1973 British League Division Two season explained

Competition:British League Division Two
Competitors:18
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Boston Barracudas
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Boston Barracudas
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:Arthur Price
Highest Average:Lou Sansom
League Above:British League (Div 1)
Prevseason:1972
Nextseason:1974

The 1973 British League Division Two season was the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

The 1973 season saw the league expanded to 18 teams with the addition of Chesterton Potters.[2] The team had last raced during the 1963 Provincial Speedway League season under the name of the Stoke Potters.[3]

Boston Barracudas won their first title and went on to win the league and cup double.[4] [5] Boston had finished runner-up to Crewe Kings the previous season, with decent season averages recorded by five riders Arthur Price, Jim Ryman, Carl Glover, Russ Osborne and Ray Bales. With a largely unchanged team, they went one place better by sealing the league title. Boston won easily, 14 points clear of their nearest rival, and four of the five riders improved their averages from 1972. Arthur Price also won the Riders' Championship.[6]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Boston Barracudas33290458
2Workington Comets342121144
3Eastbourne Eagles341921340
4Peterborough Panthers341911439
5Birmingham Brummies341901538
6Teesside Tigers341901538
7Bradford Northern341801636
8Crewe Kings341711635
9Long Eaton Rangers331611633
10Barrow Bombers341521732
11Sunderland Stars341521732
12Hull Vikings341351731
13Chesterton Potters341411929
14Ellesmere Port Gunners341402028
15Canterbury Crusaders341321928
16Scunthorpe Saints321212125
17Berwick Bandits321112223
18Rayleigh Rockets34932221

Top Five Riders (Leading Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Lou SansomWorkington Comets10.56
2Alan KnapkinBradford Northern10.04
3Jack MillenSunderland9.80
4Carl GloverBoston9.56
5Ken McKinlayScunthorpe9.50

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1973 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the sixth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Boston Barracudas were the winners of the competition.[7]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
19/05Canterbury44-34 Eastbourne
13/05Eastbourne37-41 Canterbury
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
03/06Boston58-20 Crewe
04/06Crewe44-34 Boston
08/06Peterborough56-22 Barrow
05/06Barrow45-32 Peterborough
13/06Bradford48-29 Ellesmere Port
05/06Ellesmere Port42-35 Bradford
04/06Birmingham46-32 Scunthorpe
03/06Scunthorpe38-40 Birmingham
08/06Workington45-33 Berwick
09/06Berwick42-36 Workington
31/05Teesside48-30 Sunderland
08/06Sunderland38-40 Teesside
09/06Rayleigh46-32 Hull
30/05Hull43-34 Rayleigh
07/06Long Eaton48-30 Canterbury
09/06Canterbury42-36 Long Eaton
Quarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
24/06Boston50-28 Peterborough
29/06Peterborough37-41 Boston
04/07Bradford48-30 Birmingham
02/07Birmingham47-31 Bradford
27/07Workington53-25 Teesside
26/07Teesside44-33 Workington
21/07Rayleigh49-29 Long Eaton
26/07Long Eaton36-42 Rayleigh
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
19/08Boston 46-32 Bradford
22/08Bradford43-35Boston
30/08Workington60-18 Rayleigh
18/08Rayleigh43-35 Workington

Final

First leg

Second leg

Boston were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 89–66.

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Lou SansomWorkington10.50
2Alan KnapkinBradford Northern10.03
3Jack MillenSunderland9.74
4Ken McKinlayScunthorpe9.69
5Carl GloverBoston9.62

Riders' Championship

Arthur Price won the Rider's Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 6 October.[8]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal
1 3 2 1 3 3 12+3
2 2 3 3 1 3 12+2
3 3 1 2 3 3 12+1
4 3 3 3 2 f 11
5 3 2 3 3 f 11
6 1 0 3 3 3 10
7 2 3 1 2 2 10
8 0 3 2 2 2 9
91 1 2 1 2 7
10 1 0 1 2 1 5
11 0 2 0 1 2 5
12 ef 2 2 0 4
13 2 1 ex 3
14 Jim Wells (res) 2 0 0 1 0 3
15 Willie Templeton (res) 1 0 1 1 3
16 fx 0 f 1 1
17 1 f 1
18 Bob Young (res) 1 f 1

Riders & final averages

Barrow

Berwick

Birmingham

Boston

Bradford

Canterbury

Chesterton

Crewe

Eastbourne

Ellesmere Port

Hull

Long Eaton

Peterborough

Rayleigh

Scunthorpe

Sunderland

Teesside

Workington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
  3. Web site: Stoke Speedway (Loomer Road). Defunct Speedway. 18 September 2021.
  4. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
  5. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 101. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
  6. Web site: teams. wwosbackup. 18 September 2021.
  7. Web site: 1973 British League Division Two Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  8. News: Price takes Crump's crown . Lynn Advertiser . 9 October 1973 . 17 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .

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