The 1991 British League Division Two season (sponsored by Sunbrite) was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. The league had been renamed from the National League. The season saw one of the rare occasions that speedway operated a promotion/relegation system.
Summary Terry Russell and Ivan Henry purchased Arena Essex Hammers from Chick Woodroffe and they built a new team that were dominant, winning 21 of their 22 league matches, winning the Knockout Cup and claiming the fours championship held at the East of England Arena on 21 July.
Hackney Kestrels reverted to a previous name Hackney Hawks but withdrew in July, ten league matches into the season, although they did complete their Gold Cup fixtures.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts1 Arena Essex Hammers 22 21 0 1 11 532 Glasgow Tigers 22 14 0 8 8 363 Newcastle Diamonds 22 13 1 8 8 354 Edinburgh Monarchs 22 12 0 10 7 315 Sheffield Tigers 22 12 0 10 7 316 Long Eaton Invaders 22 11 0 11 5 277 Exeter Falcons 22 9 0 13 8 268 Middlesbrough Bears 22 9 0 13 2 209 Rye House Rockets 22 8 0 14 4 2010 Stoke Potters 22 7 2 13 2 1811 Milton Keynes Knights 22 7 0 15 3 1712 Peterborough Panthers 22 7 1 14 1 16
Fixtures and results
British League Division Two Knockout Cup The 1991 British League Division Two Knockout Cup sponsored by Phonesport, was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Arena Essex Hammers were the winners of the competition.
First round Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legLong EatonEdinburgh 54–3645–45Stoke Rye House 54–3635–54Exeter Newcastle 49–4035–54Middlesbrough Arena Essex 51–3936–53 Quarter-finals Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legGlasgowMilton Keynes 61–2845–44Rye HouseLong Eaton 46–4340–50Newcastle Hackney 52–3844–46Peterborough Arena Essex 50–4029–61 Semi-finals Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legArena EssexLong Eaton 65–2547–43Glasgow Newcastle 48–4243–46 Final
First leg
Second leg
Final tied 90–90, replay required
Final replay
First leg
Second leg
Arena Essex were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100–80.
Gold Cup
South Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Peterborough 10 6 1 3 132 Arena Essex 10 7 0 3 143 Exeter 10 5 0 5 104 Milton Keynes 10 5 0 5 105 Hackney 10 3 1 6 76 Rye House 10 2 0 8 4
North Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1Newcastle 12 7 1 4 152 Long Eaton 12 7 1 4 153 Edinburgh 12 6 1 5 134 Stoke 12 6 0 6 125 Sheffield 12 5 1 5 116 Middlesbrough 12 5 0 7 107 Glasgow 12 4 0 8 8
South
North
Final Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legPeterboroughNewcastle 51–39 38—52 Newcastle won 91–89 on aggregate.
Riders' Championship Jan Stæchmann won the Riders' Championship. The final sponsored by Jawa Moto & Barum was held on 14 September at Brandon Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Jan Stæchmann 3 2 3 3 3 14+32 David Bargh 3 3 3 2 3 14+23 Troy Butler 3 3 3 0 3 124 Les Collins 2 3 1 3 2 11 5 Neil Evitts 3 3 2 1 2 11 6 Mark Thorpe f 2 3 2 2 97 Steve Regeling 2 1 0 3 2 8 8 Stephen Davies 2 0 2 2 1 7 9 Kenny McKinna 0 2 0 3 1 6 10 Bo Petersen 1 2 2 ef fex 511 Carl Blackbird 1 1 1 1 0 4 12 Eric Monaghan 0 0 1 2 1 413 Steve Lawson 1 0 0 1 1 3 14 Shane Bowes 2 0 1 tex r 3 15 Peter Carr 1 1 2 1 0 516 Melvyn Taylor 0 1 0 0 3 4 17 Chris Clarence (res) 0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Fours Arena Essex Hammers won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 21 July.
Final Pos TeamPts Riders1 Arena Essex32 Karger 9, Petersen 92 Edinburgh 15+ Saunders 6 Collins L 5, Coles 2, Walker 23 Long Eaton 15 Blackbird C 4, Steachmann 4, O'Hare4 Milton Keynes 10 Butler 6 Keats 2 Edinburgh awarded 2nd on race wins.
