The 2008 Premier League speedway season was the second division of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom and the 14th season since its creation in 1995. The league was governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
Summary The League consisted of 16 teams for the 2008 season with the addition of the 2007 Conference League champions the Scunthorpe Scorpions. New rules introduced for 2008 include three points for an away win compared to two points in 2007, and the removal of bonus points, in which a team was awarded an additional point for an aggregate win over a home and away match against another team. The team finishing at the top of the league table at the end of the season after accumulating the most points were declared the Premier League champions. The four highest placed teams were entered into promotion play-offs, whereby the Premier League play-off winner faced the Elite League relegation play-off final losers over two legs. Teams finishing in fifth to twelfth at the time of the fixture cut-off date compete in the Young Shield. Newport Wasps withdrew from the league following the death of their promoter Tim Stone.
The Edinburgh Monarchs were crowned the Premier League champions after ending the season as the highest placed team. The Somerset Rebels finished second, King's Lynn Stars third and the Rye House Rockets fourth. All four teams took part in the promotion play-off with Edinburgh and King's Lynn reaching the final. Edinburgh won 93–90 on aggregate and faced Elite League team Wolverhampton Wolves, but lost the two-legged promotion/relegation final 106–76.
League Final league table Key: Promotion Play-Offs
Pos Club M Home Away F A Pts W D L W D L1 Edinburgh Monarchs30150072615621161532 Somerset Rebels30150060915171223483 Kings Lynn Stars30141044716241111454 Rye House Rockets301500401115001232425 Workington Comets30122150101435.51300.5416 Berwick Bandits301320301214281316377 Redcar Bears301203411013691374378 Sheffield Tigers301212311113811345359 Reading Racers3012123012135014053410 Scunthorpe Scorpions3012033012130914343311 Isle of Wight Islanders3014011014135913903112 Birmingham Brummies3090640111317.51401.53013 Stoke Potters309152013130714412514 Newcastle Diamonds308072013122015012215 Glasgow Tigers308071014129714691916 Mildenhall Fen Tigers300015001593218040
Fixtures and results
Premier League Knockout Cup The 2008 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Somerset Rebels were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two11/04 Scunthorpe 44-48 Sheffield10/04 Sheffield 55-36 Scunthorpe Second round Date Team one Score Team two23/04 Birmingham 43-47 Glasgow20/04 Glasgow 40-52 Birmingham24/04 Redcar 53-40 Mildenhall27/04 Mildenhall 40-50 Redcar13/05 Isle of Wight 54-38 Sheffield24/04 Sheffield 52-38 Isle of Wight25/04 Edinburgh 54-38 Berwick26/04 Berwick 42-51 Edinburgh25/04 Somerset 64-28 Newcastle27/04 Newcastle 39-39 Somerset26/04 Rye House 60-30 Newport07/05 Kings Lynn 55-38 Reading28/04 Reading 59-34 King's Lynn27/04 Stoke 42-50 Workington26/05 Workington 54-36 Stoke ns match not staged Rye House into next round Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two25/06 Birmingham 42-51 Rye House31/05 Rye House 62-30 Birmingham17/06 Isle of Wight 51-43 Workington07/06 Workington 53-38 Isle of Wight30/05 Edinburgh 55-38 Redcar29/05 Redcar 39-53 Edinburgh30/05 Somerset 53-39 Reading29/06 Reading51-44 Somerset Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two27/09 Workington 53-39 Edinburgh26/09 Edinburgh 49-41 Workington25/08 Rye House 50-43 Somerset22/08 Somerset 53-38 Rye House
Final
First leg
Second leg
Somerset were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–84.
Premier Trophy
Group 1 Pos Team P W D L Pts1Edinburgh 6 5 0 1 102 Workington 6 4 0 2 83 Glasgow 6 2 0 4 24 Berwick 6 1 0 5 2
Group 2 Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Sheffield 8 6 0 2 122Redcar832383 Scunthorpe831474 Newcastle831475 Stoke 8 3 0 5 5
Group 3 Pos Team P W D L Pts1Birmingham 6 4 0 2 82 Rye House 6 4 0 2 63 King's Lynn 6 3 0 3 64 Mildenhall 6 1 0 5 2
Group 4 Pos Team P W D L Pts1 Reading 6 4 0 2 82Somerset640283 Isle of Wight630364 Newport61052
Semi-final Team one Team two ScoreBirminghamSheffield 57–37, 37–53Edinburgh Reading 56–34, 44–46
Final Team one Team two ScoreEdinburgh Birmingham 65–24, 52–41
Young Shield End of season competition for the league teams positioned 5 to 12.
