1968 British League Division Two season

British motorcycle speedway season November 2023 November 2023 British League Division Two 10 Champions Belle Vue Colts Knockout Cup Canterbury Crusaders Individual Graham Plant Mick Handley British League (Div 1) 1964 1969 The 1968 British League Division Two season was the inaugural season of a second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/history/leaguetables1965-1990 BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990) Official British Speedway website 5 September 2021Rogers Martin The Illustrated History of Speedway 1978 129–133 Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd 0-904584-45-3 Summary The formation of a new division 2 was a success and attracted five new clubs to league speedway, the Nelson Admirals from Nelson in Lancashire,https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001805/19680531/431/0029 A cinders debut Nelson Leader 31 May 1968 British Newspaper Archive subscription 27 August 2024 the Crayford Highwaymen from east London,https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003546/19680503/263/0015 Speedway comes to Kent Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph 3 May 1968 British Newspaper Archive subscription 2 November 2024 the Canterbury Crusaders from Kent, the Berwick Bandits from Scotland and the Reading Racers. Additionally three other clubs, Middlesbrough, Plymouth and Rayleigh returned to league action having previously competed in the old defunct Provincial League and Weymouth returned after a 13-year absence.https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/board/71/teams Teams wwosbackup 5 September 2021http://www.speedwayplus.com/TearsAndGloryExtract.shtml Book Extract:Tears and Glory The Winged Wheel Story Speedway Plus 10 September 2021 Belle Vue Aces, members of the first division, fielded a reserve side known as Belle Vue Colts and won the first league title.Oakes Peter 1981 Speedway Yearbook 1981 101 Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd 0-86215-017-5 Colt's riders Taffy Owen, Ken Eyre, Eric Broadbelt and John Woodcock all scored heavily and ended with impressive averages.http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/p/compet.html Historic league tables Speedway Archive Canterbury in their first season of existence won the division 2 Knockout Cup beating another new team Reading in the final. Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Belle Vue Colts 18 14 0 4 282 Nelson Admirals 18 11 0 7 223 Middlesbrough Teessiders 18 10 1 7 214 Plymouth Devils 18 10 0 8 205 Rayleigh Rockets 18 9 1 8 196 Crayford Highwaymen 18 8 1 9 177 Canterbury Crusaders 18 8 1 9 178 Reading Racers 18 6 2 10 149 Weymouth Eagles 18 5 2 11 1210 Berwick Bandits 18 5 0 13 10 Fixtures and results main FBR grey BV BER CAN CRA MID NEL PLY RAY REA WEY Belle Vue 54–24 55–23 57–21 46–31 42–36 48–30 46–31 53–25 63–15 Berwick 28–49 52–26 44–33 38–40 37–41 37–41 47–31 41–34 43–33 Canterbury 38–39 40–37 40–37 42–36 46–32 43–35 39–39 45–33 44–34 Crayford 43–33 57–21 57–21 37–41 50–27 51–27 49–28 50–28 41–34 Middlesbrough 40–37 43–34 51–27 48–30 35–42 47–31 40–37 45–33 50–28 Nelson 46–32 54–23 40–37 46–32 43–35 55–21 46–31 53–25 43–35 Plymouth 43–35 43–35 47–31 54–24 53–25 50–28 48–30 42–36 41–36 Rayleigh 37–40 51–26 45–33 46–30 41–36 48–30 40–34 44–34 47–31 Reading 37–40 45–33 37–41 46–32 39–39 41–37 50–28 44–34 49–29 Weymouth 34–43 48–28 48–29 39–39 49–29 42–36 42–36 38–40 39–39 complete https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/1968.html Speedway Researcher 1968 fixtures & results 18 February 2025 Top five riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1= Mick Handley ENG Crayford 10.22 1= Mike Cake ENG Plymouth 10.22 3 Chris Bass AUS Plymouth 9.91 4 Dave Schofield ENG Nelson 9.82 5 Taffy Owen WAL Belle Vue 9.59 British League Division Two Knockout Cup The 1968 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the first edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams and coincided with the newly formed league.https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/yearbyyear.html Year by Year Speedway Researcher 5 September 2021 Previously the tier two and tier three teams had competed in the National Trophy until 1964, and although they held their own finals during some years it only served as qualification for the main competition. Canterbury Crusaders were the winners of the competition.http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/05/british-league-division-two-ko-cup-1968.html 1968 British League Division Two Knockout Cup Speedway archive First round Date Team one Score