1981 British League season

The 1981 British League season was the 47th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 17th known as the British League.

Summary

The league comprised 16 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Wolverhampton Wolves had dropped down to the National League.
American Bruce Penhall topped the averages and helped Cradley Heathens win their first title. The Cradley team included Penhall, rising Danish star Erik Gundersen and British internationals Alan Grahame and Phil Collins. The league runner-up Ipswich Witches gained some consolation by winning the Knockout Cup.
The year saw a changing of the guard as a number of young riders broke through as heat leaders. American duo Penhall and Dennis Sigalos led Cradley Heath and Ipswich respectively, Danish trio Gundersen, Hans Nielsen and Tommy Knudsen all qualified for the World Final, and Kenny Carter finished as top Englishman in the World Final and won the League Riders' Championship.

Final league table

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1981 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 43rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.
First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
04/06	Middlesbrough	43-53	Eastbourne
23/05	Berwick	39-57	Wimbledon
08/05	Peterborough	50-46	Halifax
04/05	Newcastle	40-56	Leicester
08/05	Edinburgh	49-47	Sheffield
12/04	Mildenhall	38-58	Poole
31/05	Rye House	34-62	Birmingham
03/05	Boston	47-48	Hull

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
08/07	Poole	49-47	Leicester
24/06	Hull	54-42	Belle Vue
23/06	Leicester	51-45	Poole
20/06	Cradley Heath	60-36	Eastbourne
14/06	Peterborough	38-58	Birmingham
13/06	Belle Vue	53-43	Hull
11/06	Wimbledon	40-56	Reading
08/06	Birmingham	63-33	Peterborough
08/06	Reading	55-41	Wimbledon
07/06	Eastbourne	49-47	Cradley Heath
30/05	Coventry	63-33	Hackney
30/05	Swindon	69-27	Edinburgh
29/05	Hackney	37-59	Coventry
01/05	Kings Lynn	47-49	Ipswich
21/05	Ipswich	53-43	Kings Lynn
12/06	Edinburgh	47-49	Swindon

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
03/09	Swindon	74-22	Leicester
25/08	Leicester	45-51	Swindon
20/08	Ipswich	54-42	Cradley Heath
12/08	Cradley Heath	48-48	Ipswich
03/08	Reading	51-45	Coventry
24/07	Birmingham	52-44	Hull
22/07	Hull	49-47	Birmingham
11/07	Coventry	49-45	Reading

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
28/09	Reading	49-47	Birmingham
18/09	Birmingham	54-42	Reading
18/09	Swindon	46-50	Ipswich
10/09	Ipswich	57-39	Swindon

Final

First leg
Second leg
The Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.

League Cup

The League Cup was inaugurated in 1981 with the 16 teams split into North and South sections comprising 8 teams each that met each other home and away. The winners of each section qualified for the two-legged final with Coventry Bees beating King's Lynn Stars in the final 120–70 on aggregate.
North Group
South Group
North Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	14	12	0	2	24
2	Cradley Heathens	14	11	0	3	22
3	Belle Vue Aces	14	7	0	7	14
4	Sheffield Tigers	14	7	0	7	14
5	Birmingham Brummies	14	6	0	8	12
6	Hull Vikings	14	5	0	9	10
7	Leicester Lions	14	4	0	10	8
8	Halifax Dukes	14	4	0	10	8

South Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	King's Lynn Stars	14	10	1	3	21
2	Reading Racers	14	10	0	4	20
3	Ipswich Witches	14	9	0	5	18
4	Poole Pirates	14	7	0	7	14
5	Swindon Robins	14	7	0	7	14
6	Hackney Hawks	14	5	1	8	11
7	Eastbourne Eagles	14	5	0	9	10
8	Wimbledon Dons	14	2	0	12	4

Final

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
10/10	Coventry	68–28	King's Lynn
11/10	King's Lynn	42–54	Coventry

Riders' Championship

Kenny Carter won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 17 October and sponsored by the Daily Mirror.

Pos.

Rider

Heat Scores

Total

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank.
First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Birmingham	Swindon	39–39, 37–41

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Coventry	33–44, 34–44
Swindon	Cradley	44–33, 32–46

Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate '''84–72'''

London Cup

Hackney won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.
Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	43–36	Hackney
Hackney	46–32	Wimbledon

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue

9.75
9.08
7.33
7.00
6.95
6.02
5.60
5.58
5.51
4.74

Birmingham

9.80
8.64
7.44
6.41
5.89
5.13
5.06
4.93
4.90
2.14

Coventry

9.42
9.41
8.13
6.61
6.58
6.17
5.55
5.46
3.29

Cradley Heath

11.01
9.72
9.11
7.58
5.23
5.00
3.86
0.70

Eastbourne

9.67
9.28
6.96
4.44
4.24
3.92
3.75
2.89
2.80

Hackney

9.58
7.83
7.04
6.28
5.52
5.19
4.94
3.58
3.13
1.06

Halifax

10.17
7.82
7.80
6.38
5.30
5.16
4.65
3.55
2.98
0.92

Hull

9.18
8.67
7.28
5.56
5.36
4.83
4.67
4.62
4.11

Ipswich

8.92
8.63
8.07
6.98
6.62
6.16
6.12

King's Lynn

10.30
9.56
7.34
6.93
4.51
4.13
3.65
3.16
2.96
2.42

Leicester

8.55
7.44
7.03
5.96
5.83
5.76
4.90
4.52
3.33

Poole

9.70
8.42
7.68
7.48
7.41
6.56
6.10
3.09
2.52
1.28
0.14

Reading

10.26
9.66
9.31
5.30
5.00
4.86
4.55
3.82
1.52

Sheffield

8.27
8.02
6.64
5.78
5.69
5.62
5.20
4.54
2.33
1.29

Swindon

10.30
8.55
7.52
7.05
6.88
6.03
4.98
4.70
1.78
0.42

Wimbledon

8.37
8.00
6.92
6.84
5.38
4.38
4.12
2.48
2.30
1.80