Speedway doesn’t really lend itself to David and Goliath cup classics in the same way as football does. However Doug Nicolson fondly remembers some inter division cup clashes from yester year.

Cup Formats

Speedway’s equivalent of football’s FA Cup, was called the “Inter League KO Cup” and was run from 1975 to 1981. Just like football, all ties were decided on one leg, although the final was run on a home and away basis. Additionally, National League sides were given home advantage in the first round. Thereafter it was strictly luck of the draw. In 1981, ties from the second round onwards were contested on a home and away aggregate.

However, where there was a rare interdivisional clash, the British League side complained

was but were characterised by huge home wins in front of desperately low crowds for the British League team and the competition was discontinued .The BSPA Cup revived interdivisional contests in 1991, and adopted a straight draw but, following some onesided results, the home advantage rule was reinstated for the early rounds. Really it was just more of the same and it lasted just two seasons before it too was consigned to the bin. While the competition

 

Coatbridge 38 Halifax 40 1977

With both tracks being similar in shape and profile, there seemed to be little home advantage and this tie was expected to be a banker way win, in football pools speak. However the Tigers were well up for it and their fans were looking forward to the first visit of a British League side in an official fixture for four years.

In a tense opening heat Halifax’s Mike Lohmann crashed, sustaining a collar bone injury which ruled him out of the meeting. Brian Collins then broke the tapes in the rerun but his replacement Jim Gallacher headed home Graham Plant to give the Tigers a heat advantage. Perhaps crucially, the Dukes took maximum points in heat two contested by the teams reserves, and with Lohmann out for the night Godal and Finch both had five rides for the visitors.

Thereafter the lead change hands three times. A Henny Kroeze exclusion for tape breaking in heat nine allowed Mick McKeon and Derek Richardson to take a 5-1 to bring the scores level. This was maintained through to the start of the last race, which was more like a cycle speedway first bend with riders attempting to move an opponent out to bring their partner through. When the dust settled Dukes Ian Cartwright had edged out Mick McKeon while his partner Graham Plant kept Grahame Dawson out for the vital third place.

Cloth badges of the time proclaimed that “Happiness is 40-38” and from the Halifax perspective this was certainly true. Halifax left Coatbridge with a healthy respect for their hosts and also noted down the name of Mick McKeon as one for the future.

Berwick 34 V Bristol 41 

14th May 1977

Bristol hit the Bandits hard in the early heats and really the outcome of this meeting was decided by heat six by which time the Bulldogs were leading 25-11. Thereafter the visitors felt the effect of Steve Gresham’s non arrival which was to be covered by reserves Danny Kennedy and Tom Leadbetter, before the former crashed with Bandits Willie Templeton. Neither rider took any further part in the meeting, ,leaving the Bulldogs only tracking one rider in two of the remaining heats, one of which saw Phil Herne, their only representative, excluded, gifting the Bandits an unopposed heat win. A more memorable Bandits heat win followed with Graham Jones leading home Phil Crump. The final score 41-34 probably flattered the Bandits who found heat winners hard to come by, with five of the six visitors taking the chequered flag. Graham Jones with 13 and Robin Adlington on 10, both from five rides were Bandits leading scorers, while Bristols top two were Crump with 11 and Phil Herne 8+1, the latter from three completed rides.

 

Glasgow 28 Hull 50

18^th May 1979

This was really a case of men against boys with only Steve Lawson and Andy Reid showing that they could mix it with the “big boys” from the “big league”. Both had six rides including tactical substitute and rider replacement outings, Merv Janke being  out injured with yet another shoulder problem. Hull’s full strength team had things very much their own way , but it was still a memorable night for the home fans seeing Ivan Mauger ride to an untroubled maximum in his first and indeed only visit to Blantyre. Locally based Bobby Beaton could probably have walked to the track and along with Joe Owen provided good support for Mauger although both were relegated to the minor placings by Steve Lawson in their first outing.

 

 

Glasgow 33 Cradley 44   1980

Steve Lawson set a new track record heading home Bruce Penhall in heat one. He remembers

“I think Bruce got a bit of a culture shock when he came to Glasgow. Here he was in Blantyre, deep fried Mars bars and a completely different world! I made the gate, dropped back and switched on the first corner and rode up the inside of him, got my head down and broke the track record. The fans were on their feet. They were delighted and plenty of fuss was made about it.”

