The 1994 British League season was the 60th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 30th and final season known as the British League.
Summary Poole Pirates dominated the league and won the title finishing 15 points clear of nearest rivals Eastbourne Eagles. The Pirates last top league success had been back in 1969 and it was thanks to solid performances throughout the season from their Australian pair; new signing from Swindon Jason Crump and Craig Boyce. They were backed up by Norwegian Lars Gunnestad and Londoner Steve Schofield.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts1 Poole Pirates 40 30 1 9 16 772 Eastbourne Eagles 40 23 2 15 14 623 Wolverhampton Wolves 40 20 2 18 12 544 Coventry Bees 40 19 3 18 11 525 King's Lynn Stars 40 20 1 19 10 516 Ipswich Witches 40 19 2 19 10 507 Bradford Dukes 40 18 1 21 11 488 Arena Essex Hammers 40 19 0 21 8 469 Cradley Heath Heathens 40 16 3 21 7 4210 Reading Racers 40 14 2 24 6 3611 Belle Vue Aces 40 13 1 26 5 32M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results A Fixtures
B Fixtures
British League Knockout Cup The 1994 British League Knockout Cup was the 56th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners for a third consecutive year.
First round Date Team one Score Team two23/04 Eastbourne 59-37 Belle Vue23/04 Kings Lynn 58-38 Poole21/04 Ipswich 61-33 Cradley Heath20/04 Poole 56-40 Kings Lynn16/04 Cradley Heath 70-25 Ipswich13/04 Belle Vue 47-49 Eastbourne Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two28/06 Coventry 58-37 Reading15/06 Kings Lynn 61-35 Bradford14/06 Bradford 49-47 Kings Lynn28/05 Eastbourne 51-45 Wolverhampton23/05 Reading 52-43 Coventry16/05 Wolverhampton 50-46 Eastbourne14/05 Cradley Heath 59-24 Arena Essex13/05 Arena Essex 52-44 Cradley Heath Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two31/07 Eastbourne 55-41 Kings Lynn30/07 Kings Lynn 55-41 Eastbourne16/07 Coventry 48-47 Cradley Heath02/07 Cradley Heath 55-41 Coventry29/08 Kings Lynn 45-51 Eastbourne28/08 Eastbourne 62-33 Kings Lynn
Final
First leg
Second leg
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 106-86.
Fours Poole Pirates won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.
Final Pos TeamPts Riders1 Poole28 Crump 9, Boyce 7, Rossiter 6, Schofield 62 Cradley 20 Nahlin 8, Cross 7, Hamill 3, Hancock 23 Eastbourne 15 Norris 5, Barker 4, Dugard 4, Andersson 24 Coventry 9 Jørgensen 6, Andersen 2, Olsen 1, Tacey 0, Spicer 0
Riders' Championship Sam Ermolenko won the British League Riders' Championship. It was held in Swindon on the 9th of October.
Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total1 Sam Ermolenko 3 3 3 3 3 152 Hans Nielsen 3 3 3 1 3 133 Martin Dugard 1 3 3 2 2 114 Mark Loram 2 1 1 3 3 10 5 David Norris 1 2 1 3 2 9 6 Leigh Adams0 0 3 3 3 97 Greg Hancock 3 2 1 1 2 98 Craig Boyce 2 3 2 1 1 9 9 Joe Screen 3 0 2 2 0 7 10 Gary Havelock 1 1 2 2 1 711 Peter Karlsson 2 2 2 0 1 712 Chris Louis 2 1 1 2 0 613 Jason Crump 1 2 0 0 2 5 14 Michael Coles 0 0 0 1 0 115 Paul Bentley 0 1 0 0 1 2 16 Dave Mullett 0 0 0 0 0 0 ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Leading averages Rider Team Average Per JonssonReading10.41 Tony RickardssonIpswich10.00 Hans Nielsen Coventry9.98 Sam ErmolenkoWolverhampton9.83 Leigh AdamsArena Essex9.79 Joe ScreenBradford9.65 Henrik GustafssonBelle Vue9.64 Gary HavelockBradford9.59 Mark LoramKings Lynn9.46 Martin DugardEastbourne9.33 Jason CrumpPoole9.30 Greg HancockCradley Heath9.29 David NorrisEastbourne9.18 Craig BoycePoole9.08
Riders & final averages Arena Essex
9.79 8.26 6.28 5.99 4.78 4.71 4.14 4.00 2.57 2.00
Belle Vue
9.64 7.79 7.14 6.13 5.97 5.94 5.84 5.05 3.00
Bradford
9.65 9.59 7.32 7.06 4.62 3.10 3.07 2.68
Coventry
9.98 8.46 8.10 6.45 5.83 4.24 3.23 1.57 1.57
Cradley Heath
9.29 8.68 8.64 8.00 7.78 4.98 4.40 3.94 1.93 1.27 1.04
Eastbourne
9.33 9.18 8.98 7.41 6.30 4.42 3.18 2.98
Ipswich
8.34 8.08 7.92 7.07 6.14 5.49 4.41
King's Lynn
9.46 8.33 6.96 6.68 5.75 4.37 4.00 3.36
Poole
9.30 9.08 8.77 7.92 5.85 5.71 3.44 2.37
Reading
10.41 8.44 7.65 5.83 5.15 5.08 4.43 2.61
Wolverhampton
9.83 8.52 7.47 6.94 5.28 4.40 4.34 2.82
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References