The 1970 British League Division Two season was the third season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

Team changes

The league expanded from 16 to 17 teams in its third season.

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 r ...

dropped out but two new teams had been created and joined the league, they were the

Workington Comets The Workington Comets are a British speedway club, based in Workington, Cumbria, racing out of the Northside Training Track. The team previously operated from 1970 to 2018 and were based at Derwent Park Stadium which they shared with Workingt ...

and

Peterborough Panthers The Peterborough Panthers are a British speedway team based in Peterborough, England. They are three times champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest level league in 1999, 2006 and 2021. History 1970–1994 The Panthers inaugural se ...

. Before the season got underway the 1968 and 1969 champions

Belle Vue Colts The Belle Vue Colts are the junior youth development team of the Belle Vue Aces, one of the World's most famous motorcycle speedway team, based in Manchester in the northwest of England. History Belle Vue first operated a reserve team during the ...

disbanded with most of their riders and the promotion team moving to Rochdale and becoming the

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

changed their nickname from Stallions to Dragons.

Summary

Two teams changed venue during the season. In July, the

Nelson Admirals The Nelson Admirals were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from Seedhill Stadium in Nelson, Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North ...

moved Bradford to become

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

and in August, the King's Lynn Starlets promotion moved to Boston and became the

Boston Barracudas The Boston Barracudas were a speedway team that competed from 1970 to 1987 and again from 2000 to 2008. the team were based at Boston Sports Stadium in New Hammond Beck Road, Boston, Lincolnshire. History 1970–1987 The Boston Barracudas were ...

Canterbury Crusaders The Crusaders (formerly Canterbury Crusaders and BNZ Crusaders due to sponsorship by the Bank of New Zealand) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the mos ...

won their first title. New Zealander

Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held th ...

averaged 10.49 for the Crusaders and was well backed up by Barry Crowson (9.17) and Barry Thomas (9.11). Another New Zealander Gary Peterson topped the averages riding initially for the Nelson Admirals and then Bradford Northern.

Final table

Top Five Riders

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1970 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams.

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first ra ...

were the winners of the competition defeating Berwick Bandits in the final. The Bandits were surprise finalists given their final league placing which was second from bottom of the table.

First round

+ first match abandoned with score at 25-17

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Second leg Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82–74.

References

{{Speedway British League Division Two seasons Speedway British League Division Two / National League