The 1974 British League Division Two season was the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. It was the final season of British League Division Two before it was renamed as the New National League.
Summary The league was again expanded by one team from 18 to 19 teams. Weymouth Wizards were the new addition to the league, returning to action after five years out. Additionally there were two in and two out; Hull Vikings had moved up to the British League swapping places with Coatbridge Tigers and also swapping their top riders. Rayleigh Rockets closed down but the promotion, riders and nickname moved to Rye House. It was the first season of league speedway at Rye House since the 1959 Southern Area League.
There were a few changes of nicknames; the Chesterton Potters changed their team name to the Stoke Potters, Bradford became the Barons, Sunderland became the Gladiators and Long Eaton raced as the Archers.
Birmingham Brummies won their first title, completing a league and cup double. Australian Phil Herne improved his average by over 3 points from the 1973 season and Arthur Browning also exceeded a 10 average, the two factors proved to be the catalyst for Birmingham's success. John Hart and George Major both scored heavily throughout the season too.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Birmingham Brummies 35 26 3 6 552 Eastbourne Eagles 36 24 3 9 513 Boston Barracudas 36 23 2 11 484 Workington Comets 36 22 3 11 475 Crewe Kings 36 22 0 14 446 Teesside Tigers 36 19 1 16 397 Bradford Barons 36 19 1 16 398 Peterborough Panthers 34 18 1 15 379 Coatbridge Tigers 36 18 0 18 3610 Canterbury Crusaders 36 18 0 18 3611 Berwick Bandits 36 16 1 19 3312 Barrow Bombers 36 15 2 19 3213 Stoke Potters 36 16 0 20 3214 Ellesmere Port Gunners 35 14 3 18 3115 Long Eaton Archers 36 14 2 20 3016 Rye House Rockets 36 13 0 23 2617 Scunthorpe Saints 36 10 2 24 2218 Sunderland Gladiators 36 11 0 25 2219 Weymouth Wizards 36 10 0 26 20
Fixtures and results
Top five riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Phil Herne Birmingham 10.78 2 Carl Glover Boston 10.44 3 Mitch Graham Workington 10.29 4 Arthur Browning Birmingham 10.17 5 John Jackson Crewe 10.07
British League Division Two Knockout Cup The 1974 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the seventh edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Birmingham Brummies were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two02/04 Barrow 36-42 Stoke29/04 Crewe 43-35 Workington04/04 Stoke 46-31 Barrow12/04 Sunderland 37-41 Teesside18/04 Teesside 55-22 Sunderland03/05 Workington 46-32 Crewe Second round Date Team one Score Team two25/05 Berwick 29-49 Workington20/05 Birmingham 47-31 Long Eaton19/05 Boston 49-28 Weymouth22/05 Bradford 43-34 Ellesmere Port04/05 Canterbury 44-34 Eastbourne03/05 Coatbridge 55-23 Scunthorpe05/05 Eastbourne 47-31 Canterbury21/05 Ellesmere Port 52-26 Bradford13/06 Long Eaton 37-40 Birmingham24/05 Peterborough 52-26 Rye House05/05 Rye House 36-42 Peterborough27/05 Scunthorpe 44-34 Coatbridge17/05 Stoke 51-27 Teesside23/05 Teesside 32-45 Stoke14/05 Weymouth 44-34 Boston24/05 Workington 50-28 Berwick Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two01/07 Birmingham 48-30 Boston14/07 Boston 39-39 Birmingham02/08 Coatbridge 48-30 Stoke14/07 Eastbourne 50-28 Workington18/06 Ellesmere Port 40-38 Peterborough21/06 Peterborough 46-31 Ellesmere Port18/07 Stoke 40-38 Coatbridge26/07 Workington 43-35 Eastbourne Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/09 Birmingham 58-20 Peterborough23/08 Coatbridge 48-29 Eastbourne01/09 Eastbourne 56-21 Coatbridge06/09 Peterborough 41-37 Birmingham Final First leg
Second leg
Birmingham were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 81–74.
