1972 British League Division Two season

1972 British League Division Two season
League	British League Division Two
No. of competitors	17
Champions	Crewe Kings
Knockout Cup	Crewe Kings
Individual	Phil Crump
Highest average	Phil Crump
Division/s above	British League (Div 1)
	← 1971; 1973 →;

The 1972 British League Division Two season was the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]^[2]

Summary

The league still consisted of 17 teams with two teams leaving the league and two teams entering. The Rochdale Hornets had disbanded for good at the end of the previous season, whilst Ipswich Witches moved up to the British League. Two newly created teams Ellesmere Port Gunners and Scunthorpe Saints joined the league. The Romford Bombers promotion and team moved to the West Ham Stadium replacing the defunct West Ham Hammers 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.^[3]

Crewe Kings won their first title and completed the league and cup double.^[4]^[5] Crewe were led by their Australian Phil Crump 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. Flood would only ride the one season in speedway and would go on to win eight Australian Motocross Championships.^[3]^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Crewe Kings	32	22	1	9	45
2	Boston Barracudas	32	21	1	10	43
3	Peterborough Panthers	32	21	0	11	42
4	Rayleigh Rockets	32	17	4	11	38
5	Eastbourne Eagles	32	18	2	12	38
6	Birmingham Brummies	32	18	1	13	37
7	Workington Comets	32	18	0	14	36
8	Hull Vikings	32	16	0	16	32
9	Barrow Happy Faces	32	15	1	16	31
10	Teesside Teessiders	32	14	3	15	31
11	Bradford Northern	32	15	0	17	30
12	Sunderland Stars	32	13	2	17	28
13	Canterbury Crusaders	32	13	1	18	27
14	Berwick Bandits	32	12	3	17	27
15	Ellesmere Port Gunners	32	12	0	20	24
16	Long Eaton Rangers	32	11	2	19	24
17	Scunthorpe Saints	32	5	1	26	11

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	BAR	BER	BIR	BOS	BRA	CAN	CK	EAS	EP	HV	LE	MID	PET	RAY	SCU	SUN	WOR
Barrow/Romford/WH		46–32	43–35	43–35	48–29	42–36	44–33	45–32	55–23	38–40	53–25	51–27	37–41	43–35	43–34	45–33	36–42
Berwick	42–36		31–46	45–33	49–29	39–39	39–39	40–37	42–36	40–38	55–23	46–32	37–41	39–39	40–38	46–32	41–37
Birmingham	42–36	48–29		39–39	51–27	48–30	43–35	48–30	52–26	44–34	62–15	45–32	57–21	43–35	57–20	54–24	49–29
Boston	55–23	54–24	46–32		53–25	55–23	47–31	43–35	44–33	45–33	46–32	55–23	51–27	42–36	51–26	50–28	48–30
Bradford	42–36	46–31	36–41	43–35		52–26	34–40	38–40	44–34	44–34	48–30	43–34	42–35	42–36	56–22	58–20	42–36
Canterbury	48–30	51–26	34–44	46–32	44–34		36–40	40–38	44–34	35–43	50–27	49–29	37–41	36–42	63–15	45–32	59–19
Crewe	51–27	45–33	61–17	54–24	49–29	58–19		59–19	44–34	51–27	56–22	51–27	37–41	58–20	61–17	50–28	49–29
Eastbourne	46–32	51–26	40–36	47–31	58–20	46–32	41–37		56–21	53–24	42–36	43–34	48–30	39–39	55–22	55–23	51–26
Ellesmere Port	41–37	39–36	46–32	31–46	45–33	38–40	38–40	36–42		38–40	45–32	47–31	42–36	40–38	54–24	46–31	41–37
Hull	48–30	50–28	43–35	29–49	36–42	41–37	41–36	40–38	44–34		50–28	46–32	35–43	44–34	48–30	40–38	38–40
Long Eaton	34–43	44–33	39–38	38–40	41–37	43–35	31–47	43–35	44–34	45–33		39–39	35–43	39–39	45–33	51–26	44–34
Middlesbrough	39–39	49–29	42–66	44–34	40–38	45–33	37–40	46–32	55–22	47–31	51–27		47–3	48–30	52–26	47–30	39–38
Peterborough	43–35	43–35	49–29	37–41	46–32	44–34	45–33	52–25	52–26	51–27	48–30	47–31		37–41	49–29	46–1	49–29
Rayleigh	50–28	57–21	51–27	49–28	46–32	47–30	40–38	39–39	51–27	41–36	52–26	53–25	45–33		59–19	40–38	51–27
Scunthorpe	32–46	35–43	43–35	28–50	35–43	34–44	30–48	39.5–37.5	31–46	32–46	36–42	49–28	39–38	42–36		39–39	36–42
Sunderland	42–35	42–36	41–36	43–35	44–34	44–34	34–43	36–42	49–28	47–30	51–27	39–39	48–30	43–35	57–21		42–36
Workington	43–35	55–23	50–28	50–28	44–33	58–20	48–30	47–31	47–31	44–34	51–27	51–27	34–43	51–27	51–26	53–25

