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1997 Premier League speedway season

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British motorcycle speedway season

1997 Premier League speedway season
LeaguePremier League
ChampionsReading Racers
Knockout CupEdinburgh Monarchs
Young ShieldExeter Falcons
IndividualPeter Carr
PairsLong Eaton Invaders
FoursLong Eaton Invaders
Highest averageDave Mullett
Division/s above1997 Elite League
Division/s below1997 Conference League

The 1997 Premier League speedway season was the second division of motorcycle 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.

Reading Racers won the title.

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away AE BER ED EX GLA HV IOW LE ND NW OX RR SHE STO
Arena Essex Hammers 53–36 40–49 55–35 57–33 49–41 54–36 43–47 48–42 51–38 48–42 39–51 60–30 44–46
Berwick Bandits 43–47 50–40 43–47 45–45 43–47 42–48+ 41–49 54–35 59–31 48–42 37–53 50–39 56–34
Edinburgh Monarchs 54–36 46–44 54–36 53–37 59–31 53–36+ 45–45 44–4 55–35 58–32 46–44 64–26 48–42
Exeter Falcons 53–37 51–39 52–38 72–18 55–34 57–33 65–25 54–36 61–29 55–35 39–51 49–41 50–40
Glasgow Tigers 50–40 48–41 44–46 55–35 51–39 55–35 42–48 53–37 52–38 64–26 49–41 52–38 52–38
Hull Vikings 48–42 55–32 46–44 60–30 53–36 51–39 50–40 44–46 48–42 49–41 41–49 53–37 42–48
Isle of Wight Islanders 59–30 49–40 53–36 57–33 47–43 58–32 41–49 51–39 38–52 52–38 59–29 43–47 53–37
Long Eaton Invaders 53–37 51–39 59–31 50–40 52–37 57–32 50–40 52–38 52–37 51–38 46–44 55–35 46–44
Newcastle Diamonds 55–35 48–42 48–42 56–34 50–40 53–37 57–33 52–38 53–37 49–41 41–48 60–30 42–47
Newport Wasps 43–47 39–50 39–51 50–40 48–42 43–46 57–33 51–39 43–47 50–40 41–49 49–41 45–45
Oxford Cheetahs 56–34 55–34 44–46 54–36 40–50 53–37 41–49 46–43 50–39 52–38 43–47 52–38 51–38
Reading Racers 49–41 64–26 50–40 54–36 62–28 48–40 61–29 55–35 52–38 52–38 54–36 59–31 61–29
Sheffield Tigers 48–42 62–18 44–46 49–40 53–37 43–46 50–40 47–42 48–41 46–44 50–40 44–46 49–41
Stoke Potters 42–48 45–43 43–47 32–58 45–45 57–32 51–38 37–53 37–53 52–38 62–28 39–50 40–50
Source: + as Skegness
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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

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.

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 – 47Edinburgh Monarchs
Peter Carr 12
Robert Eriksson 10
Kenny McKinna 10
Paul Gould 7
Blair Scott 6
Barry Campbell 2
Neil Hewitt 0
Oxford Stadium

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 – 43Oxford Cheetahs
Philippe Bergé 15
Neville Tatum 12
Lawrence Hare 8
Mikael Teurnberg 4
William Beveridge 4
Anthony Barlow 0
Jeremy Luckhurst R/R
Armadale Stadium

Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94–86.

Riders' Championship

Peter Carr won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 13 September at Brandon Stadium.

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1 England Peter Carr 2 2 0 2 3 9 3 3
2 England Glenn Cunningham 0 2 3 3 2 10 2 2
3 Sweden Robert Eriksson 2 2 3 2 r 9 2 1
4 Australia Brett Woodifield 3 1 3 1 3 11 3 0
5 England Dave Mullett 1 3 3 3 2 12 1
6 England Neville Tatum 3 3 2 3 1 12 1
7 England Leigh Lanham 3 3 fex 2 1 9 0
8 England Stuart Robson 1 1 1 3 3 9 0
9 Scotland Scott Lamb 2 1 2 1 3 9
10 England Carl Stonehewer 3 1 1 1 2 8
11 England Les Collins 1 3 1 0 2 7
12 England Scott Smith 0 0 2 2 1 5
13 England Neil Collins 2 0 2 0 0 4
14 England Troy Pratt 0 2 1 0 0 3
15 England Paul Bentley 1 0 0 1 1 3
16 Sweden Anders Henriksson 0 fex - - - 0
17 England David Housley (res) - - 0 - 0 0
18 England Nick Simmons (res) - - - 0 - 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oxford Stadium on 26 September. The event was won by Long Eaton Invaders.

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Long Eaton 33 Stonehewer 18, Dixon 15
2 Reading 31 Richardson 19, Mullett 12
3 Exeter 28 Coles 21, Lanham 7
4 Oxford 26 Hare 20, Tatum 6
5 Sheffield 26 Kessler 18, Smith 8
6 Glasgow 23 Powell 13, Collins 10
7 Edinburgh 22 Carr P 17, McKinna 5

Fours

Long Eaton Invaders won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 3 August 1997, at the East of England Arena.

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Long Eaton 28 Lee 7, Stonehewer 7, Werner 7, Dixon 6, Elkins 1
2 Edinburgh 23 Carr P 12, Eriksson 6, McKinna K 4, Gould 1
3 Oxford 17 Hare 6, Teurnberg 4, Berge 4, Tatum 3
4 Berwick 9 Lamb 4, Little 2, Pingel 1, Kosonen 1, Meldrum 1

Final leading averages

Rider Team Average
England Dave Mullett Reading 10.47
England Carl Stonehewer Long Eaton 10.39
England Glenn Cunningham Reading 9.92
England Peter Carr Edinburgh 9.88
England Martin Dixon Long Eaton 9.81
Scotland Kenny McKinna Edinburgh 9.73
Germany Robbie Kessler Sheffield 9.76
England Alan Grahame Hull 9.75
Sweden Robert Eriksson Edinburgh 9.46
England Les Collins Stoke 9.44

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

Berwick

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hull

Isle of Wight/Skegness

Long Eaton

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

Reading

Sheffield

Stoke

Jon Armstrong 2.00

See also

References

  1. "Wheelie Good Trophy for Champs". Reading Evening Post. 30 June 1997. Retrieved 10 December 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "History Archive". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  3. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  4. "1997 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  5. "Is this the end for the Braves?". Boston Target. 25 June 1997. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "1997 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ^ "1997 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Edinburgh results 1997" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  9. "Champions". Reading Evening Post. 15 September 1997. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "1997 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  11. "Speedway Premier League Pairs 26/09/1997". YouTube. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  12. "Monarchs are right out of luck". Daily Record. 4 August 1997. Retrieved 6 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "1997 Long Eaton results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
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