| Competition: | British League Division Two |
| Competitors: | 10 |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup2: | Knockout Cup |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Canterbury Crusaders |
| Domesticcup3: | Individual |
| Domesticcup3 Winners: | Graham Plant |
| Highest Average: | Mick Handley |
| League Above: | British League (Div 1) |
| Prevseason: | 1964 |
| Nextseason: | 1969 |
The 1968 British League Division Two season was the inaugural season of a second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1] [2]
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, the Crayford Highwaymen from east London, 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.[3] [4]
Belle Vue Aces, members of the first division, fielded a reserve side known as Belle Vue Colts and won the first league title.[5] Colt's riders Taffy Owen, Ken Eyre, Eric Broadbelt and John Woodcock all scored heavily and ended with impressive averages.[6] Canterbury in their first season of existence won the division 2 Knockout Cup beating another new team Reading in the final.[4]
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
| 1 | 18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 28 | ||
| 2 | Nelson Admirals | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 22 | |
| 3 | Middlesbrough Teessiders | 18 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 21 | |
| 4 | Plymouth Devils | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 20 | |
| 5 | Rayleigh Rockets | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 19 | |
| 6 | Crayford Highwaymen | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 17 | |
| 7 | Canterbury Crusaders | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 17 | |
| 8 | Reading Racers | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 14 | |
| 9 | Weymouth Eagles | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 12 | |
| 10 | Berwick Bandits | 18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 10 |
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
| 1= | Mick Handley | Crayford Highwaymen | 10.22 | |
| 1= | Mike Cake | Plymouth Devils | 10.22 | |
| 3 | Chris Bass | Plymouth Devils | 9.91 | |
| 4 | Dave Schofield | Nelson Admirals | 9.82 | |
| 5 | Taffy Owen | Belle Vue Colts | 9.59 | |
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.[7]
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.[8]
First round
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26/08 | Reading | 52-44 | Rayleigh |
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/08 | Canterbury | 56-37 | Crayford | ||||
| 22/08 | Middlesbrough | 53-41 | Nelson | ||||
| 26/08 | Reading | 52-44 | Plymouth | ||||
| 24/08 | Berwick | 45-51 | Belle Vue |
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30/09 | Reading | 56-40 | Belle Vue | ||||
| 07/09 | Canterbury | 64-31 | Middlesbrough |
First leg
Second leg
Canterbury were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 112–80.
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 (fractured thigh bone) going to hospital.[9]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=180px | Rider | width=100px | Pts | width=50px | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 3 2 2 3 | 13 | |||||
| 2 | 2 3 3 3 1 | 12 | |||||
| 3 | 1 2 3 2 3 | 11 | |||||
| 4 | ex 3 2 3 3 | 11 | |||||
| 5 | 3 f 3 2 3 | 11 | |||||
| 6 | ex 2 3 3 2 | 10 | |||||
| 7 | 3 1 1 3 2 | 10 | |||||
| 8 | 2 2 0 1 2 | 7 | |||||
| 9 | John Poyser | 2 r 1 2 1 | 6 | ||||
| 10 |  John Woodcock | f 2 2 ef 1 | 5 | ||||
| 11 | Dave Schofield | 1 1 1 1 1 | 5 | ||||
| 12 | Martyn Piddock | 0 0 2 1 2 | 5 | ||||
| 13 | 2 3 f | 5 | |||||
| 14 | Chris Bailey | 3 f f | 3 | ||||
| 15 | Barry Duke (res) | 1 1 ef | 2 | ||||
| 16 | 1 1 0 0 0 | 2 | |||||
| 17 | 0 1 0 0 0 | 1 | |||||
| 18 | Mike Vernam (res) | 0 0 0 | 0 |
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | ||
| 1 | Mick Handley | Crayford Highwaymen | 10.48 | ||
| 2 | Mike Cake | Plymouth | 10.22 | ||
| 3 | Chris Bass | Plymouth | 10.15 | ||
| 4 | Peter Murray | Canterbury | 10.05 | ||
| 5 | Allan Brown | Middlesbrough | 9.63 |
Belle Vue Colts
Berwick
Canterbury
Crayford
Middlesbrough
Nelson
Plymouth
Rayleigh
Reading
Weymouth