1991 British League Division Two season

1991 British League Division Two season
LeagueBritish League Division Two
No. of competitors11
ChampionsArena Essex Hammers
Knockout CupArena Essex Hammers
IndividualJan Stæchmann
FoursArena Essex Hammers
Highest averageBo Petersen
Division/s aboveBritish League (Div 1)

The 1991 British League Division Two season (sponsored by Sunbrite) was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. The league had been renamed from the National League.[1] The season saw one of the rare occasions that speedway operated a promotion/relegation system.

Summary

Terry Russell and Ivan Henry purchased Arena Essex Hammers from Chick Woodroffe[2] and they built a new team that were dominant, winning 21 of their 22 league matches, winning the Knockout Cup[3] and claiming the fours championship held at the East of England Arena on 21 July.[4][5]

Hackney Kestrels reverted to a previous name Hackney Hawks but withdrew in July, ten league matches into the season.[6]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Arena Essex Hammers 22 21 0 1 11 53
2 Glasgow Tigers 22 14 0 8 8 36
3 Newcastle Diamonds 22 13 1 8 8 35
4 Edinburgh Monarchs 22 12 0 10 7 31
5 Sheffield Tigers 22 12 0 10 7 31
6 Long Eaton Invaders 22 11 0 11 5 27
7 Exeter Falcons 22 9 0 13 8 26
8 Middlesbrough Bears 22 9 0 13 2 20
9 Rye House Rockets 22 8 0 14 4 20
10 Stoke Potters 22 7 2 13 2 18
11 Milton Keynes Knights 22 7 0 15 3 17
12 Peterborough Panthers 22 7 1 14 1 16

British League Division Two Knockout Cup

The 1991 British League Division Two Knockout Cup sponsored by Phonesport, was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Arena Essex Hammers were the winners of the competition.[7]

First round

Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg
Long Eaton Edinburgh 54–36 45–45
Stoke Rye House 54–36 35–54
Exeter Newcastle 49–40 35–54
Middlesbrough Arena Essex 51–39 36–53

Quarter-finals

Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg
Glasgow Milton Keynes 61–28 45–44
Rye House Long Eaton 46–43 40–50
Newcastle Hackney 52–38 44–46
Peterborough Arena Essex 50–40 29–61

Semi-finals

Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg
Arena Essex Long Eaton 65–25 47–43
Glasgow Newcastle 48–42 43–46

Final

First leg

Glasgow Tigers
Jason Lyons 11
Shane Bowes 10
Mick Powell 7
Mark Courtney 6
Steve Lawson 5
Sean Courtney 5
Brian Nixon 2		46 – 44Arena Essex Hammers
Bo Petersen 16
Brian Karger 8
Alan Mogridge 8
Troy Pratt 6
Paul Hurry 3
Colin White 2
Andy Galvin 1
[8][9]

Second leg

Arena Essex Hammers
Bo Petersen 12
Brian Karger 10
Troy Pratt 9
Alan Mogridge 6
Andy Galvin 4
Paul Hurry 3
Colin White 2		46 – 44Glasgow Tigers
Jason Lyons 13
Steve Lawson 12
Shane Bowes 7
Mark Courtney 5
Mick Powell 3
Brian Nixon 3
Sean Courtney 1
[8][9]

Final tied 90–90, replay required

Final replay

First leg

Arena Essex Hammers
Brian Karger 14
Paul Hurry 10
Alan Mogridge 10
Andy Galvin 8
Bo Petersen 7
Troy Pratt 7

Colin White 4		60 – 30Glasgow Tigers
Steve Lawson 12
Shane Bowes 7
Jason Lyons 6
Mick Powell 2
Sean Courtney 2
Mark Courtney 1
Brian Nixon 0
[8][9]

Second leg

Glasgow Tigers
Steve Lawson 14
Sean Courtney 7
Mark Courtney 7
Shane Bowes 6
Brian Nixon 6
Jason Lyons 5
Mick Powell 5		50 – 40Arena Essex Hammers
Bo Petersen 15
Brian Karger 14
Andy Galvin 5
Paul Hurry 3
Troy Pratt 1
Alan Mogridge 1
Colin White 1
[8][9]

Arena Essex were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100–80.

Riders' Championship

Jan Stæchmann won the Riders' Championship. The final sponsored by Jawa Moto & Barum was held on 14 September at Brandon Stadium.[10]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1 Denmark Jan Stæchmann 3 2 3 3 3 14+3
2 New Zealand David Bargh 3 3 3 2 3 14+2
3 Australia Troy Butler 3 3 3 0 3 12
4 England Les Collins 2 3 1 3 2 11
5 England Neil Evitts 3 3 2 1 2 11
6 New Zealand Mark Thorpe f 2 3 2 2 9
7 Australia Steve Regeling 2 1 0 3 2 8
8 Australia Stephen Davies 2 0 2 2 1 7
9 Scotland Kenny McKinna 0 2 0 3 1 6
10 Denmark Bo Petersen 1 2 2 ef fex 5
11 England Carl Blackbird 1 1 1 1 0 4
12 England Eric Monaghan 0 0 1 2 1 4
13 England Steve Lawson 1 0 0 1 1 3
14 Australia Shane Bowes 2 0 1 tex r 3
15 England Peter Carr 1 1 2 1 0 5
16 England Melvyn Taylor 0 1 0 0 3 4
17 England Chris Clarence (res) 0 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Fours

Arena Essex Hammers won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 21 July.[11]

Final

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Arena Essex 32 Karger 9, Petersen 9
2 Edinburgh 15+ Saunders 6 Collins L 5, Coles 2, Walker 2
3 Long Eaton 15 Blackbird C 4, Steachmann 4, O'Hare
4 Milton Keynes 10 Butler 6 Keats 2
  • Edinburgh awarded 2nd on race wins.

Leading averages

Rider Team Average
Bo Petersen Arena Essex 10.54
Brian Karger Arena Essex 10.23
Mark Thorpe Newcastle 9.93
Neil Evitts Sheffield 9.79
Mikael Blixt Peterborough 9.69
David Bargh Newcastle 9.55
Andy Grahame Wimbledon 9.44
Jan Stæchmann Long Eaton 9.39
Peter Carr Sheffield 9.36
Troy Butler Milton Keynes 9.26

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex Hammers

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney (withdrew from league)

Long Eaton

Middlesbrough

Milton Keynes

Newcastle

Peterborough

Rye House

Sheffield

Stoke

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Speedway continues". Brentwood Gazette. 8 February 1991. Retrieved 16 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "1988 to 1993". Cyber Morotcycles. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Speedway". Western Daily Press. 22 July 1991. Retrieved 13 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Speedway". Derby Daily Telegraph. 3 July 1991. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1991 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway Great Britain.
  8. ^ a b c d "1991 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d "Glasgow Tigers fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Jan is tasting victory". Nottingham Evening Post. 16 September 1991. Retrieved 22 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Speedway". Western Daily Press. 22 July 1991. Retrieved 13 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.