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1969 British League Division Two season

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1969 British League Division Two season
LeagueBritish League Division Two
No. of competitors16
ChampionsBelle Vue Colts
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

[edit]

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] Former Leicester rider Ivor Brown re-opened the speedway at Long Eaton Stadium.[6]

Belle Vue Colts completed the league and cup double, which included retaining their league title.[7][8] 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.[9]

Final table

[edit]
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

[edit]

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.[10]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
12/06 Ipswich 55-23 Plymouth
11/06 Belle Vue 55-22 King's Lynn
08/06 Eastbourne 37-40 Rayleigh
12/06 Middlesbrough 49-29 Nelson
09/06 Crewe 49-29 Doncaster
14/06 Canterbury 51-26 Crayford
12/06 Long Eaton 48-29 Berwick
12/06 Romford 38-38 Reading
07/07 Reading 44-34 Romford

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
16/07 Belle Vue 58-20 Ipswich
19/07 Rayleigh 43-34 Middlesbrough
14/07 Crewe 44-33 Canterbury
17/07 Long Eaton 42-35 Reading

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
06/08 Belle Vue 55-23 Rayleigh
08/09 Crewe 58-20 Long Eaton

Final

[edit]

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
[11]
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
[11]

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

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Geoff Ambrose won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 26 September.[12]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1 England Geoff Ambrose 2 3 3 3 3 14
2 England Mick Bell 2 3 2 3 3 13
3 Scotland Ross Gilbertson 3 3 3 2 2 13
4 England Maury Robinson 3 2 3 1 2 11
5 England Reg Trott 3 1 2 2 1 9
6 England Peter Murray 3 2 1 3 ef 9
7 England Martyn Piddock (res) 1 3 1 3 8
8 England Phil Woodcock (res) 1 2 1 3 ef 7
9 New Zealand Paul O'Neil (res) 0 ef 2 2 2 6
10 Australia Geoff Curtis ex 3 0 0 3 6
11 England Colin Sanders 1 1 1 2 0 5
12 England Pete Wrathall f 1 2 1 1 5
13 England Dave Schofield ex 1 1 0 2 4
14 England Ted Spittles 2 0 0 1 1 4
15 England Ian Turner 1 2 r 0 0 3
16 England Terry Lee 2 fex 2
17 England Eric Broadbelt fex 0
18 England Dingle Brown 0 0 0 ex 0 0
19 England George Devonport 0 f 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Final leading averages

[edit]
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

[edit]

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
  • Graham Banks 4.61
  • 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

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

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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. ^ "Brown waits for speedway decision". Long Eaton Advertiser. 24 January 1969. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  8. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Belle Vue Colts". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  10. ^ "1969 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  11. ^ a b "Season 1969" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 27 September 1969. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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