1971 British League Division Two season

Last updated

1971 British League Division Two season
League British League Division Two
No. of competitors17
Champions Eastbourne Eagles
Knockout Cup Ipswich Witches
Individual John Louis
Highest average John Louis
Division/s above British League (Div 1)

The 1971 British League Division Two season was the second tier/division motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. [1] [2]

Contents

Summary

The league continued with 17 teams in its fourth season despite Reading Racers moving up to Division One and two teams dropping out because there were three new entrants to the league. Doncaster Dragons disbanded for good, with the promotion and some of the riders moving to Birmingham and reformed the Birmingham Brummies, who had last raced in 1957. [3] The Crayford Highwayman also dropped out and the Middlesbrough Teessiders changed their name to Teesside Teessiders. Birmingham were one of the new entrants along with Hull Vikings and Sunderland Stars. Hull had last seen league speedway in 1949 and Sunderland in 1964. [4]

Eastbourne Eagles won their first league title since their 1959 Southern Area League success. [5] [6] Despite losing their leading rider Dave Jessup to division 1, the Eastbourne Eagles triumphed by bringing in new signing Malcolm Ballard to support the Kennett brothers Gordon and Dave. [4]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1 Eastbourne Eagles 32223747
2 Bradford Northern 322111043
3 Ipswich Witches 32203943
4 Boston Barracudas 321831139
5 Rayleigh Rockets 321821238
6 Hull Vikings 321621434
7 Crewe Kings 321611533
8 Berwick Bandits 321601632
9 Rochdale Hornets 321601632
10 Long Eaton Rangers 321331629
11 Birmingham Brummies 321331629
12 Romford Bombers 321301926
13 Teesside Teessiders 321301926
14 Canterbury Crusaders 321221826
15 Workington Comets 321211925
16 Peterborough Panthers 321112023
17 Sunderland Stars 32912219

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 John Louis Flag of England.svg Ipswich11.29
2 Alan Knapkin Flag of England.svg Bradford Northern10.26
3 Alan Wilkinson Flag of England.svg Rochdale10.15
4 Reg Wilson Flag of England.svg Hull9.93
5 Peter Collins Flag of England.svg Rochdale9.83

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1971 British League Division Two Knockout Cup (sponsored by the Speedway Express) was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners of the competition for the second successive year. [7]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
29/04Long Eaton46-31Birmingham
24/05Birmingham39-39Long Eaton
30/04Rochdale47-31Hull
05/05Hull38-39Rochdale

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
12/06Ipswich57-21Peterborough
11/06Peterborough33-45Ipswich
11/06Workington46-31Sunderland
06/06Sunderland37-31Workington
06/06Eastbourne47-31Canterbury
12/06Canterbury39-39Eastbourne
07/06Crewe54-24Berwick
12/06Berwick50-28Crewe
09/06Bradford47-31Teesside
10/06Teesside38-40Bradford
11/06Rochdale45-33Long Eaton
10/06Long Eaton43-35Rochdale
06/06Boston49-28Romford
12/06Romford42-36Boston

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
29/07Ipswich43-35Rayleigh
24/07Rayleigh37-41Ipswich
23/07Workington51-27Eastbourne
25/07Eastbourne45-31Workington
19/07Crewe47-31Bradford
28/07Bradford46-32Crewe
23/07Rochdale41-37Boston
18/07Boston40-38Rochdale

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
16/08Crewe49-29Rochdale
29/08Workington38-40Ipswich
02/09Ipswich50-28Workington
03/09Rochdale+Crewe

+ rained off, tie awarded to Ipswich

Final

First leg

Crewe Kings
Phil Crump 10
John Jackson 6
Jack Millen 6
Dai Evans 6
Garry Moore 5
Dave Parry 4
Barry Meeks 4
41 – 37 Ipswich Witches
John Louis 14
Tony Davey 11
Peter Prinsloo 9
Pete Bailey 2
Clive Noy 1
Ted Howgego 0
Ray Watkins 0
[8]
British Railways Sports Ground

Second leg

Ipswich Witches
John Louis 12
Tony Davey 12
Peter Prinsloo 9
Pete Bailey 8
Clive Noy 7
Ted Howgego 5
Ray Watkins 2
55 – 23 Crewe Kings
John Jackson 7
Jack Millen 7
Phil Crump 6
Barry Meeks 2
Dai Evans 1
Garry Moore 1
Dave Parry 0
[8]

Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92–64.

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 John Louis Flag of England.svg Ipswich11.31
2 Alan Knapkin Flag of England.svg Bradford Northern10.17
3 Alan Wilkinson Flag of England.svg Rochdale10.08
4 Tony Davey Flag of England.svg Ipswich9.93
5 Malcolm Mackay Flag of England.svg Workington9.81

Riders' Championship

John Louis won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 2 October. [9]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1 Flag of England.svg John Louis 3 3 2 3 314
2 Flag of England.svg Malcolm Shakespeare 2 3 3 3 213
3 Flag of Guernsey.svg Hugh Saunders 3 3 2 2 212
4 Flag of England.svg Peter Collins ex 2 3 3 311
5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Crump 1 1 3 3 311
6 Flag of England.svg Arthur Price 3 2 fx 2 310
7 Flag of England.svg George Major 2 1 2 2 18
8 Flag of England.svg Reg Wilson r 2 f 2 26
9 Flag of England.svg Russ Dent 1 1 3 1 06
10 Flag of England.svg Doug Wyer 0 3 2 0 05
11 Flag of Scotland.svg Ross Gilbertson 3 r 1 1 05
12 Flag of England.svg Dave Baugh 2 0 1 1 15
13 Flag of England.svg Malcolm Mackay 2 f 1 0 14
14 Flag of England.svg Bruce Forrester 1 0 0 1 13
15 Flag of England.svg Kevin Holden 0 2 f 0 02
16 Flag of England.svg Roger Mills (res)22
17 Flag of England.svg Malcolm Ballard r 1 r1
18 Flag of England.svg Richard Greer (res)00

Riders' final averages

Berwick

Birmingham

Boston

Bradford

Canterbury

Crewe

Eastbourne

Hull

Ipswich

Long Eaton

Peterborough

Rayleigh

Rochdale

Romford

Sunderland

Teesside

Workington

See also

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References

  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
  3. "Doncaster Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 "teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
  6. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  7. "1971 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. 1 2 "1971 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  9. "Reg Wilson finishes eighth in speedway riders' finals" . Hull Daily Mail. 4 October 1971. Retrieved 16 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.