The 2003 Elite League speedway season was the 69th season of the top 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 In 2003, the league decreased to eight teams, after the King's Lynn dropped to the Premier League and reverted to their traditional name of Stars. They also lost the promotion of Nigel Wagstaff, who took over at Oxford, which resulted in he name Cheetahs replaced with the Silver Machine name from King's Lynn. King's Lynn's leading riders Nicki Pedersen and Sebastian Ułamek also switched to Oxford. Freddie Eriksson went to Ipswich. Oxford also brought in former World Champion Greg Hancock from Coventry but lost Leigh Adams and Lukáš Dryml to Poole.
Poole's decision to recruit Adams and Dryml was instrumental because they went on to claim the title. Adams finished top of the league averages and he was backed up by their five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson and the vastly improved form of Magnus Zetterström. Poole went on to complete the double by winning the Knockout Cup.
League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Poole Pirates 28 20 1 7 1335 1182 41 11 522 Coventry Bees 28 17 0 11 1295 1224 34 9 433 Peterborough Panthers 28 16 0 12 1325 1195 32 8 404 Oxford Silver Machine 28 16 0 12 1295 1224 32 8 405 Wolverhampton Wolves 28 14 1 13 1248 1265 29 6 356 Eastbourne Eagles 28 12 1 15 1261 1250 25 7 327 Belle Vue Aces 28 9 1 18 1219 1298 19 5 248 Ipswich Witches 28 6 0 22 1088 1428 12 0 12 = Qualified for Play Offs
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Play-offs Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Semi-finals Poole Pirates 48-42 Oxford Silver Machine Coventry Bees 60-30 Peterborough Panthers
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 100-79.
Elite League Knockout Cup The 2003 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 65th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two23/05 Peterborough 52-38 Coventry09/05 Oxford 55-35 Ipswich05/05 Ipswich 41-49 Oxford21/04 Coventry 52-38 Peterborough21/04 Wolverhampton 57-33 Belle Vue18/04 Belle Vue 49-41 Wolverhampton18/04 Eastbourne 40-32 Poole18/04 Poole 56-34 Eastbourne10/09(replay) Peterborough 44-46 Coventry03/09 (replay) Coventry 61-29 Peterborough
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two11/10 Coventry 50-40 Wolverhampton10/10 Oxford 46-44 Poole08/10 Wolverhampton 48-41 Coventry15/09 Poole 56-34 Oxford
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-88.
British League Cup Th British League Cup (BL Cup for short) was the supplementary competition for both the Elite League and Premier League for the 2003 season.
Group A Pos Team M W D L Pts 1 Arena Essex+ 8 5 0 3 102 Rye House8503103 Ipswich840484 King's Lynn840485 Peterborough82064
Group B Pos Team M W D L Pts1Sheffield8602122 Belle Vue8503103 Coventry841394 Stoke 821555 Hull82064
+ Arena Essex had not completed their fixtures at the time of the quarter-final draw, which led to Rye House progressing from the group.
Group C PosTeam M W D L Pts1 Workington8512112 Edinburgh8512113 Glasgow840484 Berwick830565 Newcastle82064
Group D Pos Team M W D L Pts1Eastbourne8521122 Isle of Wight8422103 Oxford 841394 Swindon832385Reading80171
Group E Pos Team M W D L Pts1Wolverhampton10802162 Poole10703143 Newport10514114 Exeter10514115 Trelawny1041596 Somerset1000100
Quarter-finals Team one Team two ScoreWolverhampton Edinburgh 47–42, 51–39Belle Vue Rye House 49–41, 48–42Sheffield Eastbourne 43–47, 31–59Workington Poole 40–50, 33–57
Semi-finals Team one Team two Score Wolverhampton Eastbourne 43–46, 42–51 Belle Vue Poole 41–49, 44–46
Final Team one Team two ScoreEastbourne Poole 48–42, 34–56
Riders' Championship Lee Richardson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 18 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Lee Richardson 2 3 2 2 2 11232 Andreas Jonsson 3 0 3 3 1 10323 Scott Nicholls 3 0 3 3 2 11x14 Jason Crump 2 3 2 3 3 13xret5 Billy Janniro 2 3 2 2 1 1016 Dean Barker 3 2 3 3 0 1107 Mark Loram 3 1 1 0 3 8 8 Todd Wiltshire 1 2 1 1 2 7 9 Tony Rickardsson 0 2 3 1 0 6 10 Mikael Max 1 3 0 2 0 6 11 Leigh Adams 2 2 1 0 1 6 12 Peter Karlsson 0 1 0 1 3 5 13 Charlie Gjedde 0 1 2 2 0 5 14 Joe Screen 1 1 0 0 2 4 15 Jason Lyons 1 0 0 1 1 3 16 David Norris 0 0 1 0 1 17 Chris Harris (res) 3 3 r-retired
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Jason CrumpBelle Vue10.79 Leigh Adams Poole10.14 Magnus ZetterströmPoole10.07 Tony RickardssonPoole9.64 Scott NichollsIpswich9.41 Nicki PedersenOxford9.33 Mikael MaxWolverhampton9.28 Greg HancockOxford9.28 Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.23 Billy HamillCoventry9.23
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
10.79 8.24 7.93 6.78 6.52 6.21 5.23 5.15 4.79 4.78 4.31 2.67 2.46
Coventry
9.23 8.78 8.49 7.72 6.84 5.97 3.71 3.27 2.82
Eastbourne
8.48 8.08 8.05 7.83 7.81 7.44 7.36 5.89 5.70 5.08 4.00 4.00 2.67
Ipswich
9.41 6.53 6.46 5.93 5.93 5.91 5.60 5.47 4.83 4.70 4.07 4.00
Oxford
9.33 9.28 8.64 7.82 7.81 6.52 6.43 6.37 6.30 5.57 4.84 4.77 4.46 2.72
Peterborough
9.23 8.76 7.28 7.22 6.97 6.93 6.23 5.86
Poole
10.14 10.07 9.64 8.52 7.66 7.20 7.06 6.48 6.10 5.83 4.55 4.33
Wolverhampton
9.28 9.10 7.45 7.40 7.02 7.01 6.57 6.00 5.80 5.67 4.88 2.95
See also Speedway in the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References