Source: ^[7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top five riders (league averages)

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Phil Crump	Crewe	11.10
2	Geoff Maloney	Rayleigh	10.53
3	Richard Greer	Peterborough	9.98
4	John Harrhy	Peterborough	9.93
5	John Jackson	Crewe	9.91

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. Crewe Kings were the winners of the competition.^[8]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/05	Crewe	49-29	Ellesmere Port
02/05	Ellesmere Port	33-45	Crewe

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
05/06	Crewe	59-19	Scunthorpe
04/06	Scunthorpe	19-59	Crewe
04/06	Sunderland	55-23	Workington
09/06	Workington	46-31	Sunderland
25/06	Eastbourne	50-28	Long Eaton
08/06	Long Eaton	38-40	Eastbourne
04/06	Boston	46-32	Rayleigh
17/06	Rayleigh	43-35	Boston
09/06	Peterborough	52-26	Barrow
13/06	Barrow	36-42	Peterborough
07/06	Bradford	52-26	Berwick
10/06	Berwick	39-38	Bradford
05/06	Birmingham	43-35	Canterbury
10/06	Canterbury	41-37	Birmingham
08/06	Teesside	48-30	Hull
07/06	Hull	40-38	Teesside

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
03/07	Crewe	53-25	Sunderland
03/07	Sunderland	42-36	Crewe
09/07	Eastbourne	45-33	Boston
02/07	Boston	40-38	Eastbourne
07/07	Peterborough	36-14	Bradford
05/07	Bradford	45-33	Peterborough
03/07	Birmingham	48-30	Teesside
06/07	Teesside	41-37	Birmingham

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
31/07	Crewe	47-31	Eastbourne
30/07	Eastbourne	44-34	Crewe
04/08	Peterborough	43-35	Birmingham
14/08	Birmingham	42-36	Peterborough

Final

First leg

4 September 1972

Crewe Kings John Jackson 12 Garry Flood 10 Phil Crump 9 Dave Parry 7 Dai Evans 6 Garry Moore 4 Peter Nicholas 3	51 – 27	Peterborough Panthers Roy Carter 11 Brian Clark 6 John Davis 4 John Amies 3 David Ashby 1 Ted Howgego 1 Frank Smith 1 Richard Greer R/R
	^[9]

British Railways Sports Ground

Second leg

10 September 1972

Peterborough Panthers Richard Greer 11 Roy Carter 10 Brian Clark 6 John Davis 5 Ted Howgego 4 David Ashby 3 John Amies 1	40 – 38	Crewe Kings Phil Crump 12 John Jackson 10 Garry Flood 8 Garry Moore 6 Dai Evans 2 Dave Parry 0 Peter Nicholas 0
	^[9]

East of England Showground

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

Leading final averages

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Phil Crump	Crewe	11.13
2	Geoff Maloney	Rayleigh	10.34
=3	Richard Greer	Peterborough	10.03
=3	John Jackson	Crewe	10.03
5	Malcolm Ballard	Eastbourne	9.94

