The 1970 British League Division Two season was the third season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
Team changes 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.
Workington Comets under the promotion of Ian Thomas and Jeff Brownhut also joined the league and raced at Derwent Park.
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. Doncaster changed their nickname from Stallions to Dragons.
Summary Two teams changed venue during the season. The first was in July when the Nelson Admirals moved to Bradford to become Bradford Northern. The second saw promoters Cyril Crane and Gordon Perkins receive planning permission to construct a track at the Boston Sports Stadium and the promoters bought the second-tier team known as the King's Lynn Starlets from Maurice Littlechild and became the Boston Barracudas.
Canterbury Crusaders won their first title. 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). Another New Zealander Gary Peterson topped the averages riding initially for the Nelson Admirals and then Bradford Northern.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Canterbury Crusaders 32 23 1 8 472 Eastbourne Eagles 32 22 1 9 453 Rochdale Hornets 32 21 2 9 444 Bradford Northern 32 21 2 9 375 Middlesbrough Teessiders 32 18 0 14 366 Ipswich Witches 32 17 2 13 367 Crewe Kings 32 17 1 14 358 Romford Bombers 32 17 1 14 359 Reading Racers 32 17 0 15 3410 Peterborough Panthers 32 14 2 16 3011 Workington Comets 32 13 1 18 2712 Rayleigh Rockets 32 13 1 18 2713 Boston Barracudas 32 12 2 18 2614 Crayford Highwaymen 32 11 1 20 2315 Doncaster Dragons 32 11 1 20 2316 Berwick Bandits 32 10 0 22 2017 Long Eaton Rangers 32 8 3 21 19
Fixtures and results
Top five riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Gary Peterson Bradford Northern 10.79 2 Graeme Smith Canterbury 10.41 3 Eric Broadbelt Rochdale 10.08 4 Paul O'Neil Crewe 9.91 5 Archie Wilkinson Crayford 9.85
Knockout Cup 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.
First round Date Team one Score Team two11/04 Rayleigh 48-30 Peterborough19/04 Rochdale43-35Long Eaton20/04 Crewe 49-29 Nelson26/04 Eastbourne34-44Canterbury30/04 Ipswich 51-27+Crayford02/05 Berwick 53-25 Doncaster07/05 Teesside 54-24 King's Lynn07/05 Romford 48-30 Reading + first match abandoned with score at 25–17
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two17/05 Rochdale 48-30 Romford21/05 Ipswich 46-31 Rayleigh23/05 Berwick 40-36 Teesside06/06 Canterbury 52-26 Crewe Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two07/07 Berwick 44-34 Canterbury27/08 Ipswich 42-36 Rochdale
Final First leg
Second leg
Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82–74.
Riders' Championship Dave Jessup won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 25 September. Jessup was aged just 17 at the time.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Dave Jessup 3 3 3 3 2 14 2 Barry Crowson 2 3 3 2 2 12+33 Gary Peterson 2 3 1 3 3 12+24 Eric Broadbelt 3 1 2 2 3 11 5 Tom Leadbitter 3 2 3 1 1 10 6 John Harrhy f 3 2 3 1 9 7 Bob Valentine 2 2 3 2 0 9 8 Paul O'Neil 1 1 3 3 8 9 Richard May 1 2 2 ef 2 7 10 Ross Gilbertson 3 ef 2 2 0 7 11 Andy Ross 1 0 1 1 2 5 12 Arthur Price 2 2 0 1 0 5 13 Geoff Maloney 0 1 1 1 1 4 14 Maury Robinson ex 0 0 0 3 15 Tony Childs 1 1 ef 0 3 16 Gordon McGregor 1 0 0 r 117 Ken Vale (res) 0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure
Final leading averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Gary Peterson Bradford Northern/Nelson 10.76 2 Graeme Smith Canterbury 10.49 3 Eric Broadbelt Rochdale 10.07 5 Taffy Owen Workington 9.94 5 Paul O'Neil Crewe 9.69
Riders' final averages 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
Dave Jessup 9.66 Derek Cook 8.44 Reg Trott 7.52 Alby Golden 7.12 Phil Pratt 7.08 Gordon Kennett 6.79 Mac Woolford 6.31 Laurie Sims 5.98 Dave Kennett 3.36
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
Tom Leadbitter 9.55 Roger Mills 7.43 Bruce Forrester 7.28 Tim Swales 7.13 Bob Jameson 6.63 Dave Durham 5.63 Pete Reading 5.41
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
Eric Broadbelt 10.07 Taffy Owen 9.43 Chris Bailey 8.22 Steve Waplington 8.04 Alan Wilkinson 8.00 Paul Tyrer 6.81 Ken Moss 6.25 Gerry Richardson 4.86 Colin Goad 4.46
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
Taffy Owen 9.94 (7 matches only) Bob Valentine 9.37 Malcolm MacKay 7.56 Geoff Penniket 7.23 Reg Wilson 6.51 Lou Sansom 6.13 Ian Armstrong 5.00 Chris Blythe 4.22 Dave Kumeta 3.84 Vic Lonsdale 3.70
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References