2002 Elite League speedway season

2002 Elite League speedway season
League	Sky Sports Elite League
Champions	Wolverhampton Wolves
Knockout Cup	Eastbourne Eagles
Craven Shield	Poole Pirates
Riders Championship	Tony Rickardsson
Highest average	Tony Rickardsson
Division/s below	Premier League; Conference League
	← 2001; 2003 →;

The 2002 Elite League speedway season was the 68th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2002 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).^[1] It was the first time that play offs were introdued to determine the champions.^[2]

Season summary[]

In 2002, the league consisted of nine teams. The title was decided by a play-off between the top five teams. The team that finished top of the table were seeded directly to the final. The next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final.^[3]

Eastbourne Eagles topped the regular season table but were defeated by Wolverhampton Wolves for the league title when losing the play off final. It was Wolves third title success in 11 years and the Swedish Karlsson brothers, Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson were once again integral to the Wolves team throughout the season.^[4] Eastbourne's season was not a total loss because they beat Peterborough in the final of the Knockout Cup thanks to efforts from their English rider contingent of Mark Loram, Joe Screen and Dean Barker.

Tony Rickardsson became World Champion for the fifth time during the season, topped the league averages, won the Elite League Riders' Championship and helped his club Poole win the Craven Shield.^[5]

Final table[]

Pos		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Bon	Tot
1	Eastbourne Eagles	32	20	3	9	1562	1316	43	15	58
2	Wolverhampton Wolves	32	20	2	10	1549	1311	42	12	54
3	Coventry Bees	32	19	3	10	1492	1383	41	9	50
4	Poole Pirates	32	17	1	14	1455	1406	35	11	46
5	Peterborough Panthers	31	15	0	16	1394	1395	30	6	36
6	Oxford Cheetahs	31	14	2	15	1369	1407	30	5	35
7	Ipswich Witches	32	11	3	18	1375	1494	25	6	31
8	Belle Vue Aces	32	11	3	18	1379	1484	25	4	29
9	King's Lynn Silver Machine	32	7	1	24	1247	1626	15	3	18

_{Peterborough v Oxford not held.}

	= Qualified for Play Off final
	= Qualified for Play Offs

Play-offs[]

Quarter-Final and Semi-Final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.

Quarter-finals[]

Wolverhampton Wolves 50-39 Peterborough Panthers
Coventry Bees 59-31 Poole Pirates

Semi-finals[]

Wolverhampton Wolves 51-39 Coventry Bees

Final[]

First leg[]

25 September 2002

Wolverhampton Wolves Mikael Karlsson 13 Peter Karlsson 12 Paul Hurry 9 Jesper B. Jensen 5 David Howe 5 Chris Neath 3 Adam Skórnicki 2	49 - 41	Eastbourne Eagles Mark Loram 10 Stefan Andersson 10

Monmore Green Stadium

Second leg[]

2 October 2002

Eastbourne Eagles Mark Loram 12 Billy Janniro 12 Dean Barker 6 Stefan Andersson 5 Joe Screen 5 David Norris 4 Edward Kennett 2	46 - 44	Wolverhampton Wolves Mikael Karlsson 14 Peter Karlsson 10 David Howe 8 Adam Skórnicki 6 Jesper B. Jensen 3 Chris Neath 3 Paul Hurry 0

Arlington Stadium

The Wolverhampton Wolves were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.

Leading averages[]

Rider	Team	Average
Tony Rickardsson	Poole	10.88
Jason Crump	Belle Vue	10.44
Ryan Sullivan	Peterborough	10.34
Leigh Adams	Oxford	10.10
Mikael Max	Wolverhampton	9.93
Scott Nicholls	Ipswich	9.76
Mark Loram	Eastbourne	9.56
Andreas Jonsson	Coventry	9.39
Peter Karlsson	Wolverhampton	9.23
Lee Richardson	Coventry	8.97

Elite League Knockout Cup[]

The 2002 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 64th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.^[6]

First Round[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
08/04	Wolverhampton	57-33	Poole
03/04	Poole	45-45	Wolverhampton

Quarter Finals[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
27/05	Reading	47-43	Arena Essex
29/04	Wolverhampton	61-29	Oxford
27/04	Coventry	36-35	Kings Lynn
26/04	Oxford	45-45	Wolverhampton
24/04	Kings Lynn	42-48	Coventry
22/04	Belle Vue	51-39	Peterborough
20/04	Eastbourne	54-36	Ipswich
19/04	Peterborough	59-31	Belle Vue
18/04	Ipswich	39-51	Eastbourne