Leading final averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Phil Herne Birmingham 10.48 2 Carl Glover Boston 10.29 3 Arthur Browning Birmingham 10.14 4 Mitch Graham Workington 10.00 5 John Jackson Crewe 9.95
Riders' Championship Carl Glover won the Rider's Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 28 September.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Carl Glover 2 3 3 3 2 13+32 Ted Hubbard 3 3 3 2 2 13+23 Phil Herne 3 1 2 3 3 124 Mike Lanham 3 2 2 2 1 105 Geoff Bouchard 1 2 2 3 2 106 John Jackson 1 0 3 3 3 107 Colin Meredith 2 2 2 2 1 98 Mike Broadbanks 2 2 3 fx 79 Graham Drury 0 0 1 2 3 610 Brian Havelock (res) 1 3 4 11 Bobby McNeil 1 3 fx 412 Ken McKinlay 1 3 fx 413 Dave Gifford 2 1 0 0 0 314 Brian Foote 0 1 1 1 0 315 Tom Owen 1 1 f 1 r 316 Bruce Forrester 3 0 f fx ex217 Bob Hughes (res) 1 1 118 Willie Templeton (res) 0 1 f ex 1 019 Mitch Graham 0 ex 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure
Riders & final averages Barrow
Tom Owen 8.54 Dave Baugh 8.46 Terry Kelly 8.00 Sid Sheldrick 7.77 Paul O'Neal 7.37 Joe Owen 7.36 Chris Roynon 6.12 Mick Sheldrick 3.40 Graham Tattersall 2.74
Berwick
Brian Havelock 7.70 Willie Templeton 7.27 Graham Jones 6.80 Jim Wells 6.67 Doug Templeton 6.59 Denny Morter 6.00 Alf Wells 5.84 Colin Farquharson 5.67 Dave Trownson 4.90 Ian Wilson 3.76 Robin Dixon 3.50
Birmingham
Phil Herne 10.48 Arthur Browning 10.14 John Hart 8.99 George Major 8.97 Ricky Day 6.55 Carl Askew 5.14 Keith Anderson 5.02 Alan Grahame 4.13
Boston
Carl Glover 10.29 Jim Ryman 8.07 Russ Osborne 8.00 David Gagen 7.15 Rob Hollingworth 6.18 Dave Piddock 5.89 Les Glover 5.07 Rob Mouncer 3.79 Billy Burton 2.97
Bradford
Alan Knapkin 9.33 Tony Featherstone 8.66 Colin Meredith 8.33 Mick Fairbairn 5.98 Mick Fishwick 5.63 Eddie Argall 5.16 Steve Wilcock 5.15 Roger Austin 4.76 Mick Fielding 4.74 Dave Parkin 2.70
Canterbury
Trevor Jones 8.84 Ted Hubbard 8.13 Dave Gooderham 7.28 Roger Johns 6.93 Barney Kennett 6.85 Derek Cook 6.43 Les Rumsey 6.38 Graham Clifton 4.74 Peter Murray 3.09 Jimmy Squibb 3.08
Coatbridge
Dave Gifford 8.82 Brian Collins 8.66 Robin Adlington 7.60 Jimmy Gallacher 7.38 Grahame Dawson 5.83 John Wilson 5.15 Eddie Argall 4.13 Chris Quigley 4.00 Mike Ferreira 3.33 Jim Beresford 2.74
Crewe
John Jackson 9.95 Jack Millen 9.10 Dave Morton 8.87 Keith White 7.43 Ian Cartwright 6.43 Les Ott 6.06 Cliff Anderson 5.72 Wayne Forrest 4.59 Mike Gardner 4.57 Stuart Cope 2.91 Paul Wells 2.12
Eastbourne
Bobby McNeil 8.77 Trevor Geer 8.46 Paul Gachet 8.29 Mike Sampson 7.79 Neil Middleditch 7.72 Pete Jarman 6.99 Steve Weatherley 6.41 Martin Yeates 6.26 Eric Dugard 5.28
Ellesmere Port
Graham Drury 9.31 Colin Goad 8.32 Steve Taylor 7.36 Nigel Wasley 6.16 Wayne Hughes 6.05 Duncan Meredith 5.89 Gerald Smitherman 5.20 Nicky Allott 4.37 Ken Stafford 3.60 Steve Casey 2.71 Ray Hassall 2.16
Long Eaton
Geoff Bouchard 9.24 Alan Molyneux 8.23 Phil Bass 6.95 Alan Witt 5.05 Steve Finch 4.33 James Bond 4.06 Max Brown 3.90 Dave Harvey 3.90 Pip Austen 3.63 Harry MacLean 2.97
Peterborough
Mike Lanham 9.11 Brian Clark 8.73 Jack Walker 6.75 Ken Matthews 6.31 Roy Carter 6.29 Steve Osborn 6.12 Roy Sizmore 5.74 Peter Thompson 4.85 Eric Dugard 4.44 Chris Drewett 4.14
Rye House
Brian Foote 7.93 Steve Clarke 7.45 Clive Hitch 6.88 Trevor Barnwell 6.71 George Barclay 5.58 Peter Moore 5.39 Bob Young 5.31 John Gibbons 5.29 Bob Cooper 4.78 Pete Wigley 4.36
Scunthorpe
Tony Childs 8.82 Ken McKinlay 8.13 Doug Underwood 6.56 Andy Sims 6.54 Keith Evans 6.07 Dingle Brown 6.04 Chris Emery 6.03 Jack Bywater 5.60 Tim Swales 4.50 Chris Doyle 4.14 Roger Pascall 2.86
Stoke
Mike Broadbank 9.37 Geoff Pusey 7.46 Brian Woodward 7.18 Steve Bastable 6.00 Alan Bridgett 5.97 Steve Holden 5.87 Nigel Wasley 5.64 Andy Cusworth 5.22 Mick Newton 2.67
Sunderland
Jim Wells 7.92 Brian Havelock 7.23 Tim Swales 6.77 George Barclay 6.43 Russ Dent 6.15 Andy Meldrum 6.07 Dennis Gavros 5.00 Brian Johnson 4.00 Vic Harding 3.71 John Robson 2.82 Derek Fell 2.50
Teesside
Bruce Forrester 9.39 Dave Durham 7.87 Pete Reading 7.73 Roger Wright 7.12 Russ Hodgson 6.42 Alan Emerson 5.14 Tony Swales 3.63 Merv Salt 3.29
Weymouth
Kelvin Mullarkey 7.19 Bob Hughes 6.77 Steve Lomas 6.36 Nigel Couzens 5.64 Geoff Swindells 5.51 Clark Facey 4.88 Russell Foot 4.88 Glyn Facey 4.80 Brian Paddington 4.28 Mark Sawyers 3.47
Workington
Mitch Graham 10.00 Malcolm MacKay 8.77 Taffy Owen 8.42 Alan Cowland 7.28 Steve Watson 5.54 Darryl Stobbart 4.98 Bernie Hornby 4.14 Steve Lawson 1.68
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References