| Competition: | British League Division Two |
| Competitors: | 17 |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Canterbury Crusaders |
| Domesticcup2: | Knockout Cup |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Ipswich Witches |
| Domesticcup3: | Individual |
| Domesticcup3 Winners: | Dave Jessup |
| Highest Average: | Gary Peterson |
| League Above: | British League (Div 1) |
| Prevseason: | 1969 |
| Nextseason: | 1971 |
The 1970 British League Division Two season was the third season of second tier motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1] [2]
The league expanded from 16 to 17 teams in its third season. Plymouth Devils dropped out and were replaced by Peterborough Panthers. Peterborough promoted by Allied Presentations (headed by Maurice Littlechild) were to race at the East of England Showground.[3] [4]
Workington Comets under the promotion of Ian Thomas and Jeff Brownhut also joined the league and raced at Derwent Park.[5] [6]
Before the season got underway the 1968 and 1969 champions Belle Vue Colts disbanded with most of their riders and the promotion team moving to Rochdale and becoming the Rochdale Hornets.[7] Doncaster changed their nickname from Stallions to Dragons.
Two teams changed venue during the season. The first was in July when the Nelson Admirals moved to Bradford to become Bradford Northern.[8] The second saw promoters Cyril Crane and Gordon Perkins receive planning permission to construct a track at the Boston Sports Stadium and the promoters bought the second tier team known as the King's Lynn Starlets from Maurice Littlechild.[9]
Canterbury Crusaders won their first title.[10] [11] New Zealander Graeme Smith averaged 10.49 for the Crusaders and was well backed up by Barry Crowson (9.17) and Barry Thomas (9.11).[12] Another New Zealander Gary Peterson topped the averages riding initially for the Nelson Admirals and then Bradford Northern.
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canterbury Crusaders | 32 | 23 | 1 | 8 | 47 | |
| 2 | Eastbourne Eagles | 32 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 45 | |
| 3 | Rochdale Hornets | 32 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 44 | |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 32 | 21 | 2 | 9 | 37 | |
| 5 | Middlesbrough Teessiders | 32 | 18 | 0 | 14 | 36 | |
| 6 | Ipswich Witches | 32 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 36 | |
| 7 | Crewe Kings | 32 | 17 | 1 | 14 | 35 | |
| 8 | Romford Bombers | 32 | 17 | 1 | 14 | 35 | |
| 9 | Reading Racers | 32 | 17 | 0 | 15 | 34 | |
| 10 | Peterborough Panthers | 32 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 30 | |
| 11 | Workington Comets | 32 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 27 | |
| 12 | Rayleigh Rockets | 32 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 27 | |
| 13 | Boston Barracudas | 32 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 26 | |
| 14 | Crayford Highwaymen | 32 | 11 | 1 | 20 | 23 | |
| 15 | Doncaster Dragons | 32 | 11 | 1 | 20 | 23 | |
| 16 | Berwick Bandits | 32 | 10 | 0 | 22 | 20 | |
| 17 | Long Eaton Rangers | 32 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 19 |
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Peterson | Bradford Northern | 10.79 | ||
| 2 | Graeme Smith | Canterbury | 10.41 | ||
| 3 | Eric Broadbelt | Rochdale | 10.08 | ||
| 4 | Paul O'Neil | Crewe | 9.91 | ||
| 5 | Archie Wilkinson | Crayford | 9.85 |
The 1970 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Ipswich Witches 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.[13]
First round
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/04 | Rayleigh | 48-30 | Peterborough | ||||
| 19/04 | Rochdale | 43-35 | Long Eaton | ||||
| 20/04 | Crewe | 49-29 | Nelson | ||||
| 26/04 | Eastbourne | 34-44 | Canterbury | ||||
| 30/04 | Ipswich | 51-27+ | Crayford | ||||
| 02/05 | Berwick | 53-25 | Doncaster | ||||
| 07/05 | Teesside | 54-24 | King's Lynn | ||||
| 07/05 | Romford | 48-30 | Reading |
Quarter-finals
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17/05 | Rochdale | 48-30 | Romford | ||||
| 21/05 | Ipswich | 46-31 | Rayleigh | ||||
| 23/05 | Berwick | 40-36 | Teesside | ||||
| 06/06 | Canterbury | 52-26 | Crewe |
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/07 | Berwick | 44-34 | Canterbury | ||||
| 27/08 | Ipswich | 42-36 | Rochdale |
First leg
Second leg
Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82–74.
Dave Jessup won the Rider's Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 25 September. Jessup was aged just 17 at the time.[14]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=180px | Rider | width=100px | Pts | width=50px | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 | |||||
| 2 | 2 3 3 2 2 | 12+3 | |||||
| 3 | 2 3 1 3 3 | 12+2 | |||||
| 4 | 3 1 2 2 3 | 11 | |||||
| 5 | 3 2 3 1 1 | 10 | |||||
| 6 | f 3 2 3 1 | 9 | |||||
| 7 | 2 2 3 2 0 | 9 | |||||
| 8 | 1 1 3 3 | 8 | |||||
| 9 | 1 2 2 ef 2 | 7 | |||||
| 10 | 3 ef 2 2 0 | 7 | |||||
| 11 | 1 0 1 1 2 | 5 | |||||
| 12 | 2 2 0 1 0 | 5 | |||||
| 13 | 0 1 1 1 1 | 4 | |||||
| 14 | ex 0 0 0 | 3 | |||||
| 15 | 1 1 ef 0 | 3 | |||||
| 16 | 1 0 0 r | 1 | |||||
| 17 | Ken Vale (res) | 0 | 0 |
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Peterson | Bradford Northern/Nelson | 10.76 | ||
| 2 | Graeme Smith | Canterbury | 10.49 | ||
| 3 | Eric Broadbelt | Rochdale | 10.07 | ||
| 5 | Taffy Owen | Workington | 9.94 | ||
| 5 | Paul O'Neil | Crewe | 9.69 |
Berwick
Boston/King's Lynn (Boston took over fixtures mid-season)
Bradford (Bradford took over Nelson's fixtures mid-season)
Canterbury
Crayford
Crewe
Doncaster
Eastbourne
Ipswich
Long Eaton
Middlesbrough
Peterborough
Rayleigh
Reading
Rochdale
Romford
Workington