1972 British League Division Two season


The 1972 British League Division Two season was the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

Summary

The league still consisted of 17 teams with two teams leaving the league and two teams entering. The Rochdale Hornets had disbanded for good at the end of the previous season, whilst Ipswich Witches moved up to the British League. Two newly created teams Ellesmere Port Gunners and Scunthorpe Saints joined the league. The Romford Bombers promotion and team moved to the West Ham Stadium replacing the defunct West Ham Hammers at the stadium but halfway through the season, they moved again to become Barrow Happy Faces as their sponsor at the time was Duckhams Oil - its happy face logo was prominently displayed on the team's race jackets.
Crewe Kings won their first title and completed the league and cup double. Crewe were led by their Australian Phil Crump who finished top of the league averages and won the Riders' Championship. John Jackson also finished with an impressive average, as did their new signing Australian international Garry Flood. Flood would only ride the one season in speedway and would go on to win eight Australian Motocross Championships.

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1972 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the fifth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Crewe Kings were the winners of the competition.
First round
DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
01/05 Crewe49-29Ellesmere Port
02/05 Ellesmere Port33-45Crewe

Second round
DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
05/06 Crewe 59-19Scunthorpe
04/06 Scunthorpe 19-59Crewe
04/06 Sunderland 55-23Workington
09/06 Workington 46-31Sunderland
25/06 Eastbourne 50-28Long Eaton
08/06 Long Eaton 38-40Eastbourne
04/06 Boston46-32Rayleigh
17/06 Rayleigh 43-35Boston
09/06 Peterborough 52-26Barrow
13/06 Barrow 36-42Peterborough
07/06 Bradford 52-26Berwick
10/06 Berwick39-38 Bradford
05/06 Birmingham 43-35Canterbury
10/06 Canterbury 41-37Birmingham
08/06Teesside 48-30Hull
07/06 Hull40-38Teesside

Quarter-finals
DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
03/07 Crewe53-25Sunderland
03/07 Sunderland 42-36 Crewe
09/07Eastbourne45-33 Boston
02/07 Boston40-38Eastbourne
07/07 Peterborough36-14 Bradford
05/07 Bradford 45-33Peterborough
03/07 Birmingham 48-30 Teesside
06/07 Teesside 41-37Birmingham

'''Semi-finals'''

Final

First leg
Second leg
Crewe were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 89–67.

Riders' Championship

Phil Crump won the Rider's Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 14 October.
Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1

Riders' final averages

Barrow
Berwick
Birmingham
Boston
Bradford
  • Dave Baugh 8.69
  • Alan Knapkin 8.11
  • Robin Adlington 7.89
  • Colin Meredith 5.92
  • Alf Wells 5.92
  • Alan Bridget 5.82
  • Barry Meeks 4.81
  • Sid Sheldrick 4.73
  • Mick Fielding 3.88
  • Mick Fairbairn 3.54
Canterbury
Crewe
Eastbourne
Ellesmere Port
  • Paul Tyrer 8.47
  • Graham Drury 6.56
  • Colin Goad 6.42
  • Robbie Gardner 6.40
  • Cyril Francis 5.65
  • Ian Gills 5.41
  • Chris Blythe 4.50
  • Paul Callaghan 4.45
  • Geoff Pusey 1.90
Hull
  • Tony Childs 9.03
  • Dave Mills 8.59
  • Robin Amundson 7.73
  • Stan Stevens 6.76
  • Dennis Gavros 5.71
  • Bryan Loakes 5.40
  • Pete Boston 4.95
  • Clark Facey 4.54
  • Dennis Wasden 4.31
  • Colin Tucker 4.15
  • Bernie Hornby 1.82
Long Eaton
  • Geoff Bouchard 8.06
  • Roger Mills 7.95
  • Joe Hughes 6.29
  • Steve Bass 5.77
  • Chris Harrison 4.42
  • Peter Jarvis 4.05
  • Cliff Emms 3.40
  • Phil Whittaker 3.39
  • Gil Farmer 3.06
  • Ian Champion 2.67
  • Brian Woodhouse 1.56
Peterborough
Rayleigh
  • Geoff Maloney 10.34
  • Bob Young 8.74
  • Brian Foote 8.67
  • Allan Emmett 8.21
  • Trevor Barnwell 6.22
  • Dingle Brown 6.12
  • Dave "Tiger" Beech 5.90
  • Nigel Rackett 5.12
  • Ivan Miller 5.04
  • Peter Claridge 4.38
  • Terry Stone 3.79
Scunthorpe
  • Brian Maxted 6.36
  • Terry Kelly 6.00
  • Ray Watkins 5.80
  • Phil Bass 5.78
  • Doug Underwood 5.08
  • Ian Wilson 5.00
  • Rod Haynes 4.79
  • Brian Osborn 4.07
  • Alan Bellham 3.70
  • John Bowerman 3.67
  • Peter Taylor 2.82
Sunderland
Teesside
Workington
  • Taffy Owen 8.8
  • Lou Sansom 8.53
  • Malcolm MacKay 8.47
  • Mitch Graham 6.43
  • Kym Amundson 5.89
  • Steve Watson 5.13
  • Dave Kumeta 4.04
  • Darryl Stobbart 4.00
  • Lindsay Davies 3.71