First Round Team one Team two ScoreBirmingham Berwick 50–42, 40–50 RedcarReading 52–40, 60–33Isle of Wight Sheffield 57–36, 41–52Scunthorpe Workington 51–39, 35–58
Semi-final Team one Team two Score Isle of Wight Berwick 53–42, 37–58 Redcar Workington 50–43, 42–51
Final Team one Team two ScoreWorkington Berwick 58–34, 38–55
Riders' Championship Tai Woffinden won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 21 September at Owlerton Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Tai Woffinden 2 1 3 3 312-3 2 Jason Doyle 1 3 2 2 3112 23 Adrian Rymel 2 2 3 3 212 -14 Kauko Nieminen 3 3 3 2 fex113 05 Ben Barker 3 3 2 0 3111 6 Jason Bunyan 3 3 2 2 21207 Shane Parker 1 2 3 3 110 8 Ulrich Østergaard 2 0 2 1 279 Jason King 1 1 1 2 1610 Kevin Doolan 0 2 1 3 0611 Magnus Karlsson 2 1 0 1 1512 Andre Compton 3 1 fex 1 ef 5 13 Jason Lyons tex 2 0 1 2514 Gary Havelock 1 ef 1 0 1315 William Lawson 0 0 0 ef 3316 Scott Richardson (res) 1 1 0217 Ben Taylor (res) 0 0018 Henning Loof ef ns ns ns ns0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 27 June. The event was won by Workington Comets.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Sheffield 25 Compton 13, Ashworth 102Reading 21 Ostergaard 16, Lemon 53Rye House 20 Neath 11, Allen 94Edinburgh 15 Wethers 10, Lawson 55Birmingham9 Watson 9, Birkinshaw 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Somerset 26 Kramer 13, Doyle 132Workington 23 Nermark 12, Nieminen 113Redcar 15 Proctor 12, Havelock 34Isle of Wight 14 Bunyan 12, Phillips 25Newcastle10 Henry 8, Franc 2
Semi finals Workington bt Sheffield 7–2 Somerset bt Reading 5–4
Final Workington bt Somerset 6–3
Fours Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship for the fourth time, it was held on 26 July 2006, at Derwent Park.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Workington 14Nieminen 5, Wright C 3, Stonehewer 3, Haines 32 Somerset 13Doyle 6, Frampton 5, Werner 2, Katt 03 Sheffield11 Ashworth 4, Compton 3, Wilson 2, Parsons 24 Edinburgh 10 Fisher 4, Wethers 3, Jonasson 2, Tully 1
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 King's Lynn 16Topinka 6, Dolan 5, Tacey 4, Lambert 12 Scunthorpe 16 Bergstrom 5, Wilkinson 4, Hall 4, Karlsson 33 Newcastle 10 Stancl 4, King 3, Juul 2, Stoddart 14 Reading 6 Lemon 3, Suchanek 2, Mills 1, Madsen 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Workington 20+3Nieminen 6+3, Stonehewer 6, Wright C 5, Haines 32 King's Lynn 20+2Topinka 9+2, Dolan 7, Tacey 2, Lambert 23 Somerset 19 Doyle 7, Katt 5, Frampton 4, Werner 3 4 Scunthorpe 13 Wilkinson 5, Hall 5, Bergstrom 3, Karlsson 0
Final leading averages Rider Team Average Daniel NermarkWorkington10.53 Kevin DoolanKings Lynn10.47 Ulrich ØstergaardReading10.29 Jason DoyleSomerset10.28 Tai WoffindenRye House10.15 Adrian RymelBerwick10.07 Tomáš TopinkaKings Lynn9.98 Jason LyonsBirmingham9.97 Kauko NieminenWorkington9.50 Shane ParkerGlasgow9.38
Riders & final averages Berwick
