2008 Premier League speedway season explained

Competition:Premier League
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Edinburgh Monarchs
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Somerset Rebels
Domesticcup3:Premier Trophy
Domesticcup3 Winners:Edinburgh Monarchs
Domesticcup4:Young Shield
Domesticcup4 Winners:Workington Comets
Domesticcup5:Individual
Domesticcup5 Winners:Tai Woffinden
Domesticcup6:Pairs
Domesticcup6 Winners:Workington Comets
Domesticcup7:Fours
Domesticcup7 Winners:Workington Comets
Highest Average:Daniel Nermark
League Above:2008 Elite League
Leagues Below:2008 Conference
Prevseason:2007
Nextseason:2009

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.[1] 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.[2]

The Edinburgh Monarchs were crowned the Premier League champions after ending the season as the highest placed team.[3] 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.[4]

Final league table

width=30 rowspan=2Pos Club M Home Away F width=30 rowspan=2A width=30 rowspan=2Pts
width=30W width=30D width=30L width=30W width=30D width=30L
1Edinburgh Monarchs3015007261562116153
2Somerset Rebels3015006091517122348
3Kings Lynn Stars3014104471624111145
4Rye House Rockets30150040111500123242
5Workington Comets30122150101435.51300.541
6Berwick Bandits30132030121428131637
7Redