1996 Premier League speedway season

1996 Premier League speedway season

League	Premier League
Champions	Wolverhampton Wolves
Knockout Cup	Wolverhampton Wolves
Individual	Sam Ermolenko
Fours	Oxford Cheetahs
Highest average	Billy Hamill
Division/s below	1996 Conference League
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 Premier League season was the 62nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was also the second and last edition of two seasons, in which British speedway was competed as a single division. In addition there was a Conference League.^[1][2]

As from 1997 the Elite League would be the top division and the Premier League would be the second division.

Summary[]

The one league set up only lasted for a second season due to the huge disparity between the sides. Wolverhampton Wolves won the title for the second time in six years, with American Ronnie Correy being the sole survivor of the 1991 winning team. In a strange coincidence a new set of two brothers helped Wolves win the title, back in 1991 it was the Ermolenko brothers but now it was the Swedish Karlsson brothers. Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson both scored heavily and ended the season with averages around the 10 mark.^[3][4]

Cradley Heathens and Stoke Potters merged for the 1996 season and despite their American stars Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock finishing first and second in the averages they could only manage fifth place in the league. Cradley Heath were disbanded after the season following the closure of Dudley Wood Stadium, their home venue.^[5]

Final table[]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	BP	Pts
1	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	29	0	7	18	76
2	Peterborough Panthers	36	23	0	13	15	61
3	Eastbourne Eagles	36	23	1	12	12	59
4	Swindon Robins	36	22	2	12	12	58
5	Cradley & Stoke Heathens	36	21	1	14	13	56
6	Belle Vue Aces	36	21	1	14	12	55
7	Hull Vikings	36	20	3	13	11	54
8	Ipswich Witches	36	20	0	16	12	52
9	London Lions	36	20	0	16	11	51
10	Coventry Bees	36	16	2	18	10	44
11	Bradford Dukes	36	16	0	20	9	41
12	Scottish Monarchs	36	16	0	20	5	37
13	Oxford Cheetahs	36	12	4	20	8	36
14	Poole Pirates	36	13	2	21	5	33
15	Exeter Falcons	36	13	2	21	4	32
16	Middlesbrough Bears	36	11	1	14	6	29
17	Long Eaton Invaders	36	12	0	24	4	28
18	Sheffield Tigers	36	13	0	23	2	28
19	Reading Racers	36	11	1	24	2	25

PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; BP = Bonus Points Pts = Total Points

Leading averages[]

Rider	Team	Average
Billy Hamill	Cradley & Stoke	10.67
Greg Hancock	Cradley & Stoke	10.55
Chris Louis	Ipswich	10.29
Jason Crump	Peterborough	10.20
Peter Karlsson	Wolverhampton	10.14
Leigh Adams	London	10.09
Martin Dugard	Eastbourne	10.08
Sam Ermolenko	Sheffield	9.73
Mikael Max	Wolverhampton	9.71
Ronnie Correy	Wolverhampton	9.62
Joe Screen	Bradford	9.57
Gary Havelock	Bradford	9.55
Brian Andersen	Coventry	9.46
Craig Boyce	Poole	9.38
Mark Loram	Exeter	9.28
Chris Manchester	Belle Vue	9.27
Jimmy Nilsen	Swindon	9.22
Lars Gunnestad	Poole	9.13
Kelvin Tatum	London	9.07
Ryan Sullivan	Peterborough	9.01

Premier League Knockout Cup[]

The 1996 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 58th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams and the second with the name Premier League Knockout Cup. Wolverhampton Wolves were the winners of the competition. The following season the tier one teams would compete in the Elite League Knockout Cup and the Premier League Knockout Cup would be for tier two teams.^[6]

First Round[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
20/04	Bradford	65-31	Sheffield
18/04	Sheffield	42-54	Bradford
24/04	Hull	56-40	Middlesbrough
23/05	Middlesbrough	50-45	Hull
04/05	Swindon	51-45	Oxford
26/04	Oxford	50-46	Swindon

Second Round[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
20/05	Wolverhampton	56-39	Ipswich
23/05	Ipswich	53-43	Wolverhampton
24/05	Belle Vue	53-43	Cradley Heath
13/07	Cradley Heath	52-44	Belle Vue
25/05	Bradford	57-39	Edinburgh
22/05	Edinburgh	44-52	Bradford
29/05	Long Eaton	56-40	Hull
31/05	Hull	47-49	Long Eaton
26/04	Peterborough	59-37	Coventry
25/05	Coventry	40-56	Peterborough
23/05	Hackney	54-42	Reading
13/05	Reading	40-56	Hackney
20/05	Exeter	45-51	Poole
26/06	Poole	44-52	Exeter
27/05	Swindon	59-37	Eastbourne
25/05	Eastbourne	56-39	Swindon

