1969 British League Division Two Season
The 1969 British League Division Two season was the second season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Summary The league expanded from 10 to 16 teams in its second season. Weymouth Eagles dropped out after just one season. The seven new entrants included three newly created teams called the Crewe Kings, Doncaster Stallions and the Rochester Bombers. The King's Lynn Starlets who were the reserve side of the Stars also entered, along with Ipswich Witches who returned to league action (their first since 1962), the Long Eaton Rangers (formerly the Archers), and the Eastbourne Eagles (first since 1959). The Rochester Bombers team moved to Romford from 10 May, after the local council refused to give permission for racing and became known as the Romford Bombers. Belle Vue Colts completed the league and cup double, which included retaining their league title. Ken Eyre and Eric Broadbelt were once again instrumental in helping the Colts win again and they were bac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British League Division Two
The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the National League between 1976 and 1990. History After the formation of the British League in 1965, riders wanting to break into teams found it more difficult to do so. The idea of forming a second division was suggested and in 1968 the idea became a reality when ten teams formed the league. The ten teams were: Belle Vue Colts, Berwick Bandits, Canterbury Crusaders, Crayford Highwaymen, Middlesbrough Teessiders, Nelson Admirals, Plymouth Devils, Rayleigh Rockets, Reading Racers and the Weymouth Eagles. The league was renamed the New National League (to avoid confusion with the original National League) in 1975 after promoters of the Division Two tracks decided to form their own league after they became dissatisfied with the way the league was being run by the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Romford
Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford was a market town in the county of Essex, and formed the administrative centre of the liberty of Havering before that liberty was dissolved in 1892. Good road links to London and the opening of the railway station in 1839 were key to the development of the town. The economic history of Romford is characterised by a shift from agriculture to light industry and then to retail and commerce. As part of the suburban growth of London throughout the 20th century, Romford significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1937 and was incorporated into Greater London in 1965. Today, it is one of the largest commercial, retail, entertainment and leisure districts in London and has a well-developed night-time econom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hackney Wick Stadium
Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west side of the Waterden Road. The stadium was constructed from September 1931 until 1932 and cost £70,000 to build and after completion £18,000 in wages had been paid to the builders. Opening Hackney opened On Friday 8 April 1932 under the affiliation of the British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS) the rival to the larger National Greyhound Racing Club. Thirteen thousand people attended the first night and witnessed Marjorie Graves, MP for South Hackney officially open the track. The capacity of the track was put between 30,000 and 50,000 and a totalisator had been installed for the first night. A greyhound called Bullseye became the first ever winner at the track. Although the meeting was advertised as the first official meeting ther ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hyde Road (speedway)
Hyde Road Stadium, in Manchester, England, often referred to as Belle Vue was the home of the Belle Vue Aces speedway team. The stadium's capacity was 40,000 and it was built in 1928 and used until demolished in 1987. It was claimed, incorrectly, to have been the first purpose-built speedway track in Britain. History Part of the complex of buildings and attractions that formed Belle Vue Zoological Gardens the Hyde Road stadium was originally constructed in 1886 as an athletics ground. It was named after Hyde Road, a road which begins at the east end of Ardwick Green South in Ardwick and runs east towards Hyde. At the boundary between Gorton and Denton it continues as Manchester Road. In 1928 the owners of the gardens decided to convert the stadium for use as a speedway venue. The opening speedway meeting here was staged on 23 March 1929, when Arthur Franklyn won the Golden Helmet. Following the announcement that Stuart Bamforth had sold the stadium for redevelopment, the la ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Plymouth Devils
The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. Under several names Plymouth have competed during various seasons from 1932. The club was reformed after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006 by former St Austell Gulls rider Mike Bowden In 2021 the club successfully applied to join the British second division, the SGB Championship. The team names included Tigers, Panthers, Devils and Bulldogs History 1932–1937 Plymouth's original home was Pennycross Stadium. As the Plymouth Tigers they competed in the first National League season in the 1932 Speedway National League. The Tigers became the Panthers for the 1936 season and the stadium was used in 1937. 1947–1954 The stadium re-opened in 1947 when the Devils raced in the 1947 Speedway National League Division Three. Apart from short spells in the Second Division the team operated at this level until 1954. In 1952, the team achieved their first major success, winning the Division three section of the N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Berwick Bandits
The Berwick Bandits are a British speedway club, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They currently compete in the SGB Championship, racing at Shielfield Park, with home matches usually taking place on Saturday evenings. They also run a second team in the National Development League, known as the Berwick Bullets. History 1968–1981 Berwick have been operational in consecutive seasons from 1968 (as founder members of British League Division Two) through to the present day. From 1968 to 1980 they competed in division 2, either in the British League Division 2, or under the new name of the National League (NL). The team won their first honour during the 1980 National League season after winning the Division 2 Knockout Cup. In 1980, Berwick left Shielfield Park after a disagreement with the landlords Berwick Rangers FC. They raced their remaining fixtures as 'Nomads' including racing the second leg of the KO cup final at Brough Park Newcastle. In 1981 the Bandits were still homeless and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nelson Admirals
