2008 Premier League speedway season
League | Premier League |
---|---|
Champions | Edinburgh Monarchs |
Knockout Cup | Somerset Rebels |
Premier Trophy | Edinburgh Monarchs |
Young Shield | Workington Comets |
Individual | Tai Woffinden |
Pairs | Workington Comets |
Fours | Workington Comets |
Highest average | Daniel Nermark |
Division/s above | 2008 Elite League |
Division/s below | 2008 Conference |
The 2008 Premier League speedway season was the second division of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom and the 14th season since its creation in 1995. The league was governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Summary[]
The League consisted of 16 teams for the 2008 season with the addition of the 2007 Conference League champions the Scunthorpe Scorpions. New rules introduced for 2008 include three points for an away win compared to two points in 2007, and the removal of bonus points, in which a team was awarded an additional point for an aggregate win over a home and away match against another team. The team finishing at the top of the league table at the end of the season after accumulating the most points were declared the Premier League champions. The four highest placed teams were entered into promotion play-offs, whereby the Premier League play-off winner faced the Elite League relegation play-off final losers over two legs.[1] Teams finishing in fifth to twelfth at the time of the fixture cut-off date compete in the Young Shield.
The Edinburgh Monarchs were crowned the Premier League champions after ending the season as the highest placed team.[2] The Somerset Rebels finished second, King's Lynn Stars third and the Rye House Rockets fourth. All four teams took part in the promotion play-off with Edinburgh and King's Lynn reaching the final. Edinburgh won 93–90 on aggregate and faced Elite League team Wolverhampton Wolves, but lost the two-legged promotion/relegation final 106–76.[3]
Final league table[]
Key: | |
---|---|
Promotion Play-Offs | |
Pos | Club | M | Home | Away | F | A | +/- | Pts | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | D | L | W | D | L | |||||||
1 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 30 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 1562 | 1161 | 53 | |
2 | Somerset Rebels | 30 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 1517 | 1223 | 48 | |
3 | Kings Lynn Stars | 30 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1624 | 1111 | 45 | |
4 | Rye House Rockets | 30 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 1500 | 1232 | 42 | |
5 | Workington Comets | 30 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 1435.5 | 1300.5 | 41 | |
6 | Berwick Bandits | 30 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1428 | 1316 | 37 | |
7 | Redcar Bears | 30 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 1369 | 1374 | 37 | |
8 | Sheffield Tigers | 30 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 1381 | 1345 | 35 | |
9 | Reading Racers | 30 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1350 | 1405 | 34 | |
10 | Scunthorpe Scorpions | 30 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1309 | 1434 | 33 | |
11 | Isle of Wight Islanders | 30 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1359 | 1390 | 31 | |
12 | Birmingham Brummies | 30 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 1317.5 | 1401.5 | 30 | |
13 | Stoke Potters | 30 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1307 | 1441 | 25 | |
14 | Newcastle Diamonds | 30 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1220 | 1501 | 22 | |
15 | Glasgow Tigers | 30 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1297 | 1469 | 19 | |
16 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 30 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 932 | 1804 | 0 |
Leading averages[]
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
Daniel Nermark | Workington | 10.53 |
Kevin Doolan | Kings Lynn | 10.47 |
Ulrich Østergaard | Reading | 10.29 |
Jason Doyle | Somerset | 10.28 |
Tai Woffinden | Rye House | 10.15 |
Adrian Rymel | Berwick | 10.07 |
Tomáš Topinka | Kings Lynn | 9.98 |
Jason Lyons | Birmingham | 9.97 |
Kauko Nieminen | Workington | 9.50 |
Shane Parker | Glasgow | 9.38 |
Premier League Knockout Cup[]
The 2008 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Somerset Rebels were the winners of the competition.[4]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
11/04 | Scunthorpe | 44-48 | Sheffield |
10/04 | Sheffield | 55-36 | Scunthorpe |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
23/04 | Birmingham | 43-47 | Glasgow |
20/04 | Glasgow | 40-52 | Birmingham |
24/04 | Redcar | 53-40 | Mildenhall |
27/04 | Mildenhall | 40-50 | Redcar |
13/05 | Isle of Wight | 54-38 | Sheffield |
24/04 | Sheffield | 52-38 | Isle of Wight |
25/04 | Edinburgh | 54-38 | Berwick |
26/04 | Berwick | 42-51 | Edinburgh |
25/04 | Somerset | 64-28 | Newcastle |
27/04 | Newcastle | 39-39 | Somerset |
26/04 | Rye House | 60-30 | Newport |
07/05 | Kings Lynn | 55-38 | Reading |
28/04 | Reading | 59-34 | King's Lynn |
27/04 | Stoke | 42-50 | Workington |
26/05 | Workington | 54-36 | Stoke |
ns match not staged Rye House into next round
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
25/06 | Birmingham | 42-51 | Rye House |
31/05 | Rye House | 62-30 | Birmingham |
17/06 | Isle of Wight | 51-43 | Workington |
07/06 | Workington | 53-38 | Isle of Wight |
30/05 | Edinburgh | 55-38 | Redcar |
29/05 | Redcar | 39-53 | Edinburgh |
30/05 | Somerset | 53-39 | Reading |
29/06 | Reading | 51-44 | Somerset |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
27/09 | Workington | 53-39 | Edinburgh |
26/09 | Edinburgh | 49-41 | Workington |
25/08 | Rye House | 50-43 | Somerset |
22/08 | Somerset | 53-38 | Rye House |
Final[]
First leg
Workington Comets Jason Lyons (guest) 17 Joe Haines 9 Carl Stonehewer 8 John Branney 5 Charles Wright 3 Tony Reima 1 Kauko Nieminen R/R | 43 – 46 | Somerset Rebels Emil Kramer 10 Jason Doyle 10 Stephan Katt 9 Jordan Frampton 9 Matthias Kröger 6 Brent Werner 2 Simon Walker R/R |
---|---|---|
[5][6] |
Second leg
Somerset Rebels Jason Doyle 14 Emil Kramer 11 Brent Werner 10 Matthias Kröger 9 Jordan Frampton 7 Stephan Katt 1 Simon Walker R/R | 52 – 41 | Workington Comets Jason Lyons (guest) 17 Joe Haines 8 Tony Reima 8 Charles Wright 4 Carl Stonehewer 3 John Branney 1 Kauko Nieminen R/R |
---|---|---|
[5][7] |
Somerset were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–84.
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "British Speedway 2008". British Speedway Promoters' Association. 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "Wolves seal EL place". Sky Sports. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ^ "2008 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "2008 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "2008 KO cup final 1st leg". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "2008 KO cup final 2nd leg". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- Speedway Premier League
- 2008 in speedway
- 2008 in British motorsport