1971 British League Division Two season explained

Competition:British League Division Two
Competitors:17
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Eastbourne Eagles
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Ipswich Witches
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:John Louis
Highest Average:John Louis
League Above:British League (Div 1)
Prevseason:1970
Nextseason:1972

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

Summary

The league continued with 17 teams in its fourth season despite Reading Racers moving up to Division One[3] 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 re-forming the Birmingham Brummies, who had last raced in 1957.[4] The Crayford Highwayman also dropped out[5] and the Middlesbrough Teessiders changed their name to Teesside Teessiders. Birmingham were one of the new entrants along with Sunderland Stars (who last raced in 1964 as the Saints).[6] Hull Vikings were the final new entrant when Ian Thomas brought speedway back to Hull, to race at the Boulevard Stadium.[7]

Eastbourne Eagles won their first league title since their 1959 Southern Area League success.[8] [9] 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.[6]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Eastbourne Eagles32223747
2Bradford Northern322111043
3Ipswich Witches32203943
4Boston Barracudas321831139
5Rayleigh Rockets321821238
6Hull Vikings321621434
7Crewe Kings321611533
8Berwick Bandits321601632
9Rochdale Hornets321601632
10Long Eaton Rangers321331629
11Birmingham Brummies321331629
12Romford Bombers321301926
13Teesside Teessiders321301926
14Canterbury Crusaders321221826
15Workington Comets321211925
16Peterborough Panthers321112023
17Sunderland Stars32912219

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1John LouisIpswich11.29
2Alan KnapkinBradford Northern10.26
3Alan WilkinsonRochdale10.15
4Reg WilsonHull9.93
5Peter CollinsRochdale9.83

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.[10]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
29/04Long Eaton46-31 Birmingham
24/05Birmingham39-39 Long Eaton
30/04Rochdale47-31 Hull
05/05Hull38-39 Rochdale
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
12/06Ipswich 57-21 Peterborough
11/06Peterborough33-45 Ipswich
11/06Workington46-31 Sunderland
06/06Sunderland37-31 Workington
06/06Eastbourne47-31 Canterbury
12/06Canterbury39-39 Eastbourne
07/06Crewe 54-24 Berwick
12/06Berwick 50-28 Crewe
09/06Bradford47-31 Teesside
10/06Teesside38-40 Bradford
11/06Rochdale45-33 Long Eaton
10/06Long Eaton43-35 Rochdale
06/06Boston49-28 Romford
12/06Romford42-36 Boston
Quarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
29/07Ipswich43-35 Rayleigh
24/07Rayleigh37-41 Ipswich
23/07Workington51-27 Eastbourne
25/07Eastbourne45-31 Workington
19/07Crewe 47-31Bradford
28/07Bradford46-32 Crewe
23/07Rochdale41-37 Boston
18/07Boston40-38 Rochdale
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
16/08Crewe49-29 Rochdale
29/08Workington38-40Ipswich
02/09Ipswich50-28Workington
03/09Rochdale+ Crewe
+ rained off, tie awarded to Ipswich

Final

First leg

Second leg

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

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1John LouisIpswich11.31
2Alan KnapkinBradford Northern10.17
3Alan WilkinsonRochdale10.08
4Tony DaveyIpswich9.93
5Malcolm MackayWorkington9.81

Riders' Championship

John Louis won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 2 October.[11]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal
1 3 3 2 3 3 14
2 2 3 3 3 2 13
3 3 3 2 2 2 12
4 ex 2 3 3 3 11
5 1 1 3 3 3 11
6 3 2 fx 2 3 10
7 2 1 2 2 1 8
8 r 2 f 2 2 6
9 1 1 3 1 0 6
100 3 2 0 0 5
11 3 r 1 1 0 5
12 2 0 1 1 1 5
13 2 f 1 0 1 4
14 1 0 0 1 1 3
15 0 2 f 0 0 2
16 Roger Mills (res) 2 2
17 r 1 r 1
18 Richard Greer (res) 0 0

Riders' final averages

Berwick

Birmingham

Boston

Bradford

Canterbury

Crewe

Eastbourne

Hull

Ipswich

Long Eaton

Peterborough

Rayleigh

Rochdale

Romford

Sunderland

Teesside

Workington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
  3. News: Reading switch . Western Daily Press . 6 January 1971 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 19 September 2024.
  4. Web site: Doncaster Speedway. Defunct Speedway. 12 September 2021.
  5. News: Crayford killed by cash crisis . Daily Mirror . 3 March 1971 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription . 2 November 2024 .
  6. Web site: teams. wwosbackup. 12 September 2021.
  7. News: Speedway team will be Hull Kestrels . Hull Daily Mail . 23 January 1971 . 4 May 2024. British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  8. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 101. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
  9. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
  10. Web site: 1971 British League Division Two Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  11. News: Reg Wilson finishes eighth in speedway riders' finals . Hull Daily Mail . 4 October 1971 . 16 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .

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