The Nelson Admirals were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from Seedhill Stadium in Nelson, Lancashire, from 1967 to 1970. History Nelson were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968 and finished runners-up in its inaugural season. The following season the team finished 13th. In June 1970, halfway through the season, promoters Les Whaley, Mike Parker and Bill Bridgett moved the British League Division Two side across the Pennines to Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 .... Season summary References Defunct British speedway teams {{motorcycle-speedway-team-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Long Eaton Speedway
Long Eaton motorcycle speedway teams operated from 1950 until 1997 in Long Eaton, England. Teams have raced at the Long Eaton Stadium as the Long Eaton Archers, Long Eaton Rangers, Nottingham Outlaws and the Long Eaton Invaders. The Invaders returned in 2011, with home meetings taking place at the Leicester Lions' track. History Speedway events had been hosted at Long Eaton from as early as 1929, the first meeting being on 18 May 1929. The team were founder members of the 1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League but withdrew and had their results expunged. The ''Derby Evening Telegraph'' described the oval circuit as having four laps to the mile, with straights and the bends 'to allow broadsiding at 60 mph'. The last meeting of this era was on 10 June 1930. Speedway events returned to Long Eaton in 1950 with a team initially called the "Archers". The team operated until 1953 when the promotion closed. The "Archers" name was again used when the track re-opened in 1963 un ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Middlesbrough Bears
The Middlesbrough Bears were a British speedway team which operated under various names from 1939 until their closure in 1996. History The team was initially nicknamed the Bears in 1939 by the club's general manager Vic Wieland. The track at Cleveland Park, which operated in the pioneer days of the late 1920s, was promoted by Albion Auto Racers of Stockport, Cheshire, ran sporadically throughout the 1930s and for a short spell in 1939, staged a couple of open meetings in 1945, then saw competitive league speedway from 1946 until 1948. The Bears won the Northern League in 1946 and Division Two in 1947 before the promotion moved to Newcastle in 1949. The Bears nickname was again used when the track re-opened in 1961 under the guidance of former rider turned promoter Reg Fearman, who was a multi track promoter and one of the brains behind setting up the Provincial League. At the end of the 1964 season the Bears team moved to Halifax and the track staged challenge matches in 1965 an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Canterbury Crusaders (speedway)
The Canterbury Crusaders were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Kingsmead Stadium, Kingsmead Road, Canterbury from 1968 to 1987. For all of their 20-year existence, the Crusaders operated at the second level of British league speedway, in British League Division Two and the National League. History Canterbury were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968. The first meeting at Kingsmead, on 18 May 1968, saw the Crusaders narrowly lose a British League Division Two fixture 38–39 to Belle Vue Colts. The Colts and the Crusaders had contested the first ever Division Two fixture ten days previously at Belle Vue on 8 May, when the Colts won 55–23. The Crusaders' first league title was won in 1970, and a second championship was to follow in 1978. In 1977 the promoters Johnnie Hoskins and Wally Mawdsley had to go to court in order to keep the Kingsmead track open after complaints of noise from local residents. However, the team were forced to disband in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rayleigh Rockets
The Rayleigh Rockets were a Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex . History The Rockets inaugural league season was in 1949 Speedway National League Division Three, where they finished in 12th place. After two more seasons in Division Three they joined the Southern League (which was a new name for the third division). The became champions of the league in 1952 and 1953. The Rockets closed in 1958 but re-opened again in 1960 and entered the Provincial League. The Provincial league was the second division of speedway at the time and Rayleigh won their third piece of silverware after winning the 1960 Provincial Speedway League. In 1964, they entered a regional Metropolitan League but this was the last league racing seen until 1968, when Len Silver took over as promoter. The Rockets rode at the stadium until 1973 when it was announced that the stadium had been sold to developers and the Rockets would ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crayford Kestrels
The Crayford Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1968 until their closure in 1983. They were based at Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium in Crayford. History Crayford were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968 and finished in sixth place in its inaugural season. The team were known as the Crayford Highwaymen from 1968 until 1970 but were disbanded after the 1970 season. Speedway returned to the stadium in 1975 with a team nicknamed the Kestrels. They competed for nine years, with their most successful season being the third place finish during the 1983 National League season The 1983 National League was the second tier of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom. Summary The winning team was Newcastle Diamonds. After the tragedy of losing a rider the previous season Milton Keynes endured a second loss when ... although they did win the Four-Team Championship in 1980. The team were forced to relocate for the 1984 season as the stadium ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |