1997 Premier League speedway season
League | Premier League |
---|---|
Champions | Reading Racers |
Knockout Cup | Edinburgh Monarchs |
Young Shield | Exeter Falcons |
Individual | Peter Carr |
Pairs | Long Eaton Invaders |
Fours | Long Eaton Invaders |
Highest average | Dave Mullett |
Division/s above | 1997 Elite League |
Division/s below | 1997 Conference League |
The 1997 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Restructure[]
A restructure of British speedway took place, with the Premier League becoming the second division and a new Elite League becoming the top division. During the two previous seasons (1995 and 1996) there had been only one division of British speedway also called the Premier League, this confused matters because the Premier League was now only a second tier competition.
Season summary[]
The Premier League was consisted of 14 teams for the 1997 season, running on a standard format with no play-offs. The Young Shield was introduced as an end of season cup competition for the top eight teams in the league standings.[1][2]
Reading Racers won the title.[3]
Final table[]
Pos | M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Bon | Tot | |
1 | Reading Racers | 26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 1323 | 1011 | 44 | 13 | 57 |
2 | Long Eaton Invaders | 26 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 1227 | 1107 | 37 | 11 | 48 |
3 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 26 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 1235 | 1102 | 38 | 8 | 43 |
4 | Newcastle Diamonds | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 1201 | 1134 | 30 | 8 | 38 |
5 | Exeter Falcons | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 1213 | 1125 | 28 | 6 | 34 |
6 | Glasgow Tigers | 26 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 1158 | 1179 | 26 | 6 | 32 |
7 | Arena Essex Hammers | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 1157 | 1179 | 24 | 7 | 31 |
8 | Isle of Wight Islanders* | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 1149 | 1184 | 24 | 7 | 31 |
9 | Hull Vikings | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 1134 | 1195 | 26 | 5 | 31 |
10 | Sheffield Tigers | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 1116 | 1219 | 24 | 5 | 29 |
11 | Oxford Cheetahs | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 1116 | 1219 | 18 | 6 | 24 |
12 | Stoke Potters | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 1111 | 1122 | 18 | 3 | 21 |
13 | Berwick Bandits | 26 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 1105 | 1223 | 15 | 4 | 19 |
14 | Newport Wasps | 26 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 1095 | 1241 | 15 | 2 | 17 |
- replaced Skegness Braves mid-season
Leading averages[]
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
Dave Mullett | Reading | 10.47 |
Carl Stonehewer | Long Eaton | 10.39 |
Glenn Cunningham | Reading | 9.92 |
Peter Carr | Edinburgh | 9.88 |
Martin Dixon | Long Eaton | 9.81 |
Kenny McKinna | Edinburgh | 9.73 |
Robbie Kessler | Sheffield | 9.76 |
Alan Grahame | Hull | 9.75 |
Edinburgh | 9.46 | |
Les Collins | Stoke | 9.44 |
Premier League Knockout Cup[]
The 1997 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 30th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams and the first with the name Premier League Knockout Cup. Edinburgh Monarchs were the winners of the competition.[4]
During 1995 and 1996 the British League merged and ran as one newly named Premier League, which therefore meant that the second tier of speedway in the United Kingdom was the 1995 Academy League season, followed one year later by the 1996 Speedway Conference League season.
First Round[]
Northern Group[]
Pos | Team | Played | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hull Vikings | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
2 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
3 | Newcastle Diamonds | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
4 | Sheffield Tigers | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
5 | Berwick Bandits | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
6 | Stoke Potters | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
7 | Glasgow Tigers | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Southern Group[]
Pos | Team | Played | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
2 | Reading Racers | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
3 | Long Eaton Invaders | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
4 | Arena Essex Hammers | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
5 | Exeter Falcons | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
6 | Skegness Braves | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
04/07 | Edinburgh | 51-39 | Reading |
21/07 | Reading | 48-42 | Edinburgh |
29/06 | Oxford | 51-39 | Hull |
09/07 | Hull | 46-43 | Oxford |
Final[]
First leg
Oxford Cheetahs Neville Tatum 13 Philippe Bergé 11 Lawrence Hare 11 Mikael Teurnberg 6 Jeremy Luckhurst 2 Anthony Barlow 0 Darren Andrews R/R | 43 – 47 | Edinburgh Monarchs Peter Carr 12 Robert Eriksson 10 Kenny McKinna 10 Paul Gould 7 Blair Scott 6 Barry Campbell 2 Neil Hewitt 0 |
---|---|---|
[5][6] |
Second leg
Edinburgh Monarchs Kenny McKinna 13 Peter Carr 12 Robert Eriksson 11 Blair Scott 5 Paul Gould 3 Barry Campbell 3 Neil Hewitt R/R | 47 – 43 | Oxford Cheetahs Philippe Bergé 15 Neville Tatum 12 Lawrence Hare 8 Mikael Teurnberg 4 William Beveridge 4 Anthony Barlow 0 Jeremy Luckhurst R/R |
---|---|---|
[5][6] |
Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94–86.
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Wheelie Good Trophy for Champs". Reading Evening Post. 30 June 1997. Retrieved 10 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "History Archive". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "1997 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "1997 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Edinburgh results 1997" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- Speedway Premier League
- 1997 in speedway
- 1997 in British motorsport