The 2015 Premier League season was the second division of British speedway.
Summary took place between March and October 2015. The Edinburgh Monarchs were the defending champions after winning the championship in 2014. The 13 teams that competed remained unchanged from the teams who competed in 2014. There had been concerns about whether or not the Peterborough Panthers would be able to compete but their future was secured after being able to raise the money necessary to continue racing.
In an all-Scottish final, the Edinburgh Monarchs became the first team to win consecutive Premier League titles, by beating the Glasgow Tigers in the Grand Final. The Tigers held a 7-point lead after the first leg at Ashfield, but the Monarchs won 14 of the 15 heats in the second leg at Armadale – winning 58–32 on the night – to win the tie overall 99–80. It was one of three titles won by the Monarchs in 2015; in the Premier League Cup, the Monarchs beat the Tigers once again 100–79, while the quartet of Craig Cook, Sam Masters, Erik Riss and Justin Sedgmen won the Premier League Fours.
Aside from Edinburgh's successes, the Somerset Rebels defeated the Monarchs to win the Knockout Cup, Daniel King and Rohan Tungate won the Premier League Pairs for the Ipswich Witches, and Danish rider Ulrich Østergaard won the Premier League Riders' Championship for the Peterborough Panthers.
Final league table Club Home Away 1 Edinburgh Monarchs (Q) 24 10 0 2 6 1 1 2 2 1229 955 +274 61 2 Somerset Rebels (Q) 24 10 0 2 3 3 1 2 3 1188 998 +190 55 3 Glasgow Tigers (Q) 24 10 0 2 2 4 0 4 2 1122 999 +123 54 4 Peterborough Panthers (Q) 24 8 0 4 4 2 1 3 2 1104 1039 +65 51 5 Sheffield Tigers (Q) 24 10 1 1 2 3 0 1 6 1112 1062 +50 49 6 Plymouth Devils (Q) 24 10 0 2 2 1 1 0 8 1123 1074 +49 43 7 Ipswich Witches 24 7 2 3 0 5 0 4 3 1163 1023 +140 42 8 Workington Comets 24 12 0 0 0 0 1 0 11 1086 1116 −30 38 9 Newcastle Diamonds 24 8 0 4 0 1 0 0 11 1067 1129 −62 27 10 Berwick Bandits 24 6 1 5 1 0 0 1 10 1011 1173 −162 24 11 Scunthorpe Scorpions 24 7 0 5 0 0 1 1 10 999 1185 −186 24 12 Rye House Rockets 24 5 1 6 1 0 0 1 10 998 1166 −168 21 13 Redcar Bears 24 6 1 5 0 0 0 0 12 946 1229 −283 19
Fixtures & results
Play-offs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Grand final First leg
Second leg
Premier League Knockout Cup The 2015 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 48th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Somerset Rebels were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two28/06 Newcastle 63-26 Scunthorpe05/06 Scunthorpe 53-37 Newcastle18/06 Plymouth 47-41 Peterborough25/05 Peterborough 46-44 Plymouth22/05 Edinburgh 59-31 Sheffield21/05 Sheffield 46-44 Edinburgh17/05 Rye House 60-30 Workington16/05 Workington 51-39 Rye House21/05 Ipswich 46-44 Berwick09/05 Berwick 47-43 Ipswich Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two30/08 Newcastle 56-33 Glasgow30/08 Glasgow 48-42 Newcastle01/08 Edinburgh 61-29 Redcar23/07 Redcar 37-35 Edinburgh25/07 Berwick 40-50 Rye House12/07Rye House 42-48 Berwick11/07 Plymouth 40-50 Somerset10/07 Somerset 53-37 Plymouth Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two12/09 Rye House 43-47 Somerset11/09 Somerset 60-30 Rye House13/09 Newcastle 53-37 Edinburgh04/09 Edinburgh 56-34 Newcastle
Final First leg
Second leg
Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92–88.
