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.
A new team Skegness Braves, created by Peter Oakes, entered speedway for the first time but withdrew mid-season.
Reading Racers won the title.
Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Reading Racers 26 22 0 4 1323 1011 44 13 572 Long Eaton Invaders 26 18 1 7 1227 1107 37 11 483 Edinburgh Monarchs 26 17 1 8 1235 1102 38 8 434 Newcastle Diamonds 26 15 0 11 1201 1134 30 8 385 Exeter Falcons 26 14 0 12 1213 1125 28 6 346 Glasgow Tigers 26 12 2 10 1158 1179 26 6 327 Arena Essex Hammers 26 12 0 14 1157 1179 24 7 318 Isle of Wight Islanders* 26 12 0 14 1149 1184 24 7 319 Hull Vikings 26 13 0 13 1134 1195 26 5 3110 Sheffield Tigers 26 12 0 14 1116 1219 24 5 2911 Oxford Cheetahs 26 9 0 17 1116 1219 18 6 2412 Stoke Potters 26 8 2 16 1111 1122 18 3 2113 Berwick Bandits 26 7 1 18 1105 1223 15 4 1914 Newport Wasps 26 7 1 18 1095 1241 15 2 17
replaced Skegness Braves mid-season
Fixtures & results
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 Pts1 Hull Vikings 11 7 1 3 152 Edinburgh Monarchs 12 6 1 5 133 Newcastle Diamonds 12 6 1 5 134 Sheffield Tigers 12 6 0 6 125 Berwick Bandits 12 5 1 6 116 Stoke Potters 11 5 0 6 107 Glasgow Tigers 12 4 0 8 8
Southern Group Pos Team Played W D L Pts1 Oxford Cheetahs 10 6 3 1 152 Reading Racers 10 7 1 2 153 Long Eaton Invaders 10 6 2 2 144 Arena Essex Hammers 10 4 2 4 105 Exeter Falcons 10 2 0 8 46 Skegness Braves 10 1 0 9 2
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two04/07 Edinburgh 51-39 Reading21/07 Reading 48-42 Edinburgh29/06 Oxford 51-39 Hull09/07 Hull 46-43 Oxford
Final First leg
Second leg
Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94–86.
Young Shield End of season competition for the top eight league teams
First Round Team one Team two ScoreEdinburgh Glasgow 49–40, 48–42Newcastle Exeter 46–44, 22–68Reading Isle of Wight 60–30, 53–37Arena Essex Long Eaton 45–44, 42–48
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreReading Exeter 47–43, 37–53Long Eaton Edinburgh 55–35, 42–48
Final Team one Team two ScoreLong Eaton Exeter 51–39, 32–57
Riders' Championship Peter Carr won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 13 September at Brandon Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Peter Carr 2 2 0 2 39332 Glenn Cunningham 0 2 3 3 2 10223 Robert Eriksson 2 2 3 2 r 9214 Brett Woodifield 3 1 3 1 3 11305 Dave Mullett 1 3 3 3 2 1216 Neville Tatum 3 3 2 3 1 1217 Leigh Lanham 3 3 fex 2 1 9 08 Stuart Robson 1 1 1 3 3 909 Scott Lamb 2 1 2 1 3 910 Carl Stonehewer 3 1 1 1 2 811 Les Collins 1 3 1 0 2 712 Scott Smith 0 0 2 2 1 513 Neil Collins 2 0 2 0 0 414 Troy Pratt 0 2 1 0 0 315 Paul Bentley 1 0 0 1 1 316 Anders Henriksson 0 fex - - - 017 David Housley (res) - - 0 - 0 018 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.
PosTeamPtsRiders1Long Eaton33 Stonehewer 18, Dixon 152Reading 31 Richardson 19, Mullett 123Exeter 28Coles 21, Lanham 74Oxford 26Hare 20, Tatum 65Sheffield 26 Kessler 18, Smith 86Glasgow 23Powell 13, Collins 107Edinburgh 22Carr 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.
