The 2002 Elite League speedway season was the 68th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2002 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It was the first time that playoffs were introduced to determine the champions.
Season summary In 2002, the league consisted of nine teams. The title was decided by a play-off between the top five teams. The team that finished top of the table were seeded directly to the final. The next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final.
Eastbourne Eagles topped the regular season table but were defeated by Wolverhampton Wolves for the league title when losing the play off final. It was Wolves third title success in 11 years and the Swedish Karlsson brothers, Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson were once again integral to the Wolves team throughout the season. Eastbourne's season was not a total loss because they beat Peterborough in the final of the Knockout Cup thanks to efforts from their English rider contingent of Mark Loram, Joe Screen and Dean Barker.
Tony Rickardsson became World Champion for the fifth time during the season, topped the league averages, won the Elite League Riders' Championship and helped his club Poole win the Craven Shield.
League Final table Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot1 Eastbourne Eagles 32 20 3 9 1562 1316 43 15 582 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 20 2 10 1549 1311 42 12 543 Coventry Bees 32 19 3 10 1492 1383 41 9 504 Poole Pirates 32 17 1 14 1455 1406 35 11 465 Peterborough Panthers 31 15 0 16 1394 1395 30 6 366 Oxford Cheetahs 31 14 2 15 1369 1407 30 5 357 Ipswich Witches 32 11 3 18 1375 1494 25 6 318 Belle Vue Aces 32 11 3 18 1379 1484 25 4 299 King's Lynn Silver Machine 32 7 1 24 1247 1626 15 3 18 Peterborough v Oxford not held. = Qualified for Play Off final = Qualified for Play Offs
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Play-offs Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Quarter-finals Wolverhampton Wolves 50-39 Peterborough Panthers Coventry Bees 59-31 Poole Pirates
Semi-finals Wolverhampton Wolves 51-39 Coventry Bees
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Wolverhampton Wolves were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.
Elite League Knockout Cup The 2002 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 64th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two08/04 Wolverhampton 57-33 Poole03/04 Poole 45-45 Wolverhampton Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two27/05 Reading 47-43 Arena Essex29/04 Wolverhampton 61-29 Oxford27/04 Coventry 36-35 Kings Lynn26/04 Oxford 45-45 Wolverhampton24/04 Kings Lynn 42-48 Coventry22/04 Belle Vue 51-39 Peterborough20/04 Eastbourne 54-36 Ipswich19/04 Peterborough 59-31 Belle Vue18/04 Ipswich 39-51 Eastbourne Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two01/07 Wolverhampton 40-49 Eastbourne29/06 Coventry 49-41 Peterborough29/06 Eastbourne 52-38 Wolverhampton28/06 Peterborough 50-40 Coventry
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.
Craven Shield
Anglia Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Ipswich430162 Peterbrorough420243 King's Lynn41032
Midland Pos Team M W D L Pts1Coventry430162 Belle Vue210123 Wolverhampton 20020
South PosTeam M W D L Pts1 Poole420242 Eastbourne420243 Oxford42024
Final Leg Team one Team two Team three Score 1 Poole Coventry Ipswich 44–32–32 2 Ipswich Coventry Poole 45–33–30 3 Coventry Poole Ipswich 36–40–32
Riders' Championship Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Tony Rickardsson 1 3 3 3 3 13x 32 Nicki Pedersen 3 3 3 3 2 14x23 Jason Crump 3 3 3 1 0 10214 Craig Boyce 1 2 3 2 3 11305 Mikael Karlsson 3 3 2 3 1 121 6 Ryan Sullivan 3 2 1 3 3 12 0 7 Peter Karlsson 2 2 2 2 2 10 8 Joe Screen 2 2 1 2 0 7 9 Scott Nicholls 2 1 0 1 3 7 10 Sebastian Ułamek 1 1 0 2 2 6 11 Stuart Robson 1 0 1 1 2 5 12 Mark Loram 2 0 2 0 1 5 13 Gary Havelock 0 0 2 1 1 4 14 Davey Watt 0 1 1 0 1 3 15 Jason Lyons 0 1 0 1 16 Alun Rossiter 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Tony RickardssonPoole10.88 Jason CrumpBelle Vue10.44 Ryan SullivanPeterborough10.34 Leigh AdamsOxford10.10 Mikael KarlssonWolverhampton9.93 Scott NichollsIpswich9.76 Mark LoramEastbourne9.56 Andreas JonssonCoventry9.39 Peter KarlssonWolverhampton9.23 Lee RichardsonCoventry8.97
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
10.44 8.41 6.89 6.38 5.67 4.71 4.57 3.95 2.38 1.24 1.10
Coventry
9.39 8.97 8.72 6.87 5.82 5.81 5.28 1.52
Eastbourne
9.56 8.46 7.81 7.21 7.17 6.54 5.88 4.14
Ipswich
9.76 7.91 7.15 6.51 5.95 5.10 4.95 4.76 4.00 3.52
King's Lynn
8.47 7.26 6.33 5.53 5.23 4.27 4.21 3.58 3.40
Oxford
10.10 6.83 6.29 5.56 5.50 4.92 4.00 2.90 2.67 2.07
Peterborough
10.34 6.98 6.88 6.54 6.47 6.13 5.87 5.00 3.75 3.08
Poole
10.88 6.82 6.70 6.56 6.32 6.20 6.00 5.41 4.43 4.34 3.88
Wolverhampton
9.93 9.23 7.32 7.27 6.80 6.67 5.81 4.08 1.56
See also Speedway in the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References