The 2002 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).
Season summary The League consisted of 17 teams for the 2002 season with the addition of two teams, the Rye House Rockets and the Somerset Rebels from the Conference League.
The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Sheffield Tigers.
On 14 April, Lawrence Hare was paralysed after crashing while riding for Exeter Falcons.
League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Sheffield Tigers 32 20 1 11 1612 1267 41 15 562 Newcastle Diamonds 32 21 1 10 1501 1364 43 13 563 Isle of Wight Islanders 32 21 1 10 1541 1329 43 15 554 Berwick Bandits 32 17 3 12 1520 1360 37 12 495 Hull Vikings 32 19 0 13 1444 1419 38 11 496 Swindon Robins 32 17 2 13 1473 1408 36 10 467 Stoke Potters 32 17 1 14 1453 1423 35 8 438 Reading Racers 32 17 0 15 1427 1448 34 7 419 Edinburgh Monarchs 32 14 4 14 1425 1450 35 8 4010 Exeter Falcons 32 14 0 18 1463 1415 28 10 3811 Arena Essex Hammers 32 13 3 15 1417 1456 29 6 3512 Newport Wasps 32 13 2 17 1394 1472 28 6 3413 Rye House Rockets 32 13 2 17 1373 1496 28 5 3314 Trelawny Tigers 32 13 1 18 1343 1539 27 4 3115 Workington Comets 32 12 3 17 1368 1518 27 3 3016 Somerset Rebels 32 9 2 21 1344 1536 20 4 2417 Glasgow Tigers 32 9 0 23 1335 1533 18 2 20
Fixtures and results
Premier League Knockout Cup The 2002 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 35th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Sheffield Tigers were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two20/04 Rye House 53-37 Somerset10/05 Somerset 45-45 Rye House Second round Date Team one Score Team two27/05 Reading 47-43 Arena Essex31/05 Arena Essex 48-42 Reading30/05 Sheffield 55-36 Isle of Wight28/05 Isle of Wight 46-44 Sheffield02/06 Glasgow 48-42 Workington01/06 Workington 41-49 Glasgow27/05 Newcastle 53-37 Trelawny28/05 Trelawny 46-43 Newcastle01/06 Stoke 49-41 Exeter27/05 Exeter 46-44 Stoke24/04 Hull 54-36 Berwick20/04 Berwick 52-38 Hull01/06 Rye House 46-44 Swindon30/05 Swindon 45-45 Rye House02/06 Newport 49-41 Edinburgh31/05 Edinburgh 49-41 Newport20/07replay Newport 54-36 Edinburgh05/07replay Edinburgh 49-41 Newport Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two29/08 Sheffield 61-39 Glasgow12/08 Glasgow 44-46 Sheffield29/07 Newcastle 57-33 Stoke31/08 Stoke 49-41 Newcastle31/07 Hull 45-45 Rye House28/07 Rye House 44-46 Hull28/07 Newport 48-41 Arena Essex02/08 Arena Essex 45-45 Newport Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two03/10 Sheffield 63-27 Newcastle30/09 Newcastle 53-37 Sheffield18/09 Hull 51-39 Newport29/09 Newport 50-40 Hull Final First leg
Second leg
Sheffield were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 97–83.
