1997 Elite League speedway season

1997 Elite League speedway season

League	Sky Sports Elite League
Champions	Bradford Dukes
Knockout Cup	Eastbourne Eagles
Craven Shield	Coventry Bees
Highest average	Tony Rickardsson
Division/s below	1997 Premier League 1997 Conference League
← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 Elite League speedway season was the 63rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was the first season of a new league known as the Elite League and was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).^[1][2]

Season summary[]

In 1997, the single speedway league in Great Britain separated after two seasons, forming a new top division. The inaugural league consisted of ten teams. The league operated on a standard format without play-offs.^[3] The Craven Shield was introduced as an end of season cup competition for the top eight teams in the league standings.^[4][5]

Bradford Dukes finally won the league, their first success since 1966 when they raced as Halifax Dukes. Bradford retained top English riders Gary Havelock and Joe Screen but crucially brought in Mark Loram from Exeter Falcons. Loram had a superb season that included becoming the new British Champion.^[6]

Final table[]

Pos		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Bon	Tot
1	Bradford Dukes	36	23	1	12	1733	1506	47	15	62
2	Eastbourne Eagles	36	20	0	16	1665	1570	40	11	51
3	Swindon Robins	36	20	1	15	1662	1578	41	9	50
4	Ipswich Witches	36	16	2	17	1671	1616	34	13	47
5	King's Lynn Knights	36	18	3	15	1592	1645	39	8	47
6	Belle Vue Aces	36	18	0	18	1646	1587	36	9	45
7	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	18	0	18	1572	1658	36	6	42
8	Coventry Bees	36	15	1	20	1582	1653	31	7	38
9	Poole Pirates	36	13	2	21	1551	1684	28	6	34
10	Peterborough Panthers	36	14	0	22	1556	1679	28	5	33

Leading averages[]

Rider	Team	Average
Tony Rickardsson	Ipswich	10.09
Billy Hamill	Belle Vue	10.07
Greg Hancock	Coventry	9.85
Joe Screen	Bradford	9.77
Leigh Adams	Swindon	9.76
Jason Crump	Peterborough	9.71
Mark Loram	Bradford	9.59
Craig Boyce	Poole	9.43
Chris Louis	Ipswich	9.42
Brian Andersen	Coventry	9.02

Elite League Knockout Cup[]

The 1997 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 59th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams but the first under its new name. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.^[7]

First Round[]

Group A

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
15/03	Coventry	51-40	Swindon
16/03	Swindon	41-49	Coventry
21/03	Belle Vue	48-42	Coventry
22/03	Coventry	45-45	Wolverhampton
22/03	Bradford	56-34	Swindon
23/03	Swindon	47-42	Bradford
24/03	Wolverhampton	52-38	Swindon
28/03	Belle Vue	56-33	Wolverhampton
29/03	Swindon	56-34	Belle Vue
29/03	Bradford	58-32	Wolverhampton
31/03	Coventry	49-41	Bradford
31/03	Wolverhampton	52-38	Belle Vue
04/04	Belle Vue	46-44	Bradford
05/04	Bradford	52-38	Coventry
05/04	Swindon	65-25	Wolverhampton
11/04	Belle Vue	52-40	Swindon
12/04	Coventry	51-41	Belle Vue
14/04	Wolverhampton	50-40	Coventry
19/04	Bradford	57-33	Belle Vue
28/04	Wolverhampton	44-46	Bradford

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L
1	Bradford	8	5	0	3
2	Coventry	8	4	1	3
3	Belle Vue	8	4	0	4
4	Wolverhampton	8	3	1	4
5	Swindon	8	3	0	5

Group B

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
20/03	Ipswich	47-43	Peterborough
21/03	Peterborough	41-49	Kings Lynn
23/03	Eastbourne	53-37	Ipswich
28/03	Ipswich	50-40	Kings Lynn
28/03	Peterborough	62-27	Eastbourne
30/03	Eastbourne	54-36	Poole
02/04	Poole	53-37	Kings Lynn
03/04	Ipswich	44-46	Eastbourne
06/04	Eastbourne	55-35	Kings Lynn
09/04	Kings Lynn	46-44	Eastbourne
09/04	Poole	52-38	Peterborough
10/04	Ipswich	41-49	Poole
11/04	Peterborough	38-52	Poole
12/04	Kings Lynn	37-52	Poole
16/04	Kings Lynn	47-43	Peterborough
16/04	Poole	57-33	Ipswich
18/04	Peterborough	48-42	Ipswich
19/04	Eastbourne	52-37	Peterborough
23/04	Poole	73-17	Eastbourne
30/04	Kings Lynn	41-49	Ipswich

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L
1	Poole	8	7	0	1
2	Eastbourne	8	5	0	3
3	King's Lynn	8	3	0	5
4	Peterborough	8	3	0	5
5	Ipswich	8	2	0	6

Semi Finals[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
02/07	Poole	53-37	Coventry
15/06	Coventry	48-42	Poole
15/07	Bradford	56-34	Eastbourne
13/04	Eastbourne	58-32	Bradford

Final[]

First leg

Second leg

Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-66.

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Sam Ermolenko
• Billy Hamill
• 
• Jason Lyons
• Chris Manchester
• 
• 
• Glyn Taylor
• Paul Thorp
• Charlie Venegas

Bradford Dukes[]

• 
• Gary Havelock
• Josh Larsen
• Mark Loram
• Joe Screen
• Garry Stead
• Shaun Tacey
• David Walsh

Coventry Bees[]

• Brian Andersen
• Shane Bowes
• Paul Clews
• Simon Cross
• Greg Hancock
• John Jørgensen
• Paul Lee
• Andy Smith
• 
• Carl Stonehewer
• Shaun Tacey
• Sean Wilson

Eastbourne Eagles[]

• Stefan Andersson
• Dean Barker
• Stefan Dannö
• Martin Dugard
• Alan Mogridge
• David Norris

Ipswich Witches[]

• Jeremy Doncaster
• Ben Howe
• Steve Johnston
• Chris Louis
• Scott Nicholls
• Tony Rickardsson
• Antonín Šváb Jr.
• Neville Tatum
• 

King's Lynn Knights[]

• Bohumil Brhel
• Michael Coles
• Charles Ermolenko
• Paul Hurry
• Shane Parker
• 
• Lee Richardson
• Shaun Tacey
• Tomáš Topinka
• Simon Wigg

Peterborough Panthers[]

• Jason Bunyan
• Hans Clausen
• Jason Crump
• Marián Jirout
• Paul Lee
• 
• Ronni Pedersen
• 
• Lee Richardson
• Jan Stæchmann
• Ryan Sullivan
• Kelvin Tatum
• Zdeněk Tesař

Poole Pirates[]

• Craig Boyce
• Armando Castagna
• Savalas Clouting
• Marvyn Cox
• Lars Gunnestad
• Ben Howe
• 
• Mark Lemon
• Steve Schofield

Swindon Robins[]

• Leigh Adams
• 
• Brian Karger
• 
• Jimmy Nilsen
• Tony Olsson
• 
• Alun Rossiter

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

• 
• Ronnie Correy
• Charles Ermolenko
• James Grieves
• Jesper B. Jensen
• Mikael Karlsson
• Peter Karlsson
• George Štancl
• 

See also[]

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

External links[]

• british-speedway.co.uk - Official league tables

References[]