League | British League Division Two |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 19 |
Champions | Birmingham Brummies |
Knockout Cup | Birmingham Brummies |
Individual | Carl Glover |
Highest average | Phil Herne |
Division/s above | British League (Div 1) |
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.[1]
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.[2][3]
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.[4]
Birmingham Brummies won their first title, completing a league and cup double.[5][6] 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.[2]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Birmingham Brummies | 35 | 26 | 3 | 6 | 55 |
2 | Eastbourne Eagles | 36 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 51 |
3 | Boston Barracudas | 36 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 48 |
4 | Workington Comets | 36 | 22 | 3 | 11 | 47 |
5 | Crewe Kings | 36 | 22 | 0 | 14 | 44 |
6 | Teesside Tigers | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
7 | Bradford Barons | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
8 | Peterborough Panthers | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 37 |
9 | Coatbridge Tigers | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 |
10 | Canterbury Crusaders | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 |
11 | Berwick Bandits | 36 | 16 | 1 | 19 | 33 |
12 | Barrow Bombers | 36 | 15 | 2 | 19 | 32 |
13 | Stoke Potters | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 32 |
14 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 35 | 14 | 3 | 18 | 31 |
15 | Long Eaton Archers | 36 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 30 |
16 | Rye House Rockets | 36 | 13 | 0 | 23 | 26 |
17 | Scunthorpe Saints | 36 | 10 | 2 | 24 | 22 |
18 | Sunderland Gladiators | 36 | 11 | 0 | 25 | 22 |
19 | Weymouth Wizards | 36 | 10 | 0 | 26 | 20 |
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 |
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.[7]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
02/04 | Barrow | 36-42 | Stoke |
29/04 | Crewe | 43-35 | Workington |
04/04 | Stoke | 46-31 | Barrow |
12/04 | Sunderland | 37-41 | Teesside |
18/04 | Teesside | 55-22 | Sunderland |
03/05 | Workington | 46-32 | Crewe |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
25/05 | Berwick | 29-49 | Workington |
20/05 | Birmingham | 47-31 | Long Eaton |
19/05 | Boston | 49-28 | Weymouth |
22/05 | Bradford | 43-34 | Ellesmere Port |
04/05 | Canterbury | 44-34 | Eastbourne |
03/05 | Coatbridge | 55-23 | Scunthorpe |
05/05 | Eastbourne | 47-31 | Canterbury |
21/05 | Ellesmere Port | 52-26 | Bradford |
13/06 | Long Eaton | 37-40 | Birmingham |
24/05 | Peterborough | 52-26 | Rye House |
05/05 | Rye House | 36-42 | Peterborough |
27/05 | Scunthorpe | 44-34 | Coatbridge |
17/05 | Stoke | 51-27 | Teesside |
23/05 | Teesside | 32-45 | Stoke |
14/05 | Weymouth | 44-34 | Boston |
24/05 | Workington | 50-28 | Berwick |
Quarter-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
01/07 | Birmingham | 48-30 | Boston |
14/07 | Boston | 39-39 | Birmingham |
02/08 | Coatbridge | 48-30 | Stoke |
14/07 | Eastbourne | 50-28 | Workington |
18/06 | Ellesmere Port | 40-38 | Peterborough |
21/06 | Peterborough | 46-31 | Ellesmere Port |
18/07 | Stoke | 40-38 | Coatbridge |
26/07 | Workington | 43-35 | Eastbourne |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
09/09 | Birmingham | 58-20 | Peterborough |
23/08 | Coatbridge | 48-29 | Eastbourne |
01/09 | Eastbourne | 56-21 | Coatbridge |
06/09 | Peterborough | 41-37 | Birmingham |
First leg
Eastbourne Eagles Paul Gachet 12 Martin Yeates 9 Neil Middleditch 8 Pete Jarman 7 Bobby McNeil 7 Mike Sampson 2 Trevor Geer 2 | 47 – 31 | Birmingham Brummies Arthur Browning 11 Phil Herne 10 John Hart 4 George Major 4 Keith Anderson 1 Carl Askew 1 Ricky Day R/R |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Second leg
Birmingham Brummies Phil Herne 12 Arthur Browning 11 George Major 10 John Hart 7 Keith Anderson 7 Ricky Day 2 Carl Askew 1 | 50 – 27 | Eastbourne Eagles Pete Jarman 9 Neil Middleditch 8 Paul Gachet 7 Trevor Geer 2 Martin Yeates 1 Bobby McNeil 0 Mike Sampson 0 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Birmingham were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 81–74.
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 |
Carl Glover won the Rider's Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 28 September.[9]
Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Carl Glover | 2 3 3 3 2 | 13+3 |
2 | Ted Hubbard | 3 3 3 2 2 | 13+2 |
3 | Phil Herne | 3 1 2 3 3 | 12 |
4 | Mike Lanham | 3 2 2 2 1 | 10 |
5 | Geoff Bouchard | 1 2 2 3 2 | 10 |
6 | John Jackson | 1 0 3 3 3 | 10 |
7 | Colin Meredith | 2 2 2 2 1 | 9 |
8 | Mike Broadbanks | 2 2 3 fx | 7 |
9 | Graham Drury | 0 0 1 2 3 | 6 |
10 | Brian Havelock (res) | 1 3 | 4 |
11 | Bobby McNeil | 1 3 fx | 4 |
12 | Ken McKinlay | 1 3 fx | 4 |
13 | Dave Gifford | 2 1 0 0 0 | 3 |
14 | Brian Foote | 0 1 1 1 0 | 3 |
15 | Tom Owen | 1 1 f 1 r | 3 |
16 | Bruce Forrester | 3 0 f fx ex | 2 |
17 | Bob Hughes (res) | 1 1 | 1 |
18 | Willie Templeton (res) | 0 1 f ex 1 | 0 |
19 | Mitch Graham | 0 ex | 0 |
Barrow
Berwick
Birmingham
Boston
Bradford
Canterbury
Coatbridge
Crewe
Eastbourne
Ellesmere Port
Long Eaton
Peterborough
Rye House
Scunthorpe
Stoke
Sunderland
Teesside
Weymouth
Workington