Riders' Championship Ulrich Østergaard won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 6 September at Owlerton Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Ulrich Østergaard 3 3 2 1 312-32 Ricky Wells 3 2 1 3 0 9223 Craig Cook 1 2 3 3 3 12-14 Josh Grajczonek 2 2 3 3 010305 Jonas B. Andersen 2 0 3 2 2916 Edward Kennett 3 2 1 2 3 1107 Sam Masters 2 3 2 ef 1 88 Brady Kurtz 3 3 0 2 fx 89 Jason Garrity 1 1 3 2 1 810 Nick Morris 1 1 0 3 2 711 Steve Worrall 0 1 1 1 3 612 Rohan Tungate 2 0 2 0 1 513 Richard Lawson 0 0 2 1 1 414 Alex Davies r 1 1 0 2 415 Kyle Newman 1 0 ef 1 2 416 Thomas Jørgensen 0 3 0 3 17 Layne Cupitt (res)0 018 Rob Shuttleworth (res)0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 3 July. The event was won by Ipswich Witches.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Ipswich 24 King 15, Tungate 92Peterborough 23 Ostergaard 13, Palm Toft 103Edinburgh 16 Masters 14, Wolbert 24Newcastle 14 Kerr 9, Worrall S 55Rye House 13 Kennett 7 Jakobsen 6
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Somerset 22 Kurtz 14, Grajczonek 82Redcar 18 Bjerre 11, Robson 73Berwick 18 Doolan 10, Jorgensen 64Glasgow 18 Morris 15, Lawson 35Workington 16 Howarth 13, Wells 3
Semi finals Ipswich bt Redcar 7–2 Somerset bt Peterborough 7–2
Final Ipswich bt Somerset 7–2
Fours Edinburgh Monarchs won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, held on 1 October 2015, at the Media Prime Arena. The original final was postponed following injury delays after the semi finals had been completed at the East of England Arena, on 2 August.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Ipswich 18King 6, Manzares 4, Heeps 3, Covatti 3, Nielsen 22 Edinburgh 13Cook 6, Wolbert 3, Sedgmen 3, Riss 13 Workington11 Wells 5, Hansen 3, Bach 2, Howarth 14 Peterborough 6 Palm Toft 2, Blackbird 2, Ostergaard 1, Grondal 1, Konopka 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Newcastle 17 Worrall 5, Kerr 5, Rosen 4, Lindgren 32 Somerset 13 Kurtz 6, Worrall 3, Grajczonek 2, Lanham 23 Rye House 12 Kennett 6, Jakobsen 4, Nielsen 2, Mellgren 04 Glasgow 6 Lawson 4, Palovaara 1, Sarjeant 1, Summers 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Edinburgh 30Cook 12, Sedgmen 8, Masters 7, Riss 32 Somerset 27Kurtz 10, Grajczonek 7, Worrall 6, Wright 43 Ipswich 24 King 10, Tungate 6, Covatti 5, Manzares 2, Heeps 14 Newcastle 15 Aarnio 6, Rosen 4, Worrall 3, Lindgren 2
Final leading averages
Rider Team Average Simon Stead Sheffield 10.41 Craig Cook Edinburgh 10.35 Danny King Ipswich 9.54 Richard Lawson Glasgow 9.12 Sam Masters Edinburgh 8.98 Brady Kurtz Somerset 8.73 Oliver Allen Peterborough 8.51 Josh Grajczonek Somerset 8.50 Jason Garrity Sheffield 8.46 Robert Lambert Peterborough/Rye House 8.38
Riders & final averages Berwick Bandits
8.54 7.94
7.57
Edinburgh Monarchs
10.35 8.98 8.18 7.84 5.22 3.48 3.40
Glasgow Tigers
9.12 8.37 7.91
5.28
5.00
Ipswich Witches
9.54 7.74 7.55 5.87 5.43 4.74
Newcastle Diamonds
8.08 7.05 7.03
5.14 4.97 4.38
Peterborough Panthers
7.87
5.96 5.19
Plymouth Devils
7.52 7.10 6.86 6.84
5.38
Redcar Bears
8.30 7.13
6.50
3.83 2.71
Rye House Rockets
9.57
6.91
5.74
Scunthorpe Scorpions
6.53 6.26
5.33
4.50
2.08
Sheffield Tigers
5.58
Somerset Rebels
8.73 8.50 6.89 6.84 6.00
Workington Comets
8.86 7.42 6.98 6.84 5.48 4.96 3.01 1.97 1.29
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
Notes
References