1969 British League Division Two season
LeagueBritish League Division Two
ChampionsBelle Vue Colts
No. of competitors16
Knockout CupBelle Vue Colts
IndividualGeoff Ambrose
Highest averageDes Lukehurst
Division/s aboveBritish League (Div 1)

The 1969 British League Division Two season was the second season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2]

Summary

The league expanded from 10 to 16 teams in its second season. Weymouth Eagles dropped out after just one season. The seven new entrants included three newly created teams called the Crewe Kings, Doncaster Stallions and the Rochester Bombers. The King's Lynn Starlets who were the reserve side of the Stars also entered, along with Ipswich Witches who returned to league action (their first since 1962),[3] the Long Eaton Rangers (formerly the Archers), and the Eastbourne Eagles (first since 1959).[4] The Rochester Bombers team moved to Romford from 10 May, after the local council refused to give permission for racing and became known as the Romford Bombers.[5]

Belle Vue Colts completed the league and cup double, which included retaining their league title.[6][7] Ken Eyre and Eric Broadbelt were once again instrumental in helping the Colts win again and they were backed up well by Chris Bailey and Bill Moulin.[8]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Belle Vue Colts 30 23 1 6 47
2 Reading Racers 30 19 1 10 39
3 Rochester/Romford Bombers 30 19 1 10 39
4 Crayford Highwaymen 30 19 0 11 38
5 Rayleigh Rockets 30 16 2 12 34
6 Canterbury Crusaders 30 15 2 13 32
7 Crewe Kings 30 15 0 15 30
8 Eastbourne Eagles 30 14 2 14 30
9 Middlesbrough Teessiders 30 14 1 15 29
10 Long Eaton Rangers 30 14 1 15 29
11 Ipswich Witches 30 13 1 16 27
12 Doncaster Stallions 30 12 0 18 24
13 Nelson Admirals 30 11 2 17 24
14 Berwick Bandits 30 11 1 18 23
15 Plymouth Devils 30 9 0 21 18
16 King's Lynn Starlets 30 8 1 21 17

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1969 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the second edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Belle Vue Colts were the winners of the competition.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
12/06Ipswich55-23Plymouth
11/06Belle Vue55-22King's Lynn
08/06Eastbourne37-40Rayleigh
12/06Middlesbrough49-29Nelson
09/06Crewe49-29Doncaster
14/06Canterbury51-26Crayford
12/06Long Eaton48-29Berwick
12/06Romford38-38Reading
07/07Reading44-34Romford

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
16/07Belle Vue58-20Ipswich
19/07Rayleigh43-34Middlesbrough
14/07Crewe44-33Canterbury
17/07Long Eaton42-35Reading

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
06/08Belle Vue55-23Rayleigh
08/09Crewe58-20Long Eaton

Final

First leg

Crewe Kings
Geoff Curtis 10
Colin Tucker 9
Barry Meeks 8
Ian Bottomley 8
Paul O'Neil 6
Pete Saunders 1
Dave Parry 0		42 – 36Belle Vue Colts
Ken Moss 10
Chris Bailey 10
Steve Waplington 5
Mike Hiftle 4
Taffy Owen 4
Eric Broadbelt 3
Ken Eyre R/R
[10]
British Railways Sports Ground

Second leg

Belle Vue Colts
Eric Broadbelt 14
Chris Bailey 11
Mike Hiftle 11
Ken Moss 8
Steve Waplington 6
Taffy Owen 5
Ken Eyre R/R		55 – 23Crewe Kings
Geoff Curtis 9
Paul O'Neil 9
Dave Parry 2
Colin Tucker 1
Ian Bottomley 1
Pete Saunders 1
Barry Meeks 0
[10]

Belle Vue Colts were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 91–65.

Riders' Championship

Geoff Ambrose won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 26 September.[11]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1England Geoff Ambrose2 3 3 3 314
2England Mick Bell2 3 2 3 313
3Scotland Ross Gilbertson3 3 3 2 213
4England Maury Robinson3 2 3 1 211
5England Reg Trott3 1 2 2 19
6England Peter Murray3 2 1 3 ef9
7England Martyn Piddock (res)1 3 1 38
8England Phil Woodcock (res)1 2 1 3 ef7
9New Zealand Paul O'Neil (res)0 ef 2 2 26
10Australia Geoff Curtisex 3 0 0 36
11England Colin Sanders1 1 1 2 05
12England Pete Wrathallf 1 2 1 15
13England Dave Schofieldex 1 1 0 24
14England Ted Spittles2 0 0 1 14
15England Ian Turner1 2 r 0 03
16England Terry Lee2 fex2
17England Eric Broadbeltfex0
18England Dingle Brown0 0 0 ex 00
19England George Devonport0 f0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Final leading averages

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Des Lukehurst England Romford/Rochester 11.52
2 Graeme Smith New Zealand Rayleigh 10.74
3 Tony Lomas England Long Eaton 10.49
4 Peter Murray England Canterbury 10.35
5 Ross Gilbertson Scotland Romford/Rochester 10.10
5 Geoff Curtis Australia Crewe 10.10
7 Geoff Ambrose England Crayford 10.03

Riders' final averages

Belle Vue Colts

  • Ken Eyre 9.84
  • Eric Broadbelt 9.74
  • Chris Bailey 8.25
  • Bill Moulin 8.19
  • Mike Hiftle 8.00
  • Ken Moss 7.94
  • Steve Waplington 7.94
  • Taffy Owen 7.08
  • Peter Thompson 6.67
  • Colin Goad 5.17

