1985 British League season

The 1985 British League season was the 51st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 21st known as the British League.

Team changes

The league was cut drastically from 16 teams to 11. This meant the League Cup was expanded to be a competition with more fixtures than the British League. Both competitions would now see all teams meet home and away with only the League Cup having semi-finals and a final. Bonus points were introduced in both competitions awarded to the team that won each fixture on aggregate, with a run-off as a tie-breaker if the scores are level.
Wimbledon Dons dropped to the National league, this was the first time that Wimbledon would not compete in the top tier of speedway. They were joined in the National League by Poole Pirates, who took over Weymouth Wildcats to become Poole Wildcats, Eastbourne Eagles and Exeter Falcons. Newcastle Diamonds had no speedway in 1985 but they would return to the National League in 1986. There were no new entrants to the British League.

Summary

Oxford Cheetahs won the league and cup double. The Oxford team, financed by the Oxford Stadium owners Northern Sports and headed by David Hawkins was the most expensive team assembled in the history of the league. The team included Danish international Hans Nielsen in 1984. Nielsen had topped the previous season's averages on Oxford's return to the league and was imperious during 1985, finishing with an exceptional average, way ahead of any other rider. The team eased to the league title by a clear ten points, with Simon Wigg, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox, Jens Rasmussen and Melvyn Taylor all riding over 50 matches each during the season.
Defending champions Ipswich Witches finished mid-table which was not surprising taking into account that just three matches into the season their leading rider Billy Sanders committed suicide on 23 April. The news shocked the club and the wider speedway world at the time.

Final table

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1985 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 47th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Oxford Cheetahs were the winners.
First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
19/07	Oxford	43-35	Coventry
29/06	Swindon	36-42	Ipswich
24/06	Wolverhampton	49-29	Halifax
15/06	Coventry	35-43	Oxford
30/05	Ipswich	45-33	Swindon
25/05	Halifax	48-30	Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
23/09	Reading	43-34	Sheffield
22/08	Sheffield	39-39	Reading
29/08	Ipswich	43-34	Wolverhampton
19/08	Wolverhampton	39-39	Ipswich
31/07	Oxford	47-31	Belle Vue
20/07	Belle Vue	40-38	Oxford
11/07	Sheffield	46-32	Reading
08/07	Reading	46-32	Sheffield
07/07	Cradley Heath	53-25	Kings Lynn
06/07	Kings Lynn	39-39	Cradley Heath

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
22/10	Reading	38-40	Oxford
16/10	Oxford	41-36	Reading
11/09	Cradley Heath	36-42	Ipswich
19/09	Ipswich	43-35	Cradley Heath

Final
First leg
Second leg
Oxford Cheetahs were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-76.

League Cup

The League Cup was contested as a league format. Coventry Bees won the final over two legs defeating Oxford Cheetahs 86–70 on aggregrate.
Qualifying table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Cradley Heathens	20	13	1	6	34
2	Oxford Cheetahs	20	11	2	7	32
3	Ipswich Witches	20	12	1	7	32
4	Coventry Bees	20	10	3	7	30
5	Wolverhampton Wolves	20	10	1	9	27
6	Swindon Robins	20	11	0	9	26
7	Belle Vue Aces	20	9	2	9	24
8	Reading Racers	20	8	2	10	21
9	Halifax Dukes	20	8	0	12	20
10	Sheffield Tigers	20	4	1	15	19
11	King's Lynn Stars	20	4	1	15	10

Fixtures and results

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
15/08	Ipswich	37–41	Oxford
25/09	Cradley Heath	40–38	Coventry
27/09	Oxford	39–39	Ipswich
02/10	Coventry	46–32	Cradley Heath

Final
First leg
'''Second leg'''

Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, the final was held at Hyde Road on 20 October.

Pos.

Rider

Heat Scores

Total

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Monmore Green Stadium on 30 June and was won by Oxford.

Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Oxford	35	Nielsen 23, Wigg 12
2	Reading	34	Davis 20, Shirra 14
3	Cradley	33	Gundersen 18, Collins P 15
4	Sheffield	26	Moran S 20, Collins N 6
5	Belle Vue	23	Morton 17, Collins P 6
6	Coventry	17	Tatum 11, Knudsen 6
7	Swindon	15	Petersen 15, Simmons 0

Midland Cup

Oxford won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams.
First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Wolverhampton	Oxford	32–46, 31–47
Coventry	Reading	38–40, 34–44

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Cradley	Reading	44–34, 37–41
Oxford	Swindon	42–36, 39–39

Final
First leg
Second leg
Oxford won on aggregate '''85–71'''

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

9.77
8.92
7.59
6.16
5.83
4.90
4.36
3.33
1.33
1.10

Coventry

10.13
9.09
6.68
6.12
5.93
5.76
4.11
3.41

Cradley Heath

10.38
7.93
7.91
7.37
6.21
5.41
4.26
1.23
1.20

Halifax

10.13
7.26
6.62
6.17
5.41
5.40
5.16
4.19

Ipswich

9.33
9.12
8.12
6.14
5.47
5.16
5.10
3.07
2.38

King's Lynn

7.80
7.20
6.19
6.12
5.91
5.76
4.84
4.54

Oxford

11.35
9.10
7.18
6.07
6.07
4.87
4.78
2.22

Reading

9.43
9.01
6.79
6.33
6.33
5.59
5.57
4.72
4.67
2.05

Sheffield

10.39
7.33
6.91
6.81
6.33
5.85
5.50
4.22
3.34

Swindon

9.35
8.92
7.90
6.54
6.31
5.54
5.40
5.02
3.69
1.71

Wolverhampton

9.80
7.72
7.69
7.42
4.97
4.89
4.79
3.88
2.00