 Plenty of fuss is still made about it today as this race is remembered with some clarity by quite a few fans despite being close to thirty five years ago. However it wasn’t enough to inspire a home victory as only Alan Emerson gave Steve Lawson any kind of effective backing in taking on Cradley’s strong top four of Penhall, Gundersen, Phil Collins and Alan Grahame. With a bit more top end strength Tigers could well have caused a shock as Ila Teromaa looked decidedly ill at ease on the tight Blantyre bends, while reserves Mark Collins and John Homer made little impression on their opposite numbers.

 

Edinburgh fans enjoyed a golden summer in 1981. George Hunter was in vintage form and Neil Collins was displaying the form expected of one of the Collins clan. The Monarchs finished fourth in the league, a position only achieved once previously in 1967.  Winning the KO Cup was the icing on their cake but, looking back, their Inter Division KO Cup exploits rank up there with these fine achievements.

Edinburgh 49 Sheffield 47 1981

8th May 1981

A really closely fought cup tie, with there never being more than four points between  the teams. The Monarchs were never in the lead until a 5-1 in heat 14 when Dave Trownson, completing his 15 point maximum, was joined by George Hunter for a 5-1 over Dave Morton and Phil White, giving the homesters a two point lead by 43-41. This was immediately reversed by the Tigers with a 5-1 of their own, setting up a last heat decider, when Monarchs would be tracking Neil Collins and Chris turner, while Sheffield were represented by Shawn Moran and reserve Reg Wilson, replacing Alan Molyneux. With Moran excluded, the Edinburgh pair managed to gain the required 5-1 over Wilson to ensure progression in this competition 

The format of the BL KO Cup was changed for 1981. Ties from round two were now decided on home and away aggregate, meaning it was just about impossible for National League sides to best their British League counterparts. Edinburgh drew Swindon in the next round

 

Edinburgh 47 v Swindon  49 

12^th June 1981

 Mad Wellies train. 

. This meeting suffered a bit from the fact that Swindon brought a massive forty two point lead! Neil Collins being the only Monarch to beat any of the Robins’ top five when he headed Steen Mastrup in the opening heat there in the first leg. Malcolm Holloway came up with the novel idea of hiring a train to bring both riders and fans north. This really caught the imagination of the Wiltshire public. Initially the train was planned for 300 but he twice had to request extra coaches and ultimately over 500 were on board as it left Swindon early on the Friday morning. It even had a waiting list for cancellations! When it looked like running at an unintended profit, Malc arranged a deal with Edinburgh for the price to include admission to Powderhall. A real entrepreneur.

     Swindon were missing Steve Gresham and already had Martin Satchell in place of Swede Bjorn Andersson, but were still expected to be too strong for the Monarchs. Edinburgh got off to a great start with the prolific Neil Collins/George Hunter pairing taking two 5-1s in the early heats. Swindon hit back mid meeting with tactical substitute outings by Steve Bastable and later Phil Crump both gaining maximum heat advantages. An Edinburgh 5-1 from George Hunter and Roger Lambert over the decidedly weak Robins duo of Kevin Smart and Martin Satchell in the penultimate heat meant that the scores were tied at 45-45 going into the last heat. Despite a heroic attempt by Ivan Blacka, Phil Crump completed his maximum and Steve Bastable took the vital third place, giving Swindon a narrow 49-47 victory. The programme carried a note for Swindon fans, reminding them that the train would leave Waverley station at 10.25. I’m sure it was quite a journey home!

 

BSPA Cup

The Inter League KO Cup competition rather lost its appeal with  National League sides not being a great draw at British League tracks and 1981 was the last year it was staged. The idea of inter league competition was revived ten years later with an open draw but it only lasted two years before it too was abandoned.

Glasgow's fine 46-44 win over Cradley at Shawfield in 1992 was probably the highlight of this competition, though, despite again getting a home draw in the next round, they couldnt make it stick against Ipswich, getting edged out 48-42. 

Edinburgh made a fair fist of their 1991 tie losing 56-34 at Belle Vue but lost 32-57 at home to Bradford the following year. Berwick went close losing 42 -47 to Wolverhampton at Berrington Lough in 1992