Berwick

  • Maury Robinson 9.32
  • Mark Hall 8.03
  • Peter Kelly 7.93
  • Bernie Lagrosse/Roy Williams 6.89
  • Brian Black 6.12
  • Ken Omand 4.73
  • Andy Meldrum 4.60
  • Ian Paterson 4.19
  • Terry Holmes 3.53
  • Alex Nichol 3.43
  • Grieves Davidson 3.06
  • Colin Robertson 2.74
  • Bill Maxwell 1.67

Canterbury

  • Peter Murray 10.35
  • Martyn Piddock 9.80
  • Ken Vale 8.71
  • Graham Miles 6.89
  • John Hibben 6.57
  • Barry Thomas 6.03
  • Jake Rennison 5.33
  • Dave Percy 4.69
  • Jim Crowhurst 4.56
  • Brian Foote 4.00
  • Gerald Reardon 3.70
  • Neville Brice 3.69

Crayford

  • Geoff Ambrose 10.03
  • Archie Wilkinson 8.56
  • Tony Childs 8.24
  • Chris Harrison 6.51
  • Mick Steel 6.44
  • Colin Clark 6.17
  • Tony Armstrong 5.26
  • Judd Drew 4.33

Crewe

  • Geoff Curtis 10.10
  • Paul O'Neal 8.88
  • Barry Meeks 7.56
  • Ian Bottomley 7.03
  • Dave Parry 6.76
  • Peter Seaton 6.46
  • Colin Tucker 6.34
  • Pete Saunders 5.92
  • Glyn Blackburn 4.14

Doncaster

  • Terry Shearer 9.68
  • Dave Baugh 8.76
  • Guy Hawkes 7.00
  • Chris Hawkins 6.38
  • Derek Timms 5.77
  • Alan Bridgett 5.72
  • George Devonport 5.22
  • Doug Wyer 3.82
  • Stuart Ulph 3.73
  • Neil Glover 2.18

Eastbourne

  • Barry Crowson 9.93
  • Reg Trott 8.70
  • Alby Golden 7.88
  • Hugh Saunders 7.00
  • Dave Jessup 6.62
  • Derek Cook 5.32
  • Laurie Sims 4.99
  • Cec Platt 4.60
  • John Hedderick 4.15
  • Tony Hall 4.00
  • Joe Robson 3.76
  • Ray Boughtflower 2.67

Ipswich

  • John Harrhy 7.87
  • Pete Bailey 7.74
  • Ted Spittles 7.61
  • Ron Bagley 7.34
  • Ernie Baker 6.38
  • Dennis Wasden 5.30
  • Neville Slee 4.81
  • Gil Farmer 4.19
  • Mike Coomber 4.09
  • Bernie Aldridge 3.88

King's Lynn

  • George Barclay 9.18
  • Ken Vale 7.33
  • Ian Turner 7.16
  • Peter Seaton 7.00
  • Arthur Price 6.57
  • Tony Featherstone 5.29
  • Peter Maxted 5.07
  • John Ingamells 4.05
  • Russ Osborne 3.76
  • John Knock 2.40
  • Chris Blythe 1.75
  • Nigel Spindler 1.33

Long Eaton

  • Tony Lomas 10.49
  • Geoff Penniket 8.26
  • Peter Wrathall 7.78
  • Malcolm Shakespeare 6.88
  • Glyn Chandler 6.36
  • Roy Carter 5.57
  • Pat Adaway 4.98
  • Peter Gay 4.82
  • Gil Farmer 4.52
  • Bernie Hornby 2.13

Middlesbrough

Nelson

  • Murray Burt 8.00
  • Dave Schofield 8.00
  • Alan Knapkin 7.25
  • Stuart Riley 5.71
  • Sid Sheldrick 5.16
  • Dai Evans 4.64
  • Peter Thompson 4.29
  • Paul Sharples 3.26
  • Jack Lee 2.76
  • Dave Beacon 1.83

Plymouth

  • Colin Sanders 7.17
  • Bob Coles 6.37
  • Dave Whittaker 6.18
  • Chris Roynon 6.11
  • Keith Marks 5.24
  • John Hammond 4.33
  • Ian Gills 4.21
  • Clark Facey 2.42

Rayleigh

  • Graeme Smith 10.74
  • Laurie Etheridge 8.53
  • Mike Gardner 7.81
  • Geoff Maloney 7.43
  • Roger Wright 7.28
  • Dingle Brown 7.17
  • Terry Stone 6.18
  • Dennis Mannion 5.50
  • Barry Lee 4.39
  • Ian Champion 4.25
  • Bob Newman 3.90

Reading

  • Mick Bell 9.04
  • Richard May 7.96
  • Mike Vernam 7.79
  • Alan Jackson 7.47
  • Ian Champion 6.64
  • Phil Pratt 6.33
  • Dene Davies 6.18
  • Bob Tabet 5.46
  • Bernie Leigh 5.05

Rochester/Romford

  • Des Lukehurst 11.52
  • Ross Gilbertson 10.10
  • Phil Woodcock 9.17
  • Brian Davies 7.28
  • Tony George 5.93
  • Brian Foote 5.48
  • Frank Wendon 4.99
  • Ian Gills 4.64
  • Charlie Benham 3.40
  • Chris Yeatman 3.20


See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ↑ "Ranger's Fingers Crossed as Speedway Returns". Stapleford & Sandiacre News. 11 April 1969. Retrieved 15 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "Romford Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  7. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "Belle Vue Colts". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "1969 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  10. 1 2 "Season 1969" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 27 September 1969. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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