The 1996 Premier League season was the 62nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was also the second and last edition of two seasons, in which British speedway was competed as a single division. In addition there was a Conference League.
As from 1997 the Elite League would be the top division and the Premier League would be the second division.
Team changes Cradley Heathens and Stoke Potters merged for the 1996 season and Arena Essex Hammers dropped out of the league with the promotion moving to Hackney Wick Stadium and racing as the London Lions. The Glasgow Tigers and Edinburgh Monarchs effectively merged because the Edinburgh promotion raced at Shawfield Stadium under the name the Scottish Monarchs. Oxford reverted to their traditional name of Cheetahs, after ditching the unpopular Silver Machine and King's Lynn Stars did not participate during 1996.
Summary Many Glasgow Tigers fans refused to support what they saw as their team of old rivals, and although Monarchs fans initially travelled to Glasgow, crowd numbers soon fell. Cradley & Stoke, despite having the American stars Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock finishing first and second in the averages, could only manage fifth place in the league. Cradley Heath were disbanded after the season following the closure of Dudley Wood Stadium, their home venue. Oxford reverted to their popular name of Cheetahs and
The one league set up only lasted for 1995 and 1996, due to the huge disparity between the teams. Wolverhampton Wolves won the title for the second time in six years, with American Ronnie Correy being the sole survivor of the 1991 winning team. In a strange coincidence a new set of two brothers helped Wolves win the title, back in 1991 it was the Ermolenko brothers but now it was the Swedish Karlsson brothers. Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson both scored heavily and ended the season with averages around the 10 mark.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts1 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 29 0 7 18 762 Peterborough Panthers 36 23 0 13 15 613 Eastbourne Eagles 36 23 1 12 12 594 Swindon Robins 36 22 2 12 12 585 Cradley & Stoke Heathens 36 21 1 14 13 566 Belle Vue Aces 36 21 1 14 12 557 Hull Vikings 36 20 3 13 11 548 Ipswich Witches 36 20 0 16 12 529 London Lions 36 20 0 16 11 5110 Coventry Bees 36 16 2 18 10 4411 Bradford Dukes 36 16 0 20 9 4112 Scottish Monarchs 36 16 0 20 5 3713 Oxford Cheetahs 36 12 4 20 8 3614 Poole Pirates 36 13 2 21 5 3315 Exeter Falcons 36 13 2 21 4 3216 Middlesbrough Bears 36 11 1 14 6 2917 Long Eaton Invaders 36 12 0 24 4 2818 Sheffield Tigers 36 13 0 23 2 2819 Reading Racers 36 11 1 24 2 25PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; BP = Bonus Points Pts = Total Points
Fixtures & results
Premier League Knockout Cup The 1996 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 58th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams and the second with the name Premier League Knockout Cup. Wolverhampton Wolves were the winners of the competition. The following season the tier one teams would compete in the Elite League Knockout Cup and the Premier League Knockout Cup would be for tier two teams.
The cup was won by Wolverhampton despite the fact that they had to ride their home fixture at Long Eaton Stadium due to Monmore Green undergoing work to the greyhound track.
First round Date Team one Score Team two20/04 Bradford 65-31 Sheffield18/04 Sheffield 42-54 Bradford24/04Hull 56-40 Middlesbrough23/05 Middlesbrough 50-45 Hull04/05 Swindon 51-45 Oxford26/04 Oxford 50-46 Swindon
Second round Date Team one Score Team two20/05 Wolverhampton 56-39 Ipswich23/05 Ipswich 53-43 Wolverhampton24/05 Belle Vue 53-43 Cradley Heath13/07 Cradley Heath 52-44 Belle Vue25/05 Bradford 57-39 Edinburgh22/05 Edinburgh 44-52 Bradford29/05 Long Eaton 56-40Hull31/05 Hull 47-49 Long Eaton26/04 Peterborough 59-37 Coventry25/05 Coventry 40-56 Peterborough23/05 Hackney 54-42 Reading13/05 Reading 40-56 Hackney20/05 Exeter 45-51 Poole26/06 Poole 44-52 Exeter27/05 Swindon 59-37 Eastbourne25/05 Eastbourne 56-39 Swindon
Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two19/08 Wolverhampton 48-48 Belle Vue23/08 Belle Vue 48-48 Wolverhampton24/08 Bradford 62-34 Long Eaton28/08 Long Eaton 50-45 Bradford23/08Peterborough 52-44 Hackney15/08 Hackney 51-45 Peterborough09/09 Exeter 52-44 Swindon17/08 Swindon 48-48 Exeter09/09 Wolverhampton 51-45 Belle Vue13/09Belle Vue 49-46 Wolverhampton
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two23/09 Wolverhampton 59-37 Bradford28/09 Bradford 54-42 Wolverhampton13/09 Peterborough 61-35 Exeter23/09 Exeter 48-48 Peterborough
Final
First leg
Second leg
Wolverhampton Wolves were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.
