1991 British League Division Two season

1991 British League Division Two season

League	British League Division Two
No. of competitors	11
Champions	Arena Essex Hammers
Knockout Cup	Arena Essex Hammers
Individual	Jan Stæchmann
Fours	Arena Essex Hammers
Highest average	Bo Petersen
Division/s above	British League (Div 1)
← 1990 1992 →

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. ^[1] 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 ^[2] and they built a new team that were dominant, winning 21 of their 22 league matches, winning the Knockout Cup ^[3] and claiming the fours championship held at the East of England Arena on 21 July. ^{[4] [5]}

Hackney Kestrels reverted to a previous name Hackney Hawks but withdrew in July, ten league matches into the season. ^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	BP	Pts
1	Arena Essex Hammers	22	21	0	1	11	53
2	Glasgow Tigers	22	14	0	8	8	36
3	Newcastle Diamonds	22	13	1	8	8	35
4	Edinburgh Monarchs	22	12	0	10	7	31
5	Sheffield Tigers	22	12	0	10	7	31
6	Long Eaton Invaders	22	11	0	11	5	27
7	Exeter Falcons	22	9	0	13	8	26
8	Middlesbrough Bears	22	9	0	13	2	20
9	Rye House Rockets	22	8	0	14	4	20
10	Stoke Potters	22	7	2	13	2	18
11	Milton Keynes Knights	22	7	0	15	3	17
12	Peterborough Panthers	22	7	1	14	1	16

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. ^[7]

First round

Team one	Team two	1st leg	2nd leg
Long Eaton	Edinburgh	54–36	45–45
Stoke	Rye House	54–36	35–54
Exeter	Newcastle	49–40	35–54
Middlesbrough	Arena Essex	51–39	36–53

Quarter-finals

Team one	Team two	1st leg	2nd leg
Glasgow	Milton Keynes	61–28	45–44
Rye House	Long Eaton	46–43	40–50
Newcastle	Hackney	52–38	44–46
Peterborough	Arena Essex	50–40	29–61

Semi-finals

Team one	Team two	1st leg	2nd leg
Arena Essex	Long Eaton	65–25	47–43
Glasgow	Newcastle	48–42	43–46

Final

First leg

9 October 1991

Glasgow Tigers Jason Lyons 11 Shane Bowes 10 Mick Powell 7 Mark Courtney 6 Steve Lawson 5 Sean Courtney 5 Brian Nixon 2	46 – 44	Arena Essex Hammers Bo Petersen 16 Brian Karger 8 Alan Mogridge 8 Troy Pratt 6 Paul Hurry 3 Colin White 2 Andy Galvin 1
	[8] [9]

Shawfield Stadium

Second leg

12 October 1991

Arena Essex Hammers Bo Petersen 12 Brian Karger 10 Troy Pratt 9 Alan Mogridge 6 Andy Galvin 4 Paul Hurry 3 Colin White 2	46 – 44	Glasgow Tigers Jason Lyons 13 Steve Lawson 12 Shane Bowes 7 Mark Courtney 5 Mick Powell 3 Brian Nixon 3 Sean Courtney 1
	[8] [9]

Arena Essex Raceway

Final tied 90–90, replay required

Final replay

First leg

19 October 1991

Arena Essex Hammers Brian Karger 14 Paul Hurry 10 Alan Mogridge 10 Andy Galvin 8 Bo Petersen 7 Troy Pratt 7 Colin White 4	60 – 30	Glasgow Tigers Steve Lawson 12 Shane Bowes 7 Jason Lyons 6 Mick Powell 2 Sean Courtney 2 Mark Courtney 1 Brian Nixon 0
	[8] [9]

Arena Essex Raceway

Second leg

20 October 1991

Glasgow Tigers Steve Lawson 14 Sean Courtney 7 Mark Courtney 7 Shane Bowes 6 Brian Nixon 6 Jason Lyons 5 Mick Powell 5	50 – 40	Arena Essex Hammers Bo Petersen 15 Brian Karger 14 Andy Galvin 5 Paul Hurry 3 Troy Pratt 1 Alan Mogridge 1 Colin White 1
	[8] [9]

Shawfield Stadium

Arena Essex were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100–80.

Riders' Championship

Jan Stæchmann won the Riders' Championship. The final sponsored by Jawa Moto & Barum was held on 14 September at Brandon Stadium. ^[10]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Jan Stæchmann	3 2 3 3 3	14+3
2	David Bargh	3 3 3 2 3	14+2
3	Troy Butler	3 3 3 0 3	12
4	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	9
7	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	5
11	Carl Blackbird	1 1 1 1 0	4
12	Eric Monaghan	0 0 1 2 1	4
13	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	5
16	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. ^[11]

Final

Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Arena Essex	32	Karger 9, Petersen 9
2	Edinburgh	15+	Saunders 6 Collins L 5, Coles 2, Walker 2
3	Long Eaton	15	Blackbird C 4, Steachmann 4, O'Hare
4	Milton Keynes	10	Butler 6 Keats 2

• Edinburgh awarded 2nd on race wins.

Leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
Bo Petersen	Arena Essex	10.54
Brian Karger	Arena Essex	10.23
Mark Thorpe	Newcastle	9.93
Neil Evitts	Sheffield	9.79
Mikael Blixt	Peterborough	9.69
David Bargh	Newcastle	9.55
Andy Grahame	Wimbledon	9.44
Jan Stæchmann	Long Eaton	9.39
Peter Carr	Sheffield	9.36
Troy Butler	Milton Keynes	9.26

Riders & 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

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "Speedway continues" . Brentwood Gazette. 8 February 1991. Retrieved 16 May 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "1988 to 1993". Cyber Morotcycles. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
4. "Speedway" . Western Daily Press. 22 July 1991. Retrieved 13 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
6. "Speedway" . Derby Daily Telegraph. 3 July 1991. Retrieved 28 September 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "1991 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway Great Britain.
8. "1991 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
9. "Glasgow Tigers fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
10. "Jan is tasting victory" . Nottingham Evening Post. 16 September 1991. Retrieved 22 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Speedway" . Western Daily Press. 22 July 1991. Retrieved 13 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.