The 1998 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 13 teams for the 1998 season with the following the closure of the Long Eaton Invaders and the decision of the Oxford Cheetahs to compete in the Elite League. The addition of the Peterborough Panthers who dropped down from the Elite League limited the reduction in numbers.
The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Peterborough.
League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Peterborough Panthers 24 16 2 6 1206 945 34 12 462 Reading Racers 24 16 0 8 1130 989 32 10 423 Exeter Falcons 24 14 1 9 1134 1023 31 7 384 Hull Vikings 24 15 0 9 1098 1037 30 6 365 Sheffield Tigers 24 13 0 11 1088 1064 26 7 336 Isle of Wight Islanders 24 11 2 11 1095 1055 24 8 327 Glasgow Tigers 24 13 0 11 1085 1065 26 6 328 Newport Wasps 24 11 3 10 1067 1081 25 7 329 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 11 0 13 1078 1077 22 7 2910 Newcastle Diamonds 24 10 3 11 1041 1109 23 3 2611 Arena Essex Hammers 24 8 2 14 995 1139 18 2 2012 Berwick Bandits 24 7 1 17 982 1173 15 2 1713 Stoke Potters 24 3 0 21 956 1198 6 1 7
Fixtures and results
Premier League Knockout Cup The 1998 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Reading Racers were the winners of the competition.
Northern Group Pos Team Played W D L Pts1 Berwick Bandits 11 7 1 3 152 Sheffield Tigers 12 7 1 4 153 Glasgow Tigers 12 7 1 4 154 Edinburgh Monarchs 11 5 1 5 115 Newcastle Diamonds 9 3 2 4 86 Hull Vikings 12 4 0 8 87 Stoke Potters 8 3 0 6 6
Southern Group Pos Team Played W D L Pts1 Peterborough Panthers 10 7 0 3 142 Reading Racers 10 5 1 4 113 Arena Essex Hammers 10 5 0 5 104 Exeter Falcons 10 4 2 4 105 Isle of Wight Islanders 10 3 3 4 96 Newport Wasps 10 2 0 8 4
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two20/07 Reading 56-34 Sheffield16/07 Sheffield 45-45 Reading14/08 Peterborough 56-34 Berwick22/08 Berwick 42-48 Peterborough
Final
First leg
Second leg
Reading were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 103–77.
Young Shield End of season competition for the top eight league teams
First Round Team one Team two ScoreExeter Isle of Wight 45–36, 22–49Glasgow Reading 49–41, 42–47Hull Sheffield 42–48, 45–45Peterborough Newport 48–40, 42–47
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreSheffield Peterborough 51–39, 33–57Glasgow Isle of Wight 51–39, 31–58
Final Team one Team two ScorePeterborough Isle of Wight 50–40, 37–53
Riders' Championship Glenn Cunningham won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 13 September at Owlerton Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Glenn Cunningham 2 2 3 3 3 13-32 Carl Stonehewer 3 3 2 1 3 12223 Peter Carr 3 3 2 3 3 14-14 Nicki Pedersen 2 2 3 2 2 12 305 Craig Watson 1 3 2 2 2 1116 Leigh Lanham 0 3 0 3 3 1007 Paul Bentley 1 0 3 2 2 9 8 Paul Pickering 1 1 2 3 0 89 Frank Smart 2 1 1 1 2 7 10 Scott Smith 0 2 3 0 1 711 Lee Richardson 3 2 1 0 r 6 12 David Walsh 0 0 1 2 1 6 13 Paul Thorp 3 r 3 14 Martin Dixon 2 0 1 0 3 15 Steve Masters 1 1 0 t 1 3 16 Derrol Keats 0 0 1 1 1 3 17 Mick Powell 0 1 1 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Hayley Stadium on 26 July. The event was won by Peterborough Panthers.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Exeter18 Coles 11, Smart 72 Reading 17 Mullett 9, Kokko 83Arena Essex 12 Pedersen 10, Lanham 24 Edinburgh 7 Carr P 4, McKinna 3
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Peterborough 21 Cunningham 12, Woodifield 92Newcastle 16 Pedersen 12, Olsen 43Newport 12 Watson 9, Fry 34Hull 7 Bentley 7, Lobb 0
