The 2001 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Season summary The League consisted of 15 teams for the 2001 season with the addition of a new teams, the Trelawny Tigers.
The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Newcastle Diamonds.
League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Newcastle Diamonds 28 20 1 7 1327 1166 41 12 532 Hull Vikings 2817 3 8 1377 1124 37 13 503 Sheffield Tigers 28 18 0 10 1378 1125 36 11 474 Isle of Wight Islanders 28 18 0 10 1374 1145 36 11 475 Swindon Robins 28 16 3 9 1331 1170 35 10 456 Workington Comets 28 16 2 10 1263 1256 34 8 427 Exeter Falcons 28 13 2 13 1290 1239 28 8 368 Edinburgh Monarchs 28 13 1 14 1257 1242 27 8 359 Reading Racers 28 12 3 13 1272 1250 27 6 3310 Arena Essex Hammers 28 12 2 14 1230 1269 25 5 3011 Stoke Potters 28 13 1 14 1196 1316 27 3 3012 Berwick Bandits 28 10 1 17 1204 1317 21 4 2513 Glasgow Tigers 28 10 0 18 1131 1369 20 3 2314 Trelawny Tigers 28 6 1 21 1075 1447 13 2 1515 Newport Wasps 28 6 1 21 1115 1385 13 1 14
Fixtures and results
Premier League Knockout Cup The 2001 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Hull Vikings were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two18/05 Arena Essex 45-45 Reading21/05 Reading 48-42 Arena Essex16/05 Hull 54-36 Trelawny22/05 Trelawny 43-47 Hull19/05 Stoke 56-34 Isle of Wight29/05 Isle of Wight 47-42 Stoke21/05 Newcastle 55-35 Edinburgh18/05 Edinburgh 51-39 Newcastle09/07 Sheffield 58-32 Berwick19/05 Berwick 47-43 Sheffield21/05 Exeter 64-26 Newport24/06 Newport 47-43 Exeter10/05 Swindon 70-20 Glasgow20/05 Glasgow 45-42 Swindon Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two09/07 Reading 50-40 Exeter12/07 Exeter 51-39 Reading04/07 Hull 57-33 Stoke08/07 Stoke 41-48 Hull09/07 Newcastle 56-34 Sheffield12/07 Sheffield 47-43 Newcastle05/07 Swindon 50-40 Workington30/06 Workington 47-43 Swindon Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two18/07 Hull 40-38 Newcastle23/07 Newcastle 43-47 Hull13/08 Exeter 52-38 Swindon12/08 Swindon 51-39 Exeter Final First leg
Second leg
Hull were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 105–75.
Premier Trophy
North Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1Sheffield 14 11 0 3 222Workington 14 10 0 4 203 Newcastle 14 8 1 5 174 Edinburgh 14 8 0 6 165 Glasgow 14 6 0 8 126 Hull 14 5 1 8 117 Stoke 14 4 0 10 88 Berwick 14 2 2 10 6
South Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Swindon 12 8 0 4 162 Isle of Wight 12 7 1 4 153 Reading12705144 Arena Essex12606125 Exeter 12 5 1 6 116 Newport1240887 Trelawny124088
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreWorkington Swindon45–45, 36–54Isle of WightSheffield 50–40, 40–5048–42, 37–53
Final Team one Team two ScoreSwindonSheffield37–53, 25–65
Young Shield End of season competition for the top eight league teams First round Team one Team two Score Hull Workington 48–42, 40–53Exeter Isle of Wight 44–46, 27–63SwindonSheffield 49–41, 32–58Edinburgh Newcastle 47–43, 44–46
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreIsle of Wight Sheffield 64–26, 37–52Edinburgh Workington 60–30, 48–43
Final Team one Team two ScoreEdinburgh Isle of Wight 48–42, 29–61
Riders' Championship Carl Stonehewer won the Riders' Championship for the second successive season. The final was held on 9 September at Brandon Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Carl Stonehewer 1 1 3 1 39232 Sean Wilson 3 0 3 2 1 9 323 Bjarne Pedersen 2 3 1 3 312-14 Simon Stead 3 3 3 2 112-05 James Grieves 1 3 2 3 21116 Paul Fry 3 2 1 3 21107 Paul Thorp 3 2 388 Steve Masters 1 3 0 0 379 Michael Coles 0 1 0 3 3710 Robert Eriksson 2 2 1 1 1711 Brett Woodifield 2 ex 2 0 2612 Adrian Rymel 2 1 0 2 0513 Ray Morton 0 2 2 1 5 14 Leigh Lanham 1 ex 0 2 0315 Paul Pickering 0 1 1 0 1316 Armando Castagna ex 0 2 0 02 17 Andrew Moore (res) 2218 Ritchie Hawkins (res) 11 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Derwent Park on 14 July. The event was won by Workington Comets for the third successive season.