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Long Eaton 28Lee 7, Stonehewer 7, Werner 7, Dixon 6, Elkins 1 2 Edinburgh 23 Carr P 12, Eriksson 6, McKinna K 4, Gould 13 Oxford 17Hare 6, Teurnberg 4, Berge 4, Tatum 34 Berwick9 Lamb 4, Little 2, Pingel 1, Kosonen 1, Meldrum 1
Final leading averages Rider Team Average Dave MullettReading10.47 Carl StonehewerLong Eaton10.39 Glenn CunninghamReading9.92 Peter CarrEdinburgh9.88 Martin DixonLong Eaton9.81 Kenny McKinnaEdinburgh9.73 Robbie KesslerSheffield9.76 Alan GrahameHull9.75 Robert ErikssonEdinburgh9.46 Les Collins Stoke9.44
Riders and final averages Arena Essex
Troy Pratt 8.65 Jan Pedersen 8.42 Colin White 7.22 Tommy Palmer 7.08 David Mason 4.07 John Wainwright 4.00 Paul Lydes-Uings 2.44
Berwick
Scott Lamb 8.57 Jörg Pingel 7.21 Kevin Little 7.18 Mike Smith 6.65 Richard Juul 6.54 David Meldrum 4.97 David Blackburn 4.54 Michael Lowrie 3.91
Edinburgh
Peter Carr 9.88 Kenny McKinna 9.73 Robert Eriksson 9.46 Jarno Kosonen 6.63 Paul Gould 4.45 Barry Campbell 3.85 Blair Scott 3.68 Neil Hewitt 2.35
Exeter
Michael Coles 8.83 Leigh Lanham 8.76 Frank Smart 7.28 Peter Jeffery 7.14 Graeme Gordon 6.18 Gary Lobb 3.52 Paul Fudge 2.86
Glasgow
Neil Collins 9.02 Mick Powell 8.32 Stewart McDonald 7.47 Sean Courtney 6.91 Will Beveridge 4.44 Grant MacDonald 3.28
Hull
Alan Grahame 9.75 Stuart Robson 8.37 Scott Robson 7.55 Peter Scully 6.49 Lee Dicken 5.01 Brian Turner 2.91 Richard Emson 1.95
Isle of Wight/Skegness
Shaun Tacey 8.23 Brett Woodifield 7.63 Nigel Sadler 6.73 Mark Simmonds 6.44 Wayne Carter 6.20 Jason Bunyan 5.71 Paul Clews 3.75 Gavin Hedge 2.70 Lee Dixon 1.14
Long Eaton
Carl Stonehewer 10.39 Martin Dixon 9.81 Brent Werner 9.27 Justin Elkins 5.06 Paul Lee 4.21 Mark Burrows 4.00 Dean Felton 2.39 Bobby Eldridge 2.18
Newcastle
Paul Bentley 8.81 Jesper Olsen 8.57 Richard Juul 7.73 Stuart Swales 7.13 Glyn Taylor 5.92 Andre Compton 3.80 Brian Turner 3.78 James Birkinshaw 2.00
Newport
Paul Fry 8.75 Anders Henriksson 8.24 Craig Watson 7.72 Scott Pegler 6.12 Martin Willis 4.14 Roger Lobb 3.55
Oxford
Neville Tatum 9.14 Lawrence Hare 8.46 Philippe Bergé 8.35 Mikael Teurnberg 7.34 Jason Bunyan 4.41 Jeremy Luckhurst 3.37 Krister Marsh 2.67 Anthony Barlow 2.27 Darren Andrews 1.37
Reading
Dave Mullett 10.47 Glenn Cunningham 9.92 David Steen 7.75 Lee Richardson 6.73 Paul Pickering 6.50 Krister Marsh 2.43 Bobby Eldridge 2.00
Sheffield
Robbie Kessler 9.76 Scott Smith 8.95 Mirko Wolter 7.94 Rene Aas 6.89 Steve Knott 5.45 Peter Boast 3.70 Derrol Keats 3.33 Mike Hampson 3.10 James Birkinshaw 3.02
Stoke
Les Collins 9.44 Phil Morris 6.53 Craig Taylor 6.17 Chris Cobby 5.87 Tony Atkin 5.83 Mark Burrows 4.42 Jon Armstrong 2.00
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References