Riders' Championship

Phil Crump won the Rider's Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 14 October.^[10]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Phil Crump	r 3 3 3 3	12+3
2	Arthur Price	3 2 3 2 2	12+2
3	Bob Coles	3 3 1 1 3	11+3
4	Ross Gilbertson	3 3 2 3 fex	11+disq
5	Roger Mills	1 2 2 3 2	10
6	Malcolm Ballard	f 0 3 3 3	9
7	Bob Young	1 1 2 2	9
8	Doug Templeton	2 1 2 2 1	8
9	George Major	1 0 3 2 2	8
10	Dave Baugh	2 1 ex 1 3	7
11	Paul Tyrer	2 3 ex ex 0	5
12	Taffy Owen	1 0 2 0 1	4
13	Dave Durham	1 1 0 1 1	4
14	Richard Greer	0 2 1 0 1	4
15	Russ Dent	2 0 0 1 0	3
16	Tony Childs	0 2 0 0 0	2
17	John Jackson (res)	1	0
18	Ray Watkins (res)	0 0	0

f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

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 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 9.10
Jim Ryman 8.58
Russ Osborne 7.72
Carl Glover 7.38
Tony Featherstone 6.38
Ray Bales 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 7.26
Dave Piddock 7.03
Bob Hughes 6.46
Barney Kennett 6.25
Les Rumsey 4.87
Trevor Jones 4.31
Charlie Benham 3.49
Mike Vernam 3.33
Gary Cottham Sr. 3.20

Crewe

Phil Crump 11.13
John Jackson 10.03
Garry Flood 8.40
Dai Evans 7.12
Dave Morton 6.60
Dave Parry 5.76
Peter Nicholas 5.00
Garry Moore 4.56

Eastbourne

Malcolm Ballard 9.94
Gordon Kennett 8.68
Bobby McNeil 7.84
Roger Johns 7.24
Reg Trott 5.60
Trevor Geer 5.51
Derek Cook 5.42
Paul Gachet 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 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

Peterborough

Richard Greer 10.03
John Harrhy 9.93 (7 matches only)
John Davis 8.13
Roy Carter 8.12
Clive Noy 6.63
Ted Howgego 6.57
Alan Witt 5.09
Brian Clark 5.05
Pete Saunders 5.04
Frank Smith 4.67
John Amies 4.12
David Ashby 3.89

Rayleigh

Geoff Maloney 10.34
Bob Young 8.74
Brian Foote 8.67
Allan Emmett 8.21
Trevor Barnwell 6.22
Dingle Brown 6.12
Dave "Tiger" Beech 5.90
Nigel Rackett 5.12
Ivan Miller 5.04
Peter Claridge 4.38
Terry Stone 3.79

Scunthorpe

Brian Maxted 6.36
Terry Kelly 6.00
Ray Watkins 5.80
Phil Bass 5.78
Doug Underwood 5.08
Ian Wilson 5.00
Rod Haynes 4.79
Brian Osborn 4.07
Alan Bellham 3.70
John Bowerman 3.67
Peter Taylor 2.82

Sunderland

Jack Millen 8.69
Graeme Smith 8.29
Russ Dent 7.25
George Barclay 6.88
Dave Gatenby 5.27
Peter Wrathall 4.16
Jim Wells 3.81

Teesside

Roger Wright 8.56
Dave Durham 7.90
Bruce Forrester 7.35
Frank Auffret 6.93
Pete Reading 6.54
Tim Swales 5.97
Mick Moore 5.79
Tony Swales 4.32
Maxwell Clift .3.00

Workington

Taffy Owen 8.8
Lou Sansom 8.53
Malcolm MacKay 8.47
Mitch Graham 6.43
Kym Amundson 5.89
Steve Watson 5.13
Dave Kumeta 4.04
Darryl Stobbart 4.00
Lindsay Davies 3.71

References

^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^ ^a ^b "teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
^ "Gary Flood - One of Australia's all-time motocross legends". Australian Motocross History. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
^ "1972 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
^ "1972 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^ ^a ^b "1972 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
^ "Phil Crump wins title after run-off". Hull Daily Mail. 16 October 1972. Retrieved 16 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.