1970 British League Division Two season

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1970 British League Division Two season
LeagueBritish League Division Two
No. of competitors17
ChampionsCanterbury Crusaders
Knockout CupIpswich Witches
IndividualDave Jessup
Highest averageGary Peterson
Division/s aboveBritish League (Div 1)

The 1970 British League Division Two season was the third season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2]

Team changes[edit]

The league expanded from 16 to 17 teams in its third season. Plymouth Devils dropped out and were replaced by Peterborough Panthers. Peterborough promoted by Allied Presentations (headed by Maurice Littlechild) were to race at the East of England Showground.[3][4]

Workington Comets under the promotion of Ian Thomas and Jeff Brownhut also joined the league and raced at Derwent Park.[5][6]

Before the season got underway the 1968 and 1969 champions Belle Vue Colts disbanded with most of their riders and the promotion team moving to Rochdale and becoming the Rochdale Hornets.[7] Doncaster changed their nickname from Stallions to Dragons.

Summary[edit]

Two teams changed venue during the season. In July, the Nelson Admirals moved to Bradford to become Bradford Northern and in August, the King's Lynn Starlets promotion moved to Boston and became the Boston Barracudas.[8][9]

Canterbury Crusaders won their first title.[10][11] New Zealander Graeme Smith averaged 10.49 for the Crusaders and was well backed up by Barry Crowson (9.17) and Barry Thomas (9.11).[12] Another New Zealander Gary Peterson topped the averages riding initially for the Nelson Admirals and then Bradford Northern.

Final table[edit]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Canterbury Crusaders 32 23 1 8 47
2 Eastbourne Eagles 32 22 1 9 45
3 Rochdale Hornets 32 21 2 9 44
4 Bradford Northern 32 21 2 9 37
5 Middlesbrough Teessiders 32 18 0 14 36
6 Ipswich Witches 32 17 2 13 36
7 Crewe Kings 32 17 1 14 35
8 Romford Bombers 32 17 1 14 35
9 Reading Racers 32 17 0 15 34
10 Peterborough Panthers 32 14 2 16 30
11 Workington Comets 32 13 1 18 27
12 Rayleigh Rockets 32 13 1 18 27
13 Boston Barracudas 32 12 2 18 26
14 Crayford Highwaymen 32 11 1 20 23
15 Doncaster Dragons 32 11 1 20 23
16 Berwick Bandits 32 10 0 22 20
17 Long Eaton Rangers 32 8 3 21 19

Top Five Riders (League Averages)[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Gary Peterson New Zealand Bradford Northern 10.79
2 Graeme Smith New Zealand Canterbury 10.41
3 Eric Broadbelt England Rochdale 10.08
4 Paul O'Neil New Zealand Crewe 9.91
5 Archie Wilkinson England Crayford 9.85

Knockout Cup[edit]

The 1970 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners of the competition defeating Berwick Bandits in the final. The Bandits were surprise finalists given their final league placing which was second from bottom of the table.[13]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
11/04 Rayleigh 48-30 Peterborough
19/04 Rochdale 43-35 Long Eaton
20/04 Crewe 49-29 Nelson
26/04 Eastbourne 34-44 Canterbury
30/04 Ipswich 51-27+ Crayford
02/05 Berwick 53-25 Doncaster
07/05 Teesside 54-24 King's Lynn
07/05 Romford 48-30 Reading

+ first match abandoned with score at 25-17

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
17/05 Rochdale 48-30 Romford
21/05 Ipswich 46-31 Rayleigh
23/05 Berwick 40-36 Teesside
06/06 Canterbury 52-26 Crewe

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
07/07 Berwick 44-34 Canterbury
27/08 Ipswich 42-36 Rochdale

Final[edit]

First leg

Ipswich Witches
John Louis 12
John Harrhy 11
Pete Bailey 9
Ron Bagley 6
Stan Pepper 5
Ted Spittles 4
Tony Davey 0		47 – 31Berwick Bandits
Doug Wyer 11
Maury Robinson 6
Peter Kelly 6
Lex Milloy 4
Alistair Brady 2
Ken Ormand 1
Roy Williams 1
[14]

Second leg

Berwick Bandits
Doug Wyer 10
Maury Robinson 9
Alistair Brady 7
Peter Kelly 5
Lex Milloy 5
Roy Williams 5
Ken Ormand 2		43 – 35Ipswich Witches
John Louis 15
Pete Bailey 12
Stan Pepper 4
Ron Bagley 2
Ted Spittles 2
Tony Davey 0
John Harrhy R/R
[14]

Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82–74.

Riders' Championship[edit]

Dave Jessup won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 25 September. Jessup was aged just 17 at the time.[15]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1 England Dave Jessup 3 3 3 3 2 14
2 England Barry Crowson 2 3 3 2 2 12+3
3 New Zealand Gary Peterson 2 3 1 3 3 12+2
4 England Eric Broadbelt 3 1 2 2 3 11
5 England Tom Leadbitter 3 2 3 1 1 10
6 England John Harrhy f 3 2 3 1 9
7 Australia Bob Valentine 2 2 3 2 0 9
8 New Zealand Paul O'Neil 1 1 3 3 8
9 England Richard May 1 2 2 ef 2 7
10 Scotland Ross Gilbertson 3 ef 2 2 0 7
11 Scotland Andy Ross 1 0 1 1 2 5
12 England Arthur Price 2 2 0 1 0 5
13 England Geoff Maloney 0 1 1 1 1 4
14 England Maury Robinson ex 0 0 0 3
15 England Tony Childs 1 1 ef 0 3
16 Scotland Gordon McGregor 1 0 0 r 1
17 England Ken Vale (res) 0 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Final leading averages[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Gary Peterson New Zealand Bradford Northern/Nelson 10.76
2 Graeme Smith New Zealand Canterbury 10.49
3 Eric Broadbelt England Rochdale 10.07
5 Taffy Owen Wales Workington 9.94
5 Paul O'Neil New Zealand Crewe 9.69