Leading averages Rider Team Average Bo PetersenArena Essex10.54 Brian KargerArena Essex10.23 Mark ThorpeNewcastle9.93 Neil EvittsSheffield9.79 Mikael BlixtPeterborough9.69 David BarghNewcastle9.55 Andy GrahameWimbledon9.44 Jan StæchmannLong Eaton9.39 Peter CarrSheffield9.36 Troy ButlerMilton Keynes9.26
Riders and final averages Arena Essex Hammers
Bo Petersen 10.54 Brian Karger 10.23 Alan Mogridge 8.85 Troy Pratt 7.45 Andy Galvin 7.43 Jan Pedersen 6.87 Paul Hurry 5.59 Colin White 5.45 Robert Ledwith 5.25 Tommy Palmer 1.54
Edinburgh
Les Collins 9.10 Michael Coles 7.97 Frede Schott 7.79 Brett Saunders 7.49 Nigel Alderton 5.55 David Steen 4.98 Johnny Jorgensen 4.74 Justin Walker 4.62
Exeter
Steve Regeling 8.74 Peter Jeffery 8.08 Richard Green 7.80 David Smart 7.49 Colin Cook 6.48 Richard Knight 5.29 Mark Simmonds 5.20 Justin Elkins 3.45 Frank Smart 3.20
Glasgow
Steve Lawson 8.44 Shane Bowes 8.38 Jason Lyons 7.82 Mark Courtney 7.21 Sean Courtney 6.76 Mick Powell 6.21 Brian Nixon 4.55
Hackney (withdrew from league)
Paul Whittaker 8.74 Tony Olsson 7.79 Dave Hamnett 6.57 Vladimir Kalina 5.81 Michael Warren 5.38 Richard Hellsen 5.13 Pavel Karnas 4.36 Roland Pollard 2.25 Tim Hunter 2.21
Long Eaton
Jan Stæchmann 9.39 Carl Blackbird 8.73 Kai Niemi 6.67 Gary O'Hare 5.66 Mark Blackbird 5.64 Peter McNamara 5.32 Rob Tilbury 4.74 Stuart Parnaby 2.69
Middlesbrough
Kenny McKinna 8.00 Steve Wilcock 6.88 Lars Munkedal 6.18 Mark Lemon 6.04 Duncan Chapman 5.26 Wayne Carter 5.25 Shawn Venables 4.55 Carsten Pelzmann 4.52 Chris Readshaw 2.87
Milton Keynes
Troy Butler 9.26 Jan Pedersen 7.93 Paul Woods 5.80 Peter Glanz 5.56 Jamie Habbin 5.37 Nigel De'ath 5.23 Justin Walker 4.77 Derrol Keats 3.78 Paul Blackbird 1.82
Newcastle
Mark Thorpe 9.93 David Bargh 9.55 Scott Lamb 7.32 Martin Dixon 6.23 Dave Hamnett 5.96 Peter Jeffery 5.03 Richard Juul 4.03 Jamie Habbin 3.91 Max Schofield 2.76
Peterborough
Mikael Blixt 9.69 Stephen Davies 8.14 Richard Hellsen 7.44 Scott Norman 6.12 Mark Lyndon 6.10 Kevin Jolly 5.75 Gary Tagg 5.14 Robbie Fuller 4.06 Roger Horspool 3.18 Tim Hunter 3.14
Rye House
Martin Goodwin 8.51 Jens Rasmussen 7.82 Trevor O'Brien 7.58 Melvyn Taylor 7.43 Roger Johns 5.44 Rob Tilbury 4.41 Wayne Baxter 3.73 John Wainwright 3.40
Sheffield
Neil Evitts 9.79 Peter Carr 9.36 Louis Carr 7.72 Ian Barney 7.51 Richard Musson 4.65 Simon Wolstenholme 4.57 Mark Hepworth 4.23 Richard Davidson 4.08 Ade Hoole 3.18
Stoke
Nigel Crabtree 8.30 Eric Monaghan 8.07 Gary Chessell 6.96 Darren Standing 5.94 David Clarke 5.58 Garry Stead 5.08 Chris Cobby 4.87
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References