (res) |
2 | 2 |
| 17 | Arnie Haley |
0 1 0 0 0 | 1 |
- ef=engine failure, f=fell, ex=excluded