1969 British League Division Two season

British motorcycle speedway season

1969 British League Division Two seasonLeague| British League Division Two

|

No. of competitors| 16
Champions| Belle Vue Colts
Knockout Cup| Belle Vue Colts
Individual| Geoff Ambrose
Highest average| Des Lukehurst
Division/s above| British League (Div 1)

* <- 1968
* 1970 ->

The 1969 British League Division Two season was the second season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2]

## Summary

[edit]

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),[3] the Long Eaton Rangers (formerly the Archers), and the Eastbourne Eagles (first since 1959).[4] 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.[5]

Belle Vue Colts completed the league and cup double, which included retaining their league title.[6][7] 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.[8]

## Final table

[edit]

Pos  | Team  | PL  | W  | D  | L  | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Belle Vue Colts | 30  | 23  | 1  | 6  | 47
2  | Reading Racers | 30  | 19  | 1  | 10  | 39
3  | Rochester/Romford Bombers | 30  | 19  | 1  | 10  | 39
4  | Crayford Highwaymen | 30  | 19  | 0  | 11  | 38
5  | Rayleigh Rockets | 30  | 16  | 2  | 12  | 34
6  | Canterbury Crusaders | 30  | 15  | 2  | 13  | 32
7  | Crewe Kings | 30  | 15  | 0  | 15  | 30
8  | Eastbourne Eagles | 30  | 14  | 2  | 14  | 30
9  | Middlesbrough Teessiders | 30  | 14  | 1  | 15  | 29
10  | Long Eaton Rangers | 30  | 14  | 1  | 15  | 29
11  | Ipswich Witches | 30  | 13  | 1  | 16  | 27
12  | Doncaster Stallions | 30  | 12  | 0  | 18  | 24
13  | Nelson Admirals | 30  | 11  | 2  | 17  | 24
14  | Berwick Bandits | 30  | 11  | 1  | 18  | 23
15  | Plymouth Devils | 30  | 9  | 0  | 21  | 18
16  | King's Lynn Starlets | 30  | 8  | 1  | 21  | 17

## British League Division Two Knockout Cup

[edit]

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.[9]

First round

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

12/06 | Ipswich | 55-23 | Plymouth
11/06 | Belle Vue | 55-22 | King's Lynn
08/06 | Eastbourne | 37-40 | Rayleigh
12/06 | Middlesbrough | 49-29 | Nelson
09/06 | Crewe | 49-29 | Doncaster
14/06 | Canterbury | 51-26 | Crayford
12/06 | Long Eaton | 48-29 | Berwick
12/06 | Romford | 38-38 | Reading
07/07 | Reading | 44-34 | Romford

Quarter-finals

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

16/07 | Belle Vue | 58-20 | Ipswich
19/07 | Rayleigh | 43-34 | Middlesbrough
14/07 | Crewe | 44-33 | Canterbury
17/07 | Long Eaton | 42-35 | Reading

Semi-finals

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

06/08 | Belle Vue | 55-23 | Rayleigh
08/09 | Crewe | 58-20 | Long Eaton

### Final

[edit]

First leg

22 September 1969

Crewe Kings
Geoff Curtis 10
Colin Tucker 9
Barry Meeks 8
Ian Bottomley 8
Paul O'Neil 6
Pete Saunders 1
Dave Parry 0| 42 – 36| Belle Vue Colts
Ken Moss 10
Chris Bailey 10
Steve Waplington 5
Mike Hiftle 4
Taffy Owen 4
Eric Broadbelt 3
Ken Eyre R/R

|
|

| [10] |

British Railways Sports Ground

Second leg

24 September 1969

Belle Vue Colts
Eric Broadbelt 14
Chris Bailey 11
Mike Hiftle 11
Ken Moss 8
Steve Waplington 6
Taffy Owen 5
Ken Eyre R/R| 55 – 23| Crewe Kings
Geoff Curtis 9
Paul O'Neil 9
Dave Parry 2
Colin Tucker 1
Ian Bottomley 1
Pete Saunders 1
Barry Meeks 0

|
|

| [10] |

Hyde Road Stadium

Belle Vue Colts were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 91–65.

## Riders' Championship

[edit]

Geoff Ambrose won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 26 September.[11]

Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total

|
|
|

1 |  Geoff Ambrose | 2 3 3 3 3 | 14
2 |  Mick Bell | 2 3 2 3 3 | 13
3 |  Ross Gilbertson | 3 3 3 2 2 | 13
4 |  Maury Robinson | 3 2 3 1 2 | 11
5 |  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 | 8
8 |  Phil Woodcock (res) | 1 2 1 3 ef | 7
9 |  Paul O'Neil (res) | 0 ef 2 2 2 | 6
10 |  Geoff Curtis | ex 3 0 0 3 | 6
11 |  Colin Sanders | 1 1 1 2 0 | 5
12 |  Pete Wrathall | f 1 2 1 1 | 5
13 |  Dave Schofield | ex 1 1 0 2 | 4
14 |  Ted Spittles | 2 0 0 1 1 | 4
15 |  Ian Turner | 1 2 r 0 0 | 3
16 |  Terry Lee | 2 fex | 2
17 |  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

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

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
* 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

[edit]

* List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
* Knockout Cup (speedway)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
3. ^ "Ranger's Fingers Crossed as Speedway Returns". Stapleford & Sandiacre News. 11 April 1969. Retrieved 15 September 2023 - via British Newspaper Archive.
4. ^ "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
5. ^ "Romford Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
6. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101\. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
7. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
8. ^ "Belle Vue Colts". wwosbackup. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
9. ^ "1969 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
10. ^ a b "Season 1969" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
11. ^ "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 27 September 1969. Retrieved 14 June 2023 - via British Newspaper Archive.

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Speedway in the United Kingdom

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See also|

* Speedway
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Tier Two League
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Tier Three League
Third division|

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Champions|

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* v
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British League Division Two/National League seasons

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Speedway British League Division Two
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