The 2000 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 14 teams for the 2000 season with the addition of the Hull Vikings who dropped down from the Elite League.

The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Exeter Falcons.

League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Exeter Falcons 26 15 1 10 1335 1003 31 13 442 Swindon Robins 26 18 0 8 1249 1094 36 8 443 Hull Vikings 26 16 2 8 1201 1142 33 9 424 Sheffield Tigers 26 16 4 9 1226 1102 32 10 425 Workington Comets 26 15 2 9 1261 1114 32 10 426 Edinburgh Monarchs 26 15 1 10 1213 1140 31 8 397 Stoke Potters 26 12 2 12 1166 1178 26 5 318 Newcastle Diamonds 26 11 1 14 1178 1157 23 7 309 Glasgow Tigers 26 10 2 14 1096 1232 22 5 2710 Newport Wasps 26 10 1 15 1089 1245 21 5 2611 Isle of Wight Islanders 26 8 2 16 1128 1208 18 6 2412 Berwick Bandits 26 10 0 16 1133 1210 20 3 2313 Arena Essex Hammers 26 11 0 15 1054 1272 22 1 2314 Reading Racers 26 7 1 18 1075 1262 15 2 17

Fixtures and results

Premier League Knockout Cup The 2000 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 33rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Swindon Robins were the winners of the competition.

First round Date Team one Score Team two05/06 Reading 43-47 Swindon08/06 Swindon 46-44 Reading05/06 Exeter 50-40 Isle of Wight06/06 Isle of Wight 42-47 Exeter07/06 Hull 48-42 Sheffield08/06 Sheffield 45-45 Hull10/06 Stoke 48-42 Newcastle11/06 Newcastle 43-47 Stoke10/06 Workington 40-31 Newport11/06 Newport 48-42 Workington10/06 Edinburgh 43-29 Arena Essex09/06 Arena Essex 48-42 Edinburgh Second round Date Team one Score Team two13/07 Swindon 49-41 Berwick15/07 Berwick 48-42 Swindon10/07 Exeter 64-26 Glasgow09/07 Glasgow 50-40 Exeter12/07 Hull 42-48 Stoke15/07 Stoke 41-48 Hull15/07 Workington 50-40 Edinburgh14/07 Edinburgh 44-46 Workington Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two01/10 Swindon 48-23 Exeter07/08 Exeter 46-44 Swindon25/08 Hull 49-41 Workington05/08 Workington 48-42 Hull Final First leg

Second leg

Swindon were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101–79.

Young Shield End of season competition for the top eight league teams First round Team one Team two ScoreSheffield+ Hull 55–35, 35–55Stoke Exeter 48–41, 40–50Swindon+Edinburgh 49–41, 41–49NewcastleWorkington 49–41, 40–50 +Swindon and Sheffield won ride off

Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreSheffieldSwindon 47–43, 40–49WorkingtonExeter 46–44, 42–48

Final Team one Team two ScoreSwindonExeter65–25, 47–42

Premier Trophy

North Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1Workington 12 9 0 3 182Hull 12 9 0 3 193 Sheffield 12 7 0 5 144 Edinburgh 12 6 0 6 125 Berwick 12 5 0 7 106 Glasgow 12 4 0 8 87 Newcastle 12 2 0 10 4

South Group Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Swindon 12 7 2 3 162 Exeter 12 6 0 6 123 Stoke12606124 Newport12606125 Isle of Wight 12 5 1 6 116 Arena Essex12516117 Reading1250710

Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreHullSwindon 47–43, 45–45WorkingtonExeter 54–36, 30–60

Final Team one Team two ScoreExeterHull44–46, 40–50

Riders' Championship Carl Stonehewer won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 10 September at Owlerton Stadium.

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Carl Stonehewer 3 3 2 3 314-32 Peter Carr 1 2 1 2 3 9223 Paul Pickering 3 3 2 3 314-14 Sean Wilson 3 3 3 1 313305 Paul Thorp 0 3 2 3 1916 Alan Mogridge 2 2 3 3 21207 Andre Compton 2 1 3 0 288 Robbie Kessler 3 1 ex 2 2 8 9 Paul Fry 2 2 2 2 0810 Les Collins 1 1 1 3 1711 Michael Coles 1 2 1 0 1 5 12 Anders Henriksson ex 0 1 1 2413 Colin White 2 0 0 1 1414 Phil Morris 0 1 2 ex 0315 Robert Eriksson 1 ex ex116 Ray Morton 0 ex0 17 Adam Allott 0 1 0 01 ex=excluded

Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Derwent Park on 8 July. The event was won by Workington Comets for the second successive season. The meeting was subject to heavy rain, which forced a shortened version of the event.

Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Workington 14 Stonehewer 8, Powell 62Isle of Wight 8 Morton 8, Bird 03Swindon 8 Smart 6, Fry 24Newcastle 8 Pedersen 6, Compton 25Newport 7Neath 5, Howe 2

Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Edinburgh 12 Carr P 6, Eriksson 62Sheffield 11 Wilson 7, Kessler 43Hull 9 Stead 7, Thorp 24Berwick 8 Bentley 6, Mogridge 2 5Exeter 5 Coles 3, Simmons 2

Semi finals Workington 4: Sheffield 3 Isle of Wight 4: Edinburgh 3

Final Workington 7: Isle of Wight 2

Fours Sheffield Tigers won the Premier League Four-Team Championship for the second successive season. The final was held on 6 August 2000, at the East of England Arena.

Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Swindon 142 Sheffield 133 Newcastle12 4 Workington 9

Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Berwick 17 2 Isle of Wight 14 3 Edinburgh 10 4 Exeter 7

FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Sheffield 30Wilson, Kessler, Lee. Stead2 Isle of Wight 163 Swindon 14 4 Berwick 12

Leading averages Rider Team Average Peter CarrEdinburgh10.28 Sean WilsonSheffield10.27 Ray MortonIsle of Wight10.09 Carl StonehewerWorkington9.89 Bjarne PedersenNewcastle9.70 Robert ErikssonEdinburgh9.31 Michael ColesExeter9.26 Alan MogridgeBerwick9.07 Paul Fry Swindon8.89 Armando CastagnaReading8.88

Riders & final averages Arena Essex

Colin White 8.12 Troy Pratt 7.72 Jan Pedersen 6.55 Savalas Clouting 6.44 Gary Corbett 5.85 Matt Read 5.60 Brent Collyer 5.43 Justin Elkins 5.10 David Mason 3.93 Luke Clifton 2.80 Barrie Evans .2.65 Jon Underwood 2.26

Berwick

Alan Mogridge 9.07 Paul Bentley 8.21 Scott Lamb 7.45 David Meldrum 7.17 Jörg Pingel 7.03 Scott Smith 6.91 Dean Felton 4.16 Freddie Stephenson 3.49 Steven McAllister 2.00 Wesley Waite 1.14

Edinburgh

Peter Carr 10.28 Robert Eriksson 9.31 Kevin Little 6.46 Ross Brady 5.48 Blair Scott 5.20 Christian Henry 4.30 Will Beveridge 3.74 Jonathan Swales 2.00

Exeter

Michael Coles 9.26 Mark Simmonds 7.79 Seemond Stephens 7.77 Chris Harris 7.05 Roger Lobb 7.05 Bobby Eldridge 6.76 Graeme Gordon 6.20 Wayne Barrett 3.00

Glasgow

Les Collins 8.55 James Grieves 7.97 Mark Courtney 7.14 Emiliano Sanchez 6.50 Richard Juul 6.32 Aidan Collins 4.58 Rusty Harrison 4.39 Sean Courtney 4.00 Scott Courtney 2.97

Hull

Paul Thorp 8.79 Garry Stead 8.25 Lee Dicken 7.15 Paul Smith 6.89 Rene Aas 6.10 Mike Smith 5.51 Jamie Smith 3.03 Wesley Waite 1.38

Isle of Wight

Ray Morton 10.09 Danny Bird 6.96 Scott Swain 6.93 Adam Shields 6.78 Richard Juul 5.59 Glen Phillips 4.28 Tommy Palmer 4.00 Adrian Newman 3.09

Newcastle

Bjarne Pedersen 9.70 Jesper Olsen 8.20 Stuart Swales 7.57 Andre Compton 7.43 Grant MacDonald 5.27 Will Beveridge 5.00 Paul Macklin 3.74 Rob Grant Jr 3.63 Krister Marsh 3.62 Darren Pearson 3.51 Jamie Smith 3.20

Newport

Anders Henriksson 8.68 Ben Howe 8.27 Andrew Appleton 7.21 Chris Neath 6.92 Jon Armstrong 4.74 Craig Taylor 4.68 Nathan Murray 4.17 Chris Courage 3.32 Lee Herne 2.51

Reading

Armando Castagna 8.88 Phil Morris 8.44 Per Wester 6.96 Paul Clews 6.25 Krister Marsh 5.61 Shane Colvin 3.93 Marc Norris 3.61 Lee Herne 2.67

Sheffield

Sean Wilson 10.27 Robbie Kessler 8.72 Simon Stead 8.31 Paul Lee 5.74 Adam Allott 4.85 Simon Cartwright 4.64 James Birkinshaw 3.65 Andrew Moore 3.19

Stoke

Paul Pickering 8.78 David Walsh 7.75 Mark Burrows 6.92 Tony Atkin 6.20 Wayne Broadhurst 4.53 Paul Macklin 2.56 Steven McAllister 2.29

Swindon

Paul Fry 8.89 Frank Smart 8.79 Neil Collins 7.32 Claus Kristensen 7.13 Martin Dixon 6.70 Oliver Allen 6.58 Mark Steel 5.21 Nathan Murray 4.32

Workington

Carl Stonehewer 9.89 Brent Werner 8.74 Peter Ingvar Karlsson 8.69 Mick Powell 8.62 Lee Smethills 5.22 Barry Campbell 4.80 Adrian Newman 3.36 Geoff Powell 3.19 James Mann 2.34 Jamie Swales 1.03

See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)

References