Premier Trophy
North Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1Hull 6 4 1 1 92 Sheffield 6 4 0 2 83 Newcastle 6 2 0 4 44 Stoke 6 1 1 4 3
South Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Reading 6 4 0 2 82Arena Essex 6 3 0 3 63 Rye House630364 Isle of Wight62044
Border Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1Berwick 6 4 0 2 82 Glasgow 6 3 1 2 73 Edinburgh 6 2 1 3 54 Workington 6 2 0 4 4
West Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Trelawny 8 5 1 2 112 Newport 8 5 0 3 103 Swindon8503104 Somerset831475 Exeter 8 1 0 7 2
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreReading Trelawny 44–46, 38–52Berwick Sheffield 53–37, 33–57
Final Team one Team two ScoreTrelawny Sheffield 63–27, 28–61
Young Shield End of season competition for top 8 league teams
First Round Team one Team two ScoreSwindon Berwick 41–49, 38–52Reading Isle of Wight 47–43, 33–39Sheffield Hull 59–31, 36–54Stoke Newcastle 58–32, 36–54
Semi-final Team one Team two Score Sheffield Stoke 58–32, 46–44Berwick Isle of Wight 43–47, 37–53
Final Team one Team two ScoreIsle of Wight Sheffield 46–44, 35–54
Riders' Championship Adam Shields won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 8 September at Belle Vue Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Adam Shields 3 3 ex 2 311-32 Craig Watson 3 2 3 3 112-23 Phil Morris 3 2 2 2 211214 Brent Werner 0 1 3 3 29 305 Andre Compton 2 3 3 0 311 16 Peter Ingvar Karlsson 2 ex 2 1 3807 Garry Stead 1 2 2 1 288 Marián Jirout 2 3 0 1 179 Jan Staechmann 3 1 1 1 17 10 George Štancl 2 1 ex 2 2711 Paul Bentley 0 0 0 3 3612 Charlie Gjedde 0 2 3 ex 0513 Michael Coles 0 0 1 3 1514 Frede Schött 1 3 1 0 0515 Leigh Lanham 1 0 2 2 ex516 Simon Stead 1 1 1 0 0317 Steve Masters (res) 0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Derwent Park on 19 July. The event was won by the Isle of Wight Islanders.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Newport 23 Smart 13, Watson 102Edinburgh 19 Carr P 11, Schott 83Workington 17 Stonehewer 13, Karlsson 44Reading 16 Mullett 9, Morris 75Sheffield 15 Wilson 10, Stead 5
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Isle of Wight 24 Shields 13, Bird 112 Hull 20 Stead 12, Kessler 83Berwick 17 Bentley 14, Kristensen 34Somerset 15 Jirout 8, Cunningham 75Glasgow 14 Stancl 9, Grieves 5
Semi-finals Isle of Wight bt Edinburgh Newport bt Hull
Final Isle of Wight bt Newport
Fours Berwick Bandits won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 21 July 2002, at the Brandon Stadium.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Hull15 Stead G 5, Kessler 5, Thorp 3, Smith J 22 Newport 14Smart 4, Smith S 4, Watson 3, Dicken 33 Glasgow10 Stancl 4, Grieves 3, Powell 2, Olsson 1 4 Sheffield 9 Wilson 5, Complin 2, Stead S 1, Smith S 1
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Berwick 15 Kristensen 4, Rymel 4, Bentley 4, Makovsky 32 Arena Essex 12 White 4, Tacey 3, Lanham 3, Tatum 2 3 Reading 11 Henriksson 6, Morris 2, Mullett 2, Schramm 14 Isle of Wight 10 Bager 4, Bird 3, Shields 2, Read 1, Simmons 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Berwick 22Bentley 8, Rymel 6, Makovsky 5. Kristensen 32 Arena Essex 21White 8, Tatum 6, Tacey 4, Lanham 33 Newport 16Smart 5, Smith S 4, Dicken 4, Watson 3 4 Hull 13 Kessler 6, Thorp 3, Smith J 2, Smethills 2, Stead G 0
