A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 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) |
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 |
Top Five Riders (League Averages)
| Rider | Nat | 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.[7]
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
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Second leg
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Crewe were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 89–67.
Leading final averages
| Rider | Nat | 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.[9]
