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 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 ...

had disbanded for good at the end of the previous season, whilst

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 ...

moved up to the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed the ...

. Two newly created teams

Ellesmere Port Gunners Ellesmere Port Gunners were an English Motorcycle speedway, speedway team in Ellesmere Port, Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, which operated at the Ellesmere Port Stadium from 1972 until their closure in 1985. History The inaugural league season for th ...

and

Scunthorpe Saints The Scunthorpe Scorpions are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. They have raced at various times since 1972, at three different venues. History 1972–1978 The original Scunthorpe side were known as Scunthorpe Saints from 1972 ...

joined the league. The

Romford Bombers The Romford Bombers were a speedway team which operated from 1969 until their closure in 1971. History In 1969, a team known as the Rochester Bombers started the 1969 British League Division Two season, at Rochester in Kent. However the local co ...

promotion and team moved to the

West Ham Stadium West Ham Stadium was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in East London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Pri ...

replacing the defunct

West Ham Hammers The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team, first promoted by Jimmy Baxter in 1929. History They operated from the West Ham Stadium until the outbreak of World War II under several different promotions, most successfully under the control o ...

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 The Crewe Kings was a British Speedway team which operated in Crewe, Cheshire from 1969 until its closure in 1975. History The team first competed in 1969 promoted by Maury Littlechild for Allied Presentations who also promoted the Rayleigh R ...

won their first title and completed the league and cup double. Crewe were led by their Australian

Phil Crump Philip John Crump (born 9 February 1952) in Mildura, Victoria is a retired Australian Motorcycle speedway riderLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. who attained 3rd place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Spe ...

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 Garry Flood (born 1952) is an Australian former Motocross and motorcycle speedway rider who was eight times motocross champion of Australia and was capped by Australasia in speedway. Motocross career Flood won eight Australian Motocross Champi ...

. Flood would only ride the one season in speedway and would go on to win eight Australian Motocross Championships.

Final table

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1972 British League Division Two Knockout Cup (sponsored by the Speedway Express) was the fifth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams.

were the winners of the competition.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

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

Leading final averages

Riders' final averages

Barrow *Bob Coles 8.61 *Mike Sampson 8.35 *Mike Watkin 6.75 *Tom Owen 5.36 *Ian Hindle 4.95 *Chris Roynon 4.57 *Bobby Campbell 4.36 *Keith Evans 4.33 *Alan Mackie 3.69 Berwick *Jimmy Gallacher 8.35 *Andy Meldrum 8.35 *Doug Templeton 8.31 *Willie Templeton 7.27 *Jim Beaton 6.34 *Graham Jones 4.26 *George Beaton 4.00 *Geoff Davies 3.87 *Dennis Jackson 3.07 *Alistair Brady 2.53 Birmingham *Pete Bailey 9.57 *Arthur Browning 9.42 *

George Major George Major (born 26 October 1939) is a British former motorcycle speedway rider. Biography Born in Donnington, Oxfordshire,Hearn, Dan (2010)Speedway stars hold memorial reunion, ''Banbury Cake'', 9 October 2010, retrieved 2012-03-24 Major' ...

7.87 *Terry Shearer 7.55 *Mick Hines 7.34 *Malcolm Corradine 6.00 *Mike Lanham 5.94 *Cliff Emms 5.83 *Archie Wilkinson 5.00 *Mike Gardner 4.32 *Steve Wilson 3.84 Boston *

Arthur Price Arthur Price is a Sheffield-based manufacturer of cutlery and silverware, originally established in Birmingham, England in 1902, and later moving to Sheffield. It opened a subsidiary plant again in Birmingham and by the 1950s was the biggest ...

9.10 *Jim Ryman 8.58 *Russ Osborne 7.72 * Carl Glover 7.38 *Tony Featherstone 6.38 *

Ray Bales Raymond H. Bales (born 11 June 1951) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Biography Born in Norwich, Bales is the son of former international rider Billy Bales.Oakes, Peter & Mauger, Ivan (1976) ''Who's Who in World Speedway'', ...

6.27 *Vic Cross 5.87 *Jack Bywater 5.23 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 *Ross Gilbertson 9.46 *Graham Banks 7.62 *

Ted Hubbard Edward Raymond Hubbard nicknamed "Hurricane Hubbard" (born in Lydden, England) was a motorcycle speedway rider in National League (speedway) and British League. Career Hubbard was a popular sportsman who rode chiefly for Canterbury Crusaders ...

7.26 *Dave Piddock 7.03 *Bob Hughes 6.46 *

Barney Kennett Brian 'Barney' Kennett (born 1955) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England, who raced in the British National League. Born in Orpington, he is part of a speedway family which includes brothers Gordon Kennett and Dave Kennett, and nep ...

6.25 * Les Rumsey 4.87 *Trevor Jones 4.31 *Charlie Benham 3.49 *Mike Vernam 3.33 *Gary Cottham Sr. 3.20 Crewe *

11.13 *

John Jackson John or Johnny Jackson may refer to: Entertainment Art * John Baptist Jackson (1701–1780), British artist * John Jackson (painter) (1778–1831), British painter * John Jackson (engraver) (1801–1848), English wood engraver * John Richardson ...

10.03 *

8.40 *Dai Evans 12 *Dave Morton 6.60 *Dave Parry 5.76 *Peter Nicholas 5.00 *Garry Moore 4.56 Eastbourne *

Malcolm Ballard Malcolm J. Ballard (born 6 August 1948) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Ballard learned to ride a speedway bike at Eastbourne's winter training school, and signed for Division Two Eastbourne Eagles in 1971.Jones, Ala ...

9.94 *

Gordon Kennett Gordon William Kennett (born 2 September 1953) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. In 1978 he won the World Pairs Championship with Malcolm Simmons. He also finished runner-up to Ole Olsen in the 1978 Speedway World Championship at Wembley. ...

8.68 *Bobby McNeil 7.84 * Roger Johns 7.24 *Reg Trott 5.60 *Trevor Geer 5.51 *Derek Cook 5.42 *

Paul Gachet Paul-Ferdinand Gachet (30 July 1828 – 9 January 1909) was a French physician most famous for treating the painter Vincent van Gogh during his last weeks in Auvers-sur-Oise. Gachet was a great supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement ...

5.14 *Simon Bruce 3.91 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 Geoffrey Alan "Geoff" Bouchard (born 5 September 1948) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Biography Geoff Bouchard was born in Leicester in 1948.Oakes, Peter (1976) ''Who's Who of World Speedway'', Studio Publications, , p. 20 ...

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

References

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