Semi finals Peterborough bt Reading 5–4 Exeter bt Newcastle 6–3
Final Peterborough bt Exeter 5–4
Fours Peterborough Panthers won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 30 August 1998, at the East of England Arena.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Peterborough 17 Berge 6, Cunningham 4, Woodifield 4 Sadler 52 Hull 14 Grahame 5, Bentley 3, Dicken 3, Thorp 33 Newport 11 Fry 3, Henriksson 3, Watson 3, Pegler 2 4 Newcastle 6 Werner 4, Birkenshaw 1, Olsen 1, Swales 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Reading 16Richardson 6, Kokko 5, Clews 4, Mullett 12 Edinburgh 12McKinna K 63 Arena Essex 11 Lanham 54 Exeter 9 Coles 4 Smart 2
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Peterborough 24Cunningham 8, Berge 6 Woodifield 5 Sadler 52 Hull 19Thorp 7, Grahame 5, Bentley 4, Dicken 3,3 Edinburgh 19Carr P 8, McKinna 6, Little 4, Andersson 14 Reading 10 Richardson 4, Kokko 4, Clews 2, Elkins 0, Mullett 0
Leading averages Rider Team Average Nicki PedersenNewcastle9.97 Carl StonehewerSheffield9.93 Lee RichardsonReading9.60 Paul ThorpHull9.56 Glenn CunninghamPeterborough9.55 Dave MullettReading9.48 Petri KokkoReading9.36 Mick PowellGlasgow9.32 Jan AndersenPeterborough9.29 Peter CarrEdinburgh9.26
Riders & final averages Arena Essex
Leigh Lanham 9.03 Jan Pedersen 8.71 Colin White 7.90 Troy Pratt 6.96 David Mason 4.69 Matt Read 4.00 Paul Lydes-Uings 2.60 Nathan Morton 2.52 Anthony Barlow 2.27 Oliver Allen 2.26 Gavin Hedge 2.07
Berwick
Rene Madsen 8.45 Scott Lamb 8.22 James Grieves 8.00 David Walsh 7.47 Peter Scully 6.77 Jörg Pingel 6.46 Scott Robson 6.45 Martin Dixon 6.31 David Meldrum 5.25 Craig Taylor 4.68 David McAllan 2.99 Wesley Waite 2.74
Edinburgh
Peter Carr 9.26 Kenny McKinna 8.66 Kevin Little 7.95 Marcus Andersson 5.63 Robert Larsen 5.49 Barry Campbell 5.33 Paul Gould 4.76 Blair Scott 4.37
Exeter
Frank Smart 9.03 Michael Coles 8.38 Peter Jeffery 7.90 Mark Simmonds 7.71 Graeme Gordon 6.54 Roger Lobb 4.83 Gary Lobb 4.31 Paul Oughton 4.26 Chris Courage 2.43
Glasgow
Mick Powell 9.32 Kaj Laukkanen 8.93 David Steen 7.53 Grant MacDonald 6.67 Daniel Andersson 6.17 Sean Courtney 5.68 Will Beveridge 5.56 Brian Turner 4.81
Hull
Paul Thorp 9.56 Paul Bentley 8.93 Alan Grahame 6.67 Lee Dicken 6.54 Paul Lee 5.28 John Wilson 4.69 Simon Cartwright 2.92
Isle of Wight
Ray Morton 8.40 Philippe Berge 8.29 Steve Masters 8.21 Jason Bunyan 7.21 Neville Tatum 7.15 Scott Swain 7.14 Wayne Carter 6.59 Danny Bird 3.60 Anthony Barlow 3.59
Newcastle
Nicki Pedersen 9.97 Brent Werner 8.26 Jesper Olsen 8.17 Stuart Swales 6.96 James Birkinshaw 3.77 Jonathan Swales 3.13 David McAllan 2.84 Malcolm Hogg 0.95
Newport
Craig Watson 8.36 Paul Fry 8.00 Anders Henriksson 7.52 Scott Pegler 5.82 Martin Willis 4.93 David Mason 4.60 Jon Armstrong 3.40 Chris Neath 3.29
Peterborough
Glenn Cunningham 9.55 Jan Andersen 9.29 Nigel Sadler 8.20 Philippe Bergé 7.83 David Howe 7.79 Brett Woodifield 7.01 Simon Stead 5.46 Paul Clews 4.84 Oliver Allen 4.04 Ross Brady 1.90
Reading
Lee Richardson 9.60 Dave Mullett 9.48 Petri Kokko 9.36 Phil Morris 5.15 Krister Marsh 4.67 Justin Elkins 4.61 Paul Clews 4.04 Lee Driver 2.70
Sheffield
Carl Stonehewer 9.93 Scott Smith 7.23 Rene Aas 6.65 Andre Compton 6.44 Steve Knott 5.58 Tommy Palmer 5.13 Derrol Keats 5.10
Stoke
Paul Pickering 9.00 Neil Collins 7.37 Mark Burrows 5.78 Craig Taylor 5.03 Stewart McDonald 4.63 Dean Felton 4.39 Rob Clarence 2.07
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References