Adrian Rymel 10.07 Michal Makovský 8.27 Paul Clews 6.92 Norbert Magosi 6.47 Tero Aarnio 6.36 Scott Smith 5.87 Guglielmo Franchetti 4.91 Tony Atkin 4.67 Adam McKinna 3.03
Birmingham
Jason Lyons 9.97 Adam Roynon 8.65 Tomasz Piszcz 7.88 Craig Watson 7.68 Kyle Legault 7.37 James Birkinshaw 5.56 Lee Smart 5.21 Jack Roberts 4.38 Ben Taylor 3.79 James Cockle 3.67 Jack Hargreaves 3.59 Jay Herne 2.94
Edinburgh
Ryan Fisher 8.80 Matthew Wethers 8.28 William Lawson 8.00 Thomas H. Jonasson 7.78 Andrew Tully 7.73 Derek Sneddon 7.11 Aaron Summers 6.15
Glasgow
Shane Parker 9.38 Robert Ksiezak 6.97 Trent Leverington 6.80 Josh Grajczonek 6.22 Ross Brady 5.79 Lee Dicken 5.55 Anders Andersen 4.58 Mitchell Davey 2.94
Isle of Wight
Jason Bunyan 8.07 Krzysztof Stojanowski 7.35 Cory Gathercole 7.32 Paul Fry 7.10 Glen Phillips 7.00 James Holder 6.10 Richard Sweetman 5.82 Andrew Bargh 3.96
King's Lynn
Kevin Doolan 10.47 Tomáš Topinka 9.98 Shaun Tacey 7.28 Russell Harrison 7.12 Simon Lambert 6.61 John Oliver 6.35 Kozza Smith 6.23
Mildenhall
Kaj Laukkanen 8.17 Robbie Kessler 7.44 Theo Pijper 4.98 Michał Rajkowski 4.66 Sebastian Truminski 4.57 Jan Graversen 4.51 Marek Mroz 4.35 Mark Baseby 3.46 Henning Loof 3.05 Casper Wortmann 3.05 Luke Priest 2.67 Jari Makinen 2.31 Matthew Wright 2.29
Newcastle
Josef Franc 7.89 Jason King 7.82 Kenni Larsen 7.79 Christian Henry 7.28 George Štancl 7.20 Ben Powell 5.43 Richard Juul 4.31 Sean Stoddart 4.18 Jamie Robertson 3.79 Jerran Hart 3.59
Newport (withdrew from league)
Craig Watson 6.60 Tony Atkin 6.44 Sebastian Truminski 6.27 Nick Simmons 5.91 Paul Clews 5.49 Marek Mroz 4.63 Jerran Hart 2.40
Reading
Ulrich Østergaard 10.29 Mark Lemon 8.04 Tom P. Madsen 6.66 Chris Mills 5.76 Tomáš Suchánek 5.34 Jamie Smith 5.07 Nicki Glanz 4.59 Danny Warwick 4.56
Redcar
Gary Havelock 9.27 James Grieves 9.10 Ty Proctor 8.24 Chris Kerr 7.54 Josh Auty 5.45 Daniel Giffard 4.16 Benji Compton 4.00 Arlo Bugeja 3.63 Joni Keskinen 1.28
Rye House
Tai Woffinden 10.15 Stefan Ekberg 8.11 Chris Neath 8.10 Tommy Allen 7.79 Robert Mear 7.15 Luke Bowen 6.20 Danny Betson 5.03 Daniel Halsey 3.78
Scunthorpe
Magnus Karlsson 7.90 Richard Hall 7.17 Andrew Moore 7.16 Carl Wilkinson 6.93 Viktor Bergström 6.58 Emiliano Sanchez 6.42 Ben Powell 5.49 Byron Bekker 4.62 Benji Compton 3.52
Sheffield
Andre Compton 9.09 Ricky Ashworth 8.25 Joel Parsons 7.29 Ben Wilson 7.26 Paul Cooper 6.38 Lee Smethills 5.92 Sam Martin 2.56 Kyle Hughes 2.30
Somerset
Jason Doyle 10.28 Emil Kramer 8.14 Simon Walker 8.05 Jordan Frampton 7.31 Stephan Katt 6.66 Brent Werner 6.34 Matthias Kröger 6.29
Stoke
Ben Barker 8.23 Lee Complin 7.95 Andrew Moore 6.87 Emiliano Sanchez 6.39 Mark Burrows 5.64 Jesper Kristiansen 5.63 Klaus Jakobsen 5.48 Barrie Evans 5.04 Krister Jacobsen 4.64
Workington
Daniel Nermark 10.53 Kauko Nieminen .9.50 Carl Stonehewer 7.93 Joe Haines 6.22 Charles Wright 5.12 Tomi Reima 5.03 John Branney 4.79 Scott Smith 3.28
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References