Riders' final averages[edit]

Berwick

  • Doug Wyer 8.39
  • Maury Robinson 8.13
  • Peter Kelly 7.28
  • Bernie Lagrosse/Roy Williams 6.00
  • Ken Omand 5.41
  • Alan Paynter 5.26
  • Peter Baldock 5.14
  • Ian Paterson 5.03
  • Alistair Brady 4.89
  • Andy Meldrum 4.80
  • Jimmy Gallacher 3.53

Boston/King's Lynn (Boston took over fixtures mid-season)

  • Arthur Price 7.52
  • Graham Edmonds 7.27
  • Russ Osborne 5.70
  • Jack Bywater 4.97
  • Tony Featherstone 4.26
  • John Ingamells 3.73
  • Brian Osborn 3.62

Bradford (Bradford took over Nelson's fixtures mid-season)

  • Gary Peterson 10.76
  • Alf Wells 9.32
  • Alan Knapkin 9.28
  • Dave Schofield 6.15
  • Sid Sheldrick 5.93
  • Alan Bridgett 5.85
  • Peter Thompson 5.22
  • Robin Adlington 4.35

Canterbury

  • Graeme Smith 10.49
  • Barry Crowson 9.17
  • Barry Thomas 9.11
  • Graham Banks 7.53
  • Graham Miles 7.44
  • Alan Kite 4.76
  • Jake Rennison 4.30
  • Ted Hubbard 4.22 (5 matches only)
  • Dave Smith 4.07
  • Mike Barkaway 3.77

Crayford

  • Archie Wilkinson 9.54
  • Tony Childs 7.97
  • George Devonport 7.00
  • Derek Timms 5.19
  • Mick Steel 4.98
  • Tony Armstrong 4.55
  • Colin Clark 4.00
  • Judd Drew 3.91

Crewe

  • Paul O'Neil 9.69
  • John Jackson 7.94
  • Barry Meeks 7.13
  • Dai Evans 6.34
  • Warren Hawkins 6.10
  • Ian Bottomley 5.91
  • Dave Parry 5.65
  • Glyn Blackburn 5.28
  • Rob Jackson 5.04

Doncaster

  • George Major 9.58
  • Gordon McGregor 9.36
  • Chris Harrison 6.82
  • Gunther Haslinger 4.99
  • Chris Roynon 4.36
  • Dennis Wasden 3.89
  • Ian Wilson 3.72
  • Malcolm Corradine 3.64
  • Cliff Emms 3.40

Eastbourne

Ipswich

  • John Harrhy 9.21
  • John Louis 8.74
  • Pete Bailey 7.60
  • Ron Bagley 7.03
  • Ted Spittles 5.92
  • Neville Slee 4.54
  • Dave Whittaker 4.15
  • Bernie Aldridge 3.91
  • Stan Pepper 3.55

Long Eaton

  • Malcolm Shakespeare 8.83
  • Ken Vale 6.68
  • Geoff Bouchard 5.85
  • Roy Carter 5.65
  • Gil Farmer 5.20
  • Peter Wrathall 5.12
  • Colin Tucker 4.43
  • Steve Bass 3.21
  • Peter Gay 2.67

Middlesbrough

Peterborough

  • Andy Ross 9.08
  • John Poyser 7.65
  • Richard Greer 7.49
  • Peter Seaton 7.14
  • Brian Davies 6.91
  • Joe Hughes 5.88
  • John Stayte 5.03
  • Pete Saunders 4.61
  • Mervyn Hill 4.53

Rayleigh

  • Geoff Maloney 8.74
  • Hugh Saunders 7.58
  • Alan Jackson 7.06
  • Terry Stone 6.85
  • Nigel Rackett 6.38
  • Garry Moore 4.70
  • Allan Emmett 4.40
  • George Barclay 4.18
  • Tony Hall 3.69
  • Ian Champion 3.44

Reading

  • Richard May 9.57
  • Mike Vernam 9.01
  • Bernie Leigh 6.91
  • Bob Young 6.11
  • Phil Pratt 5.36
  • Dene Davies 5.28
  • John Hammond 5.05
  • Cec Platt 4.20

Rochdale

Romford

  • Phil Woodcock 8.87
  • Ross Gilbertson 8.70
  • Geoff Penniket 8.43
  • Des Lukehurst 8.26
  • Brian Foote 6.85
  • Colin Sanders 6.17
  • Ian Gills 5.69
  • Charlie Benham 5.35
  • Kevin Holden 4.65
  • John Hibben 2.83

Workington

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ "Boost for Long Eaton Rangers". Derby Daily Telegraph. 13 January 1970. Retrieved 4 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "fans decide future". Derby Daily Telegraph. 10 April 1970. Retrieved 4 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "New Track". Sports Argus. 4 October 1969. Retrieved 3 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Speedway". Derby Daily Telegraph. 21 November 1969. Retrieved 3 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  9. ^ "Nelson Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  10. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  11. ^ "Canterbury Crusaders 1968-1987". Canterbury Crusaders. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Canterbury". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  13. ^ "1970 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  14. ^ a b "1970 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Jessup roars in". Daily Mirror. 26 September 1970. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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