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The 1974 British League Division Two season was the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. It was the final season of British League Division Two before it was renamed as the New National League.

Summary

The league was again expanded by one team from 18 to 19 teams. Weymouth Wizards were the new addition to the league, returning to action after five years out. Additionally there were two in and two out; Hull Vikings had moved up to the British League swapping places with Coatbridge Tigers and also swapping their top riders. Rayleigh Rockets closed down but the promotion, riders and nickname moved to Rye House. It was the first season of league speedway at Rye House since the 1959 Southern Area League.

There were a few changes of nicknames; the Chesterton Potters changed their team name to the Stoke Potters, Bradford became the Barons, Sunderland became the Gladiators and Long Eaton raced as the Archers.

Birmingham Brummies won their first title, completing a league and cup double. Australian Phil Herne improved his average by over 3 points from the 1973 season and Arthur Browning also exceeded a 10 average, the two factors proved to be the catalyst for Birmingham's success. John Hart and George Major both scored heavily throughout the season too.

Final table

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Phil Herne		Birmingham	10.78
2	Carl Glover		Boston	10.44
3	Mitch Graham		Workington	10.29
4	Arthur Browning		Birmingham	10.17
5	John Jackson		Crewe	10.07

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1974 British League Division Two Knockout Cup was the seventh edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Birmingham Brummies were the winners of the competition.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Birmingham were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 81–74.

Leading final averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Phil Herne		Birmingham	10.48
2	Carl Glover		Boston	10.29
3	Arthur Browning		Birmingham	10.14
4	Mitch Graham		Workington	10.00
5	John Jackson		Crewe	9.95

Riders' Championship

Carl Glover won the Rider's Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 28 September.

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Carl Glover	2 3 3 3 2	13+3
2	Ted Hubbard	3 3 3 2 2	13+2
3	Phil Herne	3 1 2 3 3	12
4	Mike Lanham	3 2 2 2 1	10
5	Geoff Bouchard	1 2 2 3 2	10
6	John Jackson	1 0 3 3 3	10
7	Colin Meredith	2 2 2 2 1	9
8	Mike Broadbanks	2 2 3 fx	7
9	Graham Drury	0 0 1 2 3	6
10	Brian Havelock (res)	1 3	4
11	Bobby McNeil	1 3 fx	4
12	Ken McKinlay	1 3 fx	4
13	Dave Gifford	2 1 0 0 0	3
14	Brian Foote	0 1 1 1 0	3
15	Tom Owen	1 1 f 1 r	3
16	Bruce Forrester	3 0 f fx ex	2
17	Bob Hughes (res)	1 1	1
18	Willie Templeton (res)	0 1 f ex 1	0
19	Mitch Graham	0 ex	0

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

Riders & final averages

Barrow

• Tom Owen 8.54
• Dave Baugh 8.46
• Terry Kelly 8.00
• Sid Sheldrick 7.77
• Paul O'Neal 7.37
• Joe Owen 7.36
• Chris Roynon 6.12
• Mick Sheldrick 3.40
• Graham Tattersall 2.74

Berwick

• Brian Havelock 7.70
• Willie Templeton 7.27
• Graham Jones 6.80
• Jim Wells 6.67
• Doug Templeton 6.59
• Denny Morter 6.00
• Alf Wells 5.84
• Colin Farquharson 5.67
• Dave Trownson 4.90
• Ian Wilson 3.76
• Robin Dixon 3.50

Birmingham

• Phil Herne 10.48
• Arthur Browning 10.14
• John Hart 8.99
• George Major 8.97
• Ricky Day 6.55
• Carl Askew 5.14
• Keith Anderson 5.02
• Alan Grahame 4.13

Boston

• Carl Glover 10.29
• Jim Ryman 8.07
• Russ Osborne 8.00
• David Gagen 7.15
• Rob Hollingworth 6.18
• Dave Piddock 5.89
• Les Glover 5.07
• Rob Mouncer 3.79
• Billy Burton 2.97

Bradford

• Alan Knapkin 9.33
• Tony Featherstone 8.66
• Colin Meredith 8.33
• Mick Fairbairn 5.98
• Mick Fishwick 5.63
• Eddie Argall 5.16
• Steve Wilcock 5.15
• Roger Austin 4.76
• Mick Fielding 4.74
• Dave Parkin 2.70

Canterbury

• Trevor Jones 8.84
• Ted Hubbard 8.13
• Dave Gooderham 7.28
• Roger Johns 6.93
• Barney Kennett 6.85
• Derek Cook 6.43
• Les Rumsey 6.38
• Graham Clifton 4.74
• Peter Murray 3.09
• Jimmy Squibb 3.08

