The 1969 British League Division Two season was the second season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
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), the Long Eaton Rangers (formerly the Archers), and the Eastbourne Eagles (first since 1959). 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. Former Leicester rider Ivor Brown re-opened the speedway at Long Eaton Stadium.
Belle Vue Colts completed the league and cup double, which included retaining their league title. 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.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Belle Vue Colts 30 23 1 6 472 Reading Racers 30 19 1 10 393 Rochester/Romford Bombers 30 19 1 10 394 Crayford Highwaymen 30 19 0 11 385 Rayleigh Rockets 30 16 2 12 346 Canterbury Crusaders 30 15 2 13 327 Crewe Kings 30 15 0 15 308 Eastbourne Eagles 30 14 2 14 309 Middlesbrough Teessiders 30 14 1 15 2910 Long Eaton Rangers 30 14 1 15 2911 Ipswich Witches 30 13 1 16 2712 Doncaster Stallions 30 12 0 18 2413 Nelson Admirals 30 11 2 17 2414 Berwick Bandits 30 11 1 18 2315 Plymouth Devils 30 9 0 21 1816 King's Lynn Starlets 30 8 1 21 17
Fixtures and results
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.
First round Date Team one Score Team two12/06 Ipswich 55-23 Plymouth11/06Belle Vue 55-22 King's Lynn08/06 Eastbourne 37-40 Rayleigh12/06 Middlesbrough 49-29 Nelson09/06 Crewe 49-29 Doncaster14/06 Canterbury 51-26 Crayford12/06 Long Eaton 48-29 Berwick12/06 Romford 38-38 Reading07/07 Reading 44-34 Romford Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two16/07 Belle Vue 58-20 Ipswich19/07 Rayleigh 43-34 Middlesbrough14/07 Crewe 44-33 Canterbury17/07 Long Eaton 42-35 Reading Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two06/08 Belle Vue 55-23 Rayleigh08/09 Crewe 58-20 Long Eaton
Final
First leg
Second leg
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.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Geoff Ambrose 2 3 3 3 3 142 Mick Bell 2 3 2 3 3 133 Ross Gilbertson 3 3 3 2 2 134 Maury Robinson 3 2 3 1 2 115 Reg Trott 3 1 2 2 1 9 6 Peter Murray 3 2 1 3 ef 9 7 Martyn Piddock (res) 1 3 1 3 88 Phil Woodcock (res) 1 2 1 3 ef 79 Paul O'Neil (res) 0 ef 2 2 2 610 Geoff Curtis ex 3 0 0 3 6 11 Colin Sanders 1 1 1 2 0 512 Pete Wrathall f 1 2 1 1 5 13 Dave Schofield ex 1 1 0 2 414 Ted Spittles 2 0 0 1 1 4 15 Ian Turner 1 2 r 0 0 3 16 Terry Lee 2 fex 217 Eric Broadbelt fex 0 18 Dingle Brown 0 0 0 ex 0 0 19 George Devonport 0 f 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Des Lukehurst Romford/Rochester 11.52 2 Graeme Smith Rayleigh 10.74 3 Tony Lomas Long Eaton 10.49 4 Peter Murray Canterbury 10.35 5 Ross Gilbertson Romford/Rochester 10.10 5 Geoff Curtis Crewe 10.10 7 Geoff Ambrose 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 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
Terry Lee 9.28 Tom Leadbitter 8.97 Roger Mills 7.19 Pete Reading 6.02 Dave Durham 5.43 Bruce Forrester 5.13 Tim Swales 4.75 Paul O'Neal 4.57
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 List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References