1971 British League Division Two season

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

1971 British League Division Two season
LeagueBritish League Division Two
ChampionsEastbourne Eagles
No. of competitors17
Knockout CupIpswich Witches
IndividualJohn Louis
Highest averageJohn Louis
Division/s aboveBritish League (Div 1)

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 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
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Eastbourne Eagles 32 22 3 7 47
2 Bradford Northern 32 21 1 10 43
3 Ipswich Witches 32 20 3 9 43
4 Boston Barracudas 32 18 3 11 39
5 Rayleigh Rockets 32 18 2 12 38
6 Hull Vikings 32 16 2 14 34
7 Crewe Kings 32 16 1 15 33
8 Berwick Bandits 32 16 0 16 32
9 Rochdale Hornets 32 16 0 16 32
10 Long Eaton Rangers 32 13 3 16 29
11 Birmingham Brummies 32 13 3 16 29
12 Romford Bombers 32 13 0 19 26
13 Teesside Teessiders 32 13 0 19 26
14 Canterbury Crusaders 32 12 2 18 26
15 Workington Comets 32 12 1 19 25
16 Peterborough Panthers 32 11 1 20 23
17 Sunderland Stars 32 9 1 22 19

Top Five Riders
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 John Louis Ipswich Witches 11.29
2 Alan Knapkin Bradford Northern 10.26
3 Alan Wilkinson Rochdale Hornets 10.15
4 Reg Wilson Hull Vikings 9.93
5 Peter Collins Rochdale Hornets 9.83

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
Date Team One Score Team Two
29/04Long Eaton46-31Birmingham
24/05Birmingham39-39Long Eaton
30/04Rochdale47-31Hull
05/05Hull38-39Rochdale

Second Round
Date Team One Score Team 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
Date Team One Score Team 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
Date Team One Score Team 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 – 37Ipswich 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 – 23Crewe 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.


See also

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. "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. "1971 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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