Coatbridge

• Dave Gifford 8.82
• Brian Collins 8.66
• Robin Adlington 7.60
• Jimmy Gallacher 7.38
• Grahame Dawson 5.83
• John Wilson 5.15
• Eddie Argall 4.13
• Chris Quigley 4.00
• Mike Ferreira 3.33
• Jim Beresford 2.74

Crewe

• John Jackson 9.95
• Jack Millen 9.10
• Dave Morton 8.87
• Keith White 7.43
• Ian Cartwright 6.43
• Les Ott 6.06
• Cliff Anderson 5.72
• Wayne Forrest 4.59
• Mike Gardner 4.57
• Stuart Cope 2.91
• Paul Wells 2.12

Eastbourne

• Bobby McNeil 8.77
• Trevor Geer 8.46
• Paul Gachet 8.29
• Mike Sampson 7.79
• Neil Middleditch 7.72
• Pete Jarman 6.99
• Steve Weatherley 6.41
• Martin Yeates 6.26
• Eric Dugard 5.28

Ellesmere Port

• Graham Drury 9.31
• Colin Goad 8.32
• Steve Taylor 7.36
• Nigel Wasley 6.16
• Wayne Hughes 6.05
• Duncan Meredith 5.89
• Gerald Smitherman 5.20
• Nicky Allott 4.37
• Ken Stafford 3.60
• Steve Casey 2.71
• Ray Hassall 2.16

Long Eaton

• Geoff Bouchard 9.24
• Alan Molyneux 8.23
• Phil Bass 6.95
• Alan Witt 5.05
• Steve Finch 4.33
• James Bond 4.06
• Max Brown 3.90
• Dave Harvey 3.90
• Pip Austen 3.63
• Harry MacLean 2.97

Peterborough

• Mike Lanham 9.11
• Brian Clark 8.73
• Jack Walker 6.75
• Ken Matthews 6.31
• Roy Carter 6.29
• Steve Osborn 6.12
• Roy Sizmore 5.74
• Peter Thompson 4.85
• Eric Dugard 4.44
• Chris Drewett 4.14

Rye House

• Brian Foote 7.93
• Steve Clarke 7.45
• Clive Hitch 6.88
• Trevor Barnwell 6.71
• George Barclay 5.58
• Peter Moore 5.39
• Bob Young 5.31
• John Gibbons 5.29
• Bob Cooper 4.78
• Pete Wigley 4.36

Scunthorpe

• Tony Childs 8.82
• Ken McKinlay 8.13
• Doug Underwood 6.56
• Andy Sims 6.54
• Keith Evans 6.07
• Dingle Brown 6.04
• Chris Emery 6.03
• Jack Bywater 5.60
• Tim Swales 4.50
• Chris Doyle 4.14
• Roger Pascall 2.86

Stoke

• Mike Broadbank 9.37
• Geoff Pusey 7.46
• Brian Woodward 7.18
• Steve Bastable 6.00
• Alan Bridgett 5.97
• Steve Holden 5.87
• Nigel Wasley 5.64
• Andy Cusworth 5.22
• Mick Newton 2.67

Sunderland

• Jim Wells 7.92
• Brian Havelock 7.23
• Tim Swales 6.77
• George Barclay 6.43
• Russ Dent 6.15
• Andy Meldrum 6.07
• Dennis Gavros 5.00
• Brian Johnson 4.00
• Vic Harding 3.71
• John Robson 2.82
• Derek Fell 2.50

Teesside

• Bruce Forrester 9.39
• Dave Durham 7.87
• Pete Reading 7.73
• Roger Wright 7.12
• Russ Hodgson 6.42
• Alan Emerson 5.14
• Tony Swales 3.63
• Merv Salt 3.29

Weymouth

• Kelvin Mullarkey 7.19
• Bob Hughes 6.77
• Steve Lomas 6.36
• Nigel Couzens 5.64
• Geoff Swindells 5.51
• Clark Facey 4.88
• Russell Foot 4.88
• Glyn Facey 4.80
• Brian Paddington 4.28
• Mark Sawyers 3.47

Workington

• Mitch Graham 10.00
• Malcolm MacKay 8.77
• Taffy Owen 8.42
• Alan Cowland 7.28
• Steve Watson 5.54
• Darryl Stobbart 4.98
• Bernie Hornby 4.14
• Steve Lawson 1.68

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. ^ "teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
3. "Lightning ban lifted just in time". South Eastern Gazette. 26 March 1974. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
5. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
6. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
7. "1974 British League Division Two Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
8. ^ "1974 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
9. "Crash ends Graham's title hopes". Hull Daily Mail. 30 September 1974. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners

v t e British League Division Two/National League seasons
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

• Speedway British League Division Two / National League