Riders' Championship Sam Ermolenko won the Premier League Riders Championship, held at Odsal Stadium on 19 October. It was the third time that Ermolenko had won the Riders' Championship trophy but the most fortunate. He had qualified for the semi finals with just 7 points and then won the final when Chris Louis was leading on the final lap before suffering an engine failure.
Pos. Rider Total SF Final1 Sam Ermolenko 7232 Jason Crump 12323 Leigh Adams 10214 Chris Louis 113ef5 Armando Castagna 8 1 6 Jimmy Nilsen 8 1 7 Brian Andersen 7 0 8 Peter Karlsson 7 0 9 Joe Screen 7 10 Craig Boyce 6 11 Mark Loram 6 12 Mike Faria 6 13 Sean Wilson 4 14 Martin Dugard 4 15 Steve Johnston 4 16 Billy Hamill 3 17 Chris Manchester 3 18 Tomáš Topinka 3 19 Jan Staechmann 3 20 Shane Parker 1 ef=engine failure
Fours Oxford Cheetahs won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 4 August 1996, at the East of England Arena.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Hull 14 Ott 5, Morton 4, Thorp 3, Grahame 22 Oxford 13 Cox 6, Topinka 4, Brhel 3, Hare 03 Poole 12 Boyce 6, Gunnestad 4, Andersson 2, Richardson 0, Willis 0 4 Wolves 9 Karlsson M 3, Karlsson P 3, McDonald 3, Grieves 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Peterborough 13 Crump 5, Jirout 52 Ipswich 13 Louis 5, Clouting 43 Belle Vue 11 Klingberg 4, Lyons 44 Bradford 11 Screen 5, Smith 5
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Oxford 23Cox 7, Brhel 7, Topinka 7, Hare 32 Peterborough 17 Crump 8, Jirout 6, Swain 2, Nielsen 13 Hull 16Ott 6, Grahame 4, Thorp 3, Morton 34 Ipswich 16 Louis 6, Doncaster 6, Howe 3, Clouting 1
Leading final averages Rider Team Average Billy HamillCradley & Stoke10.67 Greg HancockCradley & Stoke10.55 Chris LouisIpswich10.29 Jason CrumpPeterborough10.20 Peter KarlssonWolverhampton10.14 Leigh AdamsLondon10.09 Martin DugardEastbourne10.08 Sam ErmolenkoSheffield9.73 Mikael Karlsson Wolverhampton9.71 Ronnie CorreyWolverhampton9.62 Joe ScreenBradford9.57 Gary HavelockBradford9.55 Brian AndersenCoventry9.46 Craig BoycePoole9.38 Mark LoramExeter9.28 Chris ManchesterBelle Vue9.27 Jimmy NilsenSwindon9.22 Lars GunnestadPoole9.13 Kelvin TatumLondon9.07 Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.01
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
9.27 8.14 7.37 7.33 6.68 6.32 3.84 3.56 3.33 2.56 0.52
Bradford
9.57 9.55 7.76 7.52 4.74 4.42 3.07 2.65 1.73
Coventry
9.46 7.29 7.11 6.83 6.35 6.24 5.33 4.20
Cradley & Stoke
10.67 10.55 6.36 6.21 5.08 4.85 4.67 3.58
Eastbourne
10.08 8.98 7.89 7.34 5.40 5.30 3.00 2.54 0.47
Exeter
9.28 8.83 6.50 6.50 5.96 4.79 4.67 2.66
Hull
8.58 8.44 8.30 7.00 6.89 6.85 6.16 5.66 2.32 1.90
Ipswich
10.29 7.63 7.46 7.42 5.74 5.49 3.30
London
10.09 9.07 7.63 7.35 6.07 5.04 3.57 3.48 1.90 1.70
Long Eaton
8.57 8.28 6.73 6.57 6.37 6.26 6.00 5.60 4.00 3.49
Middlesbrough
8.67 6.78 6.78 6.23 5.85 5.82 4.86 3.59
Oxford
8.58 8.32 7.76 6.88 5.27 5.16 (Mark Frost) 3.74 3.57 1.73
Peterborough
10.20 9.01 8.94 6.22 5.44 4.90 4.65 4.60 4.00
Poole
9.38 9.13 8.05 5.96 4.53 4.38 3.11 2.07 2.01
Reading
8.12 7.69 7.20 6.86 5.84 5.02 4.76 4.55 4.54
Scottish Monarchs
8.53 6.58 6.31 6.30 6.02 5.86 5.67 5.67
Sheffield
9.73 6.71 6.69 6.23 6.22 5.58 3.65 3.48 2.71 2.67
Swindon
9.22 8.99 8.43 7.05 5.13 4.73 4.45 1.70
Wolverhampton
10.14 9.71 9.62 6.12 5.11 4.74 3.41
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References