Quarter Finals[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
19/08	Wolverhampton	48-48	Belle Vue
23/08	Belle Vue	48-48	Wolverhampton
24/08	Bradford	62-34	Long Eaton
28/08	Long Eaton	50-45	Bradford
23/08	Peterborough	52-44	Hackney
15/08	Hackney	51-45	Peterborough
09/09	Exeter	52-44	Swindon
17/08	Swindon	48-48	Exeter
09/09	Wolverhampton	51-45	Belle Vue
13/09	Belle Vue	49-46	Wolverhampton

Semi Finals[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
23/09	Wolverhampton	59-37	Bradford
28/09	Bradford	54-42	Wolverhampton
13/09	Peterborough	61-35	Exeter
23/09	Exeter	48-48	Peterborough

Final[]

First leg[]

Second leg[]

Wolverhampton Wolves were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.

1996

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

• 
• 
• Neil Collins
• Andre Compton
• 
• 
• Niklas Klingberg
• 
• Jason Lyons
• Chris Manchester
• Frede Schött
• Charlie Venegas

Bradford Dukes[]

• 
• 
• Andre Compton
• Gary Havelock
• 
• 
• Joe Screen
• 
• Andy Smith
• 
• Glyn Taylor
• Sean Wilson

Coventry Bees[]

• Brian Andersen
• 
• Paul Bentley
• Shane Bowes
• Paul Clews
• Simon Cross
• 
• Stuart Robson
• Shaun Tacey

Cradley & Stoke Heathens[]

• Daniel Andersson
• Les Collins
• Billy Hamill
• Greg Hancock
• 
• 
• 
• Troy Pratt
• 
• 
• 

Eastbourne Eagles[]

• Stefan Andersson
• 
• 
• Stefan Dannö
• Martin Dugard
• 
• 
• 
• Alan Mogridge
• David Norris
• 
• 
• 
• Neville Tatum

Exeter Falcons[]

• Michael Coles
• 
• Paul Fry
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Mark Loram
• 
• Alun Rossiter
• 
• Petr Vandirek
• Simon Wigg

Hull Vikings[]

• James Birkinshaw
• 
• Nigel Crabtree
• Alan Grahame
• 
• Graham Jones
• 
• Ray Morton
• Róbert Nagy
• Bobby Ott
• Jan Stæchmann
• Paul Thorp

Ipswich Witches[]

• Savalas Clouting
• Jeremy Doncaster
• Ben Howe
• Leigh Lanham
• Chris Louis
• Scott Nicholls
• 

London Lions[]

• Leigh Adams
• 
• Paul Hurry
• Josh Larsen
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Alan Mogridge
• Jan Pedersen
• Kelvin Tatum
• Neville Tatum
• 
• 

Long Eaton Invaders[]

• 
• Martin Dixon
• Charles Ermolenko
• Steve Johnston
• Kai Laukkanen
• 
• 
• Róbert Nagy
• Carl Stonehewer
• Charlie Venegas
• Brent Werner

Middlesbrough Bears[]

• 
• Martin Dixon
• Graham Jones
• 
• 
• 
• Shane Parker
• Scott Robson
• Stuart Robson
• Antonín Šváb Jr.
• 
• 
• David Walsh
• 

Oxford Cheetahs[]

• 
• Bohumil Brhel
• 
• Paul Clews
• Marvyn Cox
• Martin Goodwin
• Lawrence Hare
• 
• Mark Lemon
• 
• 
• 
• Attila Stefáni+ (+ rode under the name of Mark Frost)
• Tomáš Topinka
• 

Peterborough Panthers[]

• Hans Clausen
• Paul Clews
• Jason Crump
• 
• Marián Jirout
• 
• 
• 
• Alun Rossiter
• Ryan Sullivan
• 
• Zdeněk Tesař

Poole Pirates[]

• 
• Craig Boyce
• 
• 
• 
• Lars Gunnestad
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Lee Richardson
• 
• Magnus Zetterström

Reading Racers[]

• Armando Castagna
• 
• Petri Kokko
• 
• Ray Morton
• Dave Mullett
• Phil Morris
• Tony Olsson
• 
• Jan Pedersen
• 
• Erik Stenlund
• 

Scottish Monarchs[]

• Stefano Alfonso
• 
• 
• Mike Faria
• 
• 
• Kenny McKinna
• 
• 
• 

Sheffield Tigers[]

• 
• Zoltán Adorján
• 
• 
• James Birkinshaw
• 
• 
• Sam Ermolenko
• 
• Robbie Kessler
• Roman Matoušek
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Scott Smith
• Garry Stead
• Mirko Wolter

Swindon Robins[]

• 
• Glenn Cunningham
• John Jørgensen
• Brian Karger
• 
• 
• 
• Jimmy Nilsen
• 
• Mark Thorpe
• 

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

• 
• 
• Ronnie Correy
• James Grieves
• Mikael Karlsson
• Peter Karlsson
• 
• George Štancl

See also[]

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

References[]