Team two26/08 Reading 52-44 Rayleigh Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two10/08 Canterbury 56-37 Crayford22/08 Middlesbrough 53-41 Nelson26/08 Reading 52-44 Plymouth24/08 Berwick 45-51 Belle Vue Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two30/09 Reading 56-40 Belle Vue07/09 Canterbury 64-31 Middlesbrough Final First leg 12 October 1968 Canterbury CrusadersPeter Murray 14Barry Crowson 14Martyn Piddock 13John Hibben 10Graham Miles 7Ken Vale 2Pat Flanagan 0 60 – 36 https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/1968record.pdf Season 1968 Speedway Researcher 5 September 2021 Reading RacersVic White 11John Poyser 8Ian Champion 6Stuart Wallace 4Phil Pratt 3Ted Spittles 2Dene Davies 2 Kingsmead Stadium Second leg 14 October 1968 Reading RacersJohn Poyser 17Vic White 11Ted Spittles 9Stuart Wallace 3Dene Davies 2Phil Pratt 1Ian Champion 1 44 – 52 Canterbury CrusadersPeter Murray 14Barry Crowson 12John Hibben 8Graham Miles 6Ken Vale 6Martyn Piddock 5Dave Grimley (guest) 1 Reading Stadium Canterbury were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 112–80. Riders' Championship Graham Plant aged just 19, won the Rider's Championship. The final was held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 27 September. Several riders were involved in a crash, which resulted in Chris Bailey (broken wrist) and Barry Crowson (suspected fractured thigh bone) going to hospital.Two in hospital after Big Speedway Pile-Up Daily Mirror 28 September 1968 13 June 2023 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19680928/300/0026 British Newspaper Archive subscription However, Crowson after receiving an all-clear rode for his parent club West Ham Hammers the following evening.https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005211/19690215/249/0025 Barry Crowson joins the Eagles Eastbourne Herald 15 February 1969 British Newspaper Archive subscription 4 October 2024 Pos. Rider Pts Total1 ENG Graham Plant 3 3 2 2 3132 ENG Ken Eyre 2 3 3 3 1 123 NZL Graeme Smith 1 2 3 2 3 114 ENG Mick Handley ex 3 2 3 3 115 NZL Murray Burt 3 f 3 2 3 116 NZL Allan Brown ex 2 3 3 2 10 7 ENG Mike Cake 3 1 1 3 2 108 ENG Tony Lomas 2 2 0 1 2 79 ENG John Poyser 2 r 1 2 1 610AUS John Woodcock f 2 2 ef 1 511 ENG Dave Schofield 1 1 1 1 1 5 12 ENG Martyn Piddock 0 0 2 1 2 5 13 ENG Barry Crowson 2 3 f 5 14 ENG Chris Bailey 3 f f 3 15 ENG Barry Duke (res) 1 1 ef 216 NZL Roy Williams 1 1 0 0 0 217 WAL Taffy Owen 0 1 0 0 0 1 18 ENG Mike Vernam (res) 0 0 0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure Leading final averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Mick Handley ENG Crayford Highwaymen 10.48 2 Mike Cake ENG Plymouth 10.22 3 Chris Bass AUS Plymouth 10.15 4 Peter Murray ENG Canterbury 10.05 5 Allan Brown NZL Middlesbrough 9.63 Riders & final averages Belle Vue Colts 22em Taffy Owen 9.35 Ken Eyre 8.94 Eric Broadbelt 8.15 John Woodcock 8.15 Chris Bailey 7.74 Ken Moss 6.33 Peter Thompson 5.93 Brian Bentley 5.49 Berwick 22em Bill McMillan 9.12 Roy Williams 7.85 Brian Whaley 7.69 Brian Black 6.81 Mark Hall 6.59 Lex Milloy 5.89 Grieves Davidson 4.53 Alex Nichol 3.51 Tom Blackwood 3.37 Colin Robertson 2.71 Canterbury 22em Peter Murray 10.05 Barry Crowson 8.44 Ken Vale 8.00 Martyn Piddock 7.96 John Hibben 6.85 Tyburn Gallows 4.91 Pat Flanagan 4.61 Chris Raines 4.57 Frank Wendon 4.30 Barry Lee 3.15 Crayford 22em Mick Handley 10.48 Tony Childs 7.68 Derek Timms 6.54 Colin Clark 6.05 Dai Evans 5.88 Geoff Ambrose 5.87 Stuart Riley 5.12 Tony Armstrong 4.31 Middlesbrough 22em Allan Brown 9.63 Graham Plant 8.54 Graham Edmonds 8.31 Tom Leadbitter 6.82 Terry Lee 6.78 Paul O'Neal 6.07 Pete Reading 4.75 Alan Palmer 3.25 John Spilsbury 2.09 Nelson 22em Dave Schofield 9.54 Alan Paynter 9.10 Murray Burt 8.76 Gary Peterson 8.14 Terry Shearer 6.76 Dave Beacon 5.79 Jack Winstanley 5.51 Paul Sharples 4.15 Plymouth 22em Mike Cake 10.22 Chris Bass 10.15 Phil Woodcock 6.67 Tony George 6.13 Dave Whittaker 6.08 Keith Marks 5.69 Frank Payne 5.07 Chris Roynon 4.75 Ian Gills 3.23 Rayleigh 22em Graeme Smith 7.55 Mike Gardner 7.49 Dennis Mannion 7.44 Dingle Brown 6.48 Laurie Etheridge 6.20 Geoff Maloney 6.06 Terry Stone 6.03 Colin Tucker 3.09 Reading 22em John Poyser 9.29 Ian Champion 6.91 Joe Weichlbauer 6.88 Ted Spittles 6.68 Stuart Wallace 6.20 Dene Davies 5.39 Ian Bottomley 4.91 Phil Pratt 4.59 Weymouth 22em Tony Lomas 9.39 Mike Vernam 7.94 Barry Duke 7.71 Chris Yeatman 6.14 Mick Steel 5.08 Roy Carter 4.58 Adrian Degan 3.05 Phil Arnold 2.72 See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway) References Category:Speedway British League Division Two / National League