Group A Reading (Gjedde & Castagna) Sheffield (Wilson & Kessler) Exeter (Coles & Simmonds) Newport (Masters & Cunningham) Swindon (Fry & Kristensen)
Group B Workington (Stonehewer & Karlsson) Newcastle (Pedersen & Olsen) Isle of Wight (Morton & Bird) Arena Essex (White & Lanham) Edinburgh (Carr & Eriksson)
Final Workington (Stonehewer & Karlsson) bt Newcastle (Olsen & Pedersen)
Fours Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 5 August 2001, at the East of England Arena.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Sheffield 192 Newcastle 133 Hull 11 4 Reading 5 Gjedde 2, Mullett 2, Castagna 1, Morris 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Isle of Wight 16 2 Workington 12 3 Edinburgh 12 4 Newport 7
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Workington 22Stonehewer, Collins N2 Newcastle 21Pedersen B3 Sheffield19Stead4 Isle of Wight 10 Swain
Leading averages Rider Team Average Sean WilsonSheffield10.39 Carl StonehewerWorkington10.29 Bjarne PedersenNewcastle10.16 Peter CarrEdinburgh10.01 Simon SteadSheffield9.98 Ray MortonIsle of Wight9.42 Michael ColesExeter9.19 Armando CastagnaReading9.05 Paul ThorpHull9.03 Peter Ingvar KarlssonWorkington9.03
Riders & final averages Arena Essex
Leigh Lanham 8.84 Colin White 8.08 Troy Pratt 7.67 Shaun Tacey 7.20 Lee Dicken 5.47 Luke Clifton 4.00 Andy Galvin 3.40 Brent Collyer 3.24 Lee Herne 2.91 Barrie Evans 2.63
Berwick
Adrian Rymel 7.05 Scott Lamb 6.96 Scott Robson 6.84 Michal Makovský 6.73 David Meldrum 6.58 Wayne Carter 5.49 Bevan Compton .27 Josef Franc 5.25 Will Beveridge 4.76 David McAllan 2.88
Edinburgh
Peter Carr 10.01 Jan Andersen 8.03 Robert Eriksson 7.83 Daniel Andersson 7.01 Christian Henry 5.15 Blair Scott 5.08 Ben Shields 4.73 Derek Sneddon 3.77 Rory Schlein 1.29
Exeter
Michael Coles 9.19 Mark Simmonds 8.05 Lawrence Hare 7.74 Seemond Stephens 7.62 Bobby Eldridge 5.28 Krister Marsh 5.02 Matt Cambridge 4.13 Jason Prynne 3.37 David Osborn 0.47
Glasgow
James Grieves 8.47 Les Collins 8.07 Emiliano Sanchez 7.25 Mark Courtney 6.53 Stuart Swales 5.33 Henning Bager 4.92 Simon Cartwright 4.33 Aidan Collins 4.00 Derek Sneddon 3.66 Scott Courtney 1.71
Hull
Paul Thorp 9.03 Paul Bentley 8.49 David Walsh 8.06 Garry Stead 8.00 Ross Brady 6.98 Lee Dicken 6.58 Jamie Smith 5.27 Mike Smith 4.83 Justin Elkins 3.05
Isle of Wight
Ray Morton 9.42 Danny Bird 8.79 Adam Shields 8.61 Davey Watt 6.47 Sebastien Trésarrieu 6.46 Scott Swain 6.16 Glen Phillips 4.42
Newcastle
Bjarne Pedersen 10.16 Andre Compton 8.13 Jesper Olsen 8.11 Kevin Little 7.58 Richard Juul 5.26 Rob Grant Jr 5.02 James Birkinshaw 4.25 Grant MacDonald 3.11
Newport
Anders Henriksson 8.95 Glenn Cunningham 7.55 Steve Masters 7.47 Emil Lindqvist 6.92 Scott Smith 6.32 Chris Neath 6.30 Krister Marsh 4.57 Carl Wilkinson 4.50 Tommy Palmer 4.48 Nick Simmons 3.48 Rob Finlow 1.88
Reading
Armando Castagna 9.05 Charlie Gjedde 8.94 Phil Morris 8.42 Dave Mullett 7.77 Paul Clews 7.39 Shane Colvin 5.38 Tommy Palmer 3.51 Chris Schramm 2.82 Brendon McKay 0.94
Sheffield
Sean Wilson 10.39 Simon Stead 9.98 Robbie Kessler 8.83 Scott Smith 7.18 Lee Complin 5.50 Adam Allott 4.86 Andrew Moore 4.81 Lee Redmond 4.64 Lee Hodgson 3.19
Stoke
Jan Staechmann 8.85 Paul Pickering 8.21 Tony Atkin 7.26 Mark Burrows 6.11 Jon Armstrong 4.79 Wayne Broadhurst 4.47 Dean Felton 3.91 Will Beveridge 3.41 Grant MacDonald 3.06 Neil Painter 1.37
Swindon
Paul Fry 8.27 Claus Kristensen 7.77 Oliver Allen 7.73 Alan Mogridge 7.63 Martin Dixon 7.11 Alun Rossiter 7.10 Mark Steel 6.20 Ritchie Hawkins 4.52
Trelawny
Chris Harris 7.82 Pavel Ondrašík 6.64 Brett Woodifield 6.59 Mark Courtney 6.21 Graeme Gordon 5.55 Kenny Olsson 5.00 Richard Wolff 5.00 Steffen Mell 4.20 Gary Phelps 4.00 Simon Phillips 3.55 Lee Herne 3.28
Workington
Carl Stonehewer 10.29 Peter Ingvar Karlsson 9.03 Neil Collins 7.67 Mick Powell 7.51 Rusty Harrison 7.25 Lee Smethills 4.39 James Mann 3.03 David McAllan 2.66 Craig Branney 1.55
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References