| Competition: | Sky Sports Elite League |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| Domesticcup2: | Knockout Cup |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Eastbourne Eagles |
| Domesticcup3: | Craven Shield |
| Domesticcup3 Winners: | Poole Pirates |
| Domesticcup4: | Riders Championship |
| Domesticcup4 Winners: | Tony Rickardsson |
| Highest Average: | Tony Rickardsson |
| Leagues Below: | Premier League Conference League |
| Prevseason: | 2001 |
| Nextseason: | 2003 |
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).[1] It was the first time that playoffs were introduced to determine the champions.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5]
| Pos | M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Bon | Tot | ||
| 1 | Eastbourne Eagles | 32 | 20 | 3 | 9 | 1562 | 1316 | 43 | 15 | 58 | |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 20 | 2 | 10 | 1549 | 1311 | 42 | 12 | 54 | |
| 3 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 1492 | 1383 | 41 | 9 | 50 | |
| 4 | 32 | 17 | 1 | 14 | 1455 | 1406 | 35 | 11 | 46 | ||
| 5 | Peterborough Panthers | 31 | 15 | 0 | 16 | 1394 | 1395 | 30 | 6 | 36 | |
| 6 | Oxford Cheetahs | 31 | 14 | 2 | 15 | 1369 | 1407 | 30 | 5 | 35 | |
| 7 | Ipswich Witches | 32 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 1375 | 1494 | 25 | 6 | 31 | |
| 8 | Belle Vue Aces | 32 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 1379 | 1484 | 25 | 4 | 29 | |
| 9 | King's Lynn Silver Machine | 32 | 7 | 1 | 24 | 1247 | 1626 | 15 | 3 | 18 |
| = Qualified for Play Off final | ||
| = Qualified for Play Offs |
Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
The Wolverhampton Wolves were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.
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.[6]
First round
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/04 | Wolverhampton | 57-33 | Poole | ||||
| 03/04 | Poole | 45-45 | Wolverhampton |
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27/05 | Reading | 47-43 | Arena Essex | ||||
| 29/04 | Wolverhampton | 61-29 | Oxford | ||||
| 27/04 | Coventry | 36-35 | Kings Lynn | ||||
| 26/04 | Oxford | 45-45 | Wolverhampton | ||||
| 24/04 | Kings Lynn | 42-48 | Coventry | ||||
| 22/04 | Belle Vue | 51-39 | Peterborough | ||||
| 20/04 | Eastbourne | 54-36 | Ipswich | ||||
| 19/04 | Peterborough | 59-31 | Belle Vue | ||||
| 18/04 | Ipswich | 39-51 | Eastbourne |
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/07 | Wolverhampton | 40-49 | Eastbourne | ||||
| 29/06 | Coventry | 49-41 | Peterborough | ||||
| 29/06 | Eastbourne | 52-38 | Wolverhampton | ||||
| 28/06 | Peterborough | 50-40 | Coventry |
First leg
Second leg
The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.
Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August.[7]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=100px | Pts | width=50px | Total | width=50px | SF | width=50px | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 3 3 3 3 | 13 | x | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 | x | 2 | |||||||
| 3 | 3 3 3 1 0 | 10 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | 1 2 3 2 3 | 11 | 3 | 0 | |||||||
| 5 | 3 3 2 3 1 | 12 | 1 | ||||||||
| 6 | 3 2 1 3 3 | 12 | 0 | ||||||||
| 7 | 2 2 2 2 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 8 | 2 2 1 2 0 | 7 | |||||||||
| 9 | 2 1 0 1 3 | 7 | |||||||||
| 10 | 1 1 0 2 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| 11 | 1 0 1 1 2 | 5 | |||||||||
| 12 | 2 0 2 0 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| 13 | 0 0 2 1 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 14 | 0 1 1 0 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 15 | 0 1 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| 16 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
| width=200 | Rider | width=200 | Team | width=40 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tony Rickardsson | Poole | 10.88 | |||
 Jason Crump | Belle Vue | 10.44 | |||
| Ryan Sullivan | Peterborough | 10.34 | |||
| Leigh Adams | Oxford | 10.10 | |||
| Mikael Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.93 | |||
| Scott Nicholls | Ipswich | 9.76 | |||
| Mark Loram | Eastbourne | 9.56 | |||
| Andreas Jonsson | Coventry | 9.39 | |||
| Peter Karlsson | Wolverhampton | 9.23 | |||
| Lee Richardson | Coventry | 8.97 |
Belle Vue
Coventry
Eastbourne
Ipswich
King's Lynn
Oxford
Peterborough
Poole
Wolverhampton