Final leading averages Rider Team Average Sean WilsonSheffield10.17 Carl StonehewerWorkington10.08 Adam ShieldsIsle of Wight9.85 Ray MortonIsle of Wight9.53 Paul FrySwindon9.46 Marián JiroutSomerset9.31 Paul BentleyBerwick9.24 Leigh LanhamArena Essex9.19 Peter CarrEdinburgh9.17 Chris HarrisTrewlany9.13
Riders & final averages Arena Essex
Leigh Lanham 9.19 Kelvin Tatum 8.48 Shaun Tacey 7.30 Colin White 7.24 Lee Herne 4.78 Andy Galvin 3.79 Carl Baldwin 3.37 Scott Courtney 2.67
Berwick
Paul Bentley 9.24 Claus Kristensen 7.79 Michal Makovský 7.50 Adrian Rymel 6.99 Simon Cartwright 6.65 Kevin Doolan 6.29 Steffen Mell 5.06
Edinburgh
Peter Carr 9.17 Frede Schott 8.20 Daniel Andersson 7.36 Magnus Karlsson 7.00 Theo Pijper 5.85 Aidan Collins 5.72 Rory Schlein 5.52 Christian Henry 4.92 David Meldrum 4.27 Ben Shields 3.41
Exeter
Seemond Stephens 8.46 Michael Coles 8.34 Mark Simmonds 7.78 Roger Lobb 7.52 Lawrence Hare 6.92 Krister Marsh 6.58 Bobby Eldridge 5.52 Jason Prynne 3.81 Matt Cambridge 3.34 Corey Blackman 2.53
Glasgow
George Štancl 9.04 James Grieves 8.08 Mick Powell 7.75 Kenny Olsson 5.13 Martin Dixon 4.70 David McAllan 4.40 Grant MacDonald 3.17
Hull
Garry Stead 8.68 Robbie Kessler 8.33 Paul Thorp 8.08 Ross Brady 7.75 Jamie Smith 6.17 Emil Kramer 5.97 Lee Smethills 5.55 Craig Branney 1.91
Isle of Wight
Adam Shields 9.85 Ray Morton 9.53 Danny Bird 8.28 Henning Bager 6.25 Sebastien Trésarrieu 6.20 Matt Read 5.76 Gary Phelps 5.21 Nick Simmons 3.92 Daniel Giffard 2.10
Newcastle
Kenneth Bjerre 8.61 Andre Compton 8.33 Davey Watt 8.00 Kevin Little 6.98 Richard Juul 5.89 Derek Sneddon 5.69 Wayne Carter 4.95 Rob Grant Jr 3.74 Richard Hall 1.37
Newport
Craig Watson 8.94 Frank Smart 8.91 Scott Smith 6.85 Emil Lindqvist 6.75 Lee Dicken 6.04 Carl Wilkinson 4.31 Ashley Jones 3.13 Barrie Evans 2.74
Reading
Andrew Appleton 8.95 Phil Morris 8.68 Dave Mullett 8.56 Anders Henriksson 7.54 Jason Bunyan 6.82 Paul Clews 5.96 Chris Schramm 4.32 Glen Phillips 4.29 Gavin Hedge 2.97
Rye House
Brent Werner 8.47 Nigel Sadler 8.11 Scott Robson 7.51 Mark Courtney 6.60 David Mason 5.39 Scott Swain 5.19 Troy Pratt 4.41 Adam Pryer 3.09 Chris Courage 2.80 Daniel Giffard 1.40
Sheffield
Sean Wilson 10.17 Simon Stead 8.53 Lee Complin 7.67 Scott Smith 7.20 Andrew Moore 6.97 James Birkinshaw 6.12 Ricky Ashworth 4.94
Somerset
Marián Jirout 9.31 Glenn Cunningham 7.74 Neil Collins 6.89 Graeme Gordon 5.58 Steve Bishop 5.17 Adam Allott 4.37 David Meldrum 4.35 Malcolm Holloway 3.77 Gary Phelps 3.23 Stuart Williams 2.63 Shane McCabe 2.61
Stoke
Alan Mogridge 8.50 Jan Staechmann 8.48 Paul Pickering 7.90 Tony Atkin 6.14 Jon Armstrong 5.79 Mark Burrows 5.13 Will Beveridge 4.06 Rob Grant Jr. 4.00 Lee Hodgson 2.46
Swindon
Paul Fry 9.46 Charlie Gjedde 8.92 Oliver Allen 8.30 Chris Neath 6.47 Paul Lee 5.04 Adam Allott 5.02 Jason King 3.65 Ritchie Hawkins 3.34
Trelawny
Chris Harris 9.13 Alun Rossiter 7.27 Emiliano Sanchez 7.13 Steve Masters 6.98 Richard Wolff 6.95 Seemond Stephens 6.19 Pavel Ondrašík 5.88 Simon Phillips 4.39 Jason Prynne 2.51
Workington
Carl Stonehewer 10.08 Peter Ingvar Karlsson 8.10 Les Collins 8.08 Rusty Harrison 7.65 Kauko Nieminen 6.20 Chris Collins 2.89 James Mann 2.87 Scott James 2.67 Lee Hodgson 2.24 Tom Brown 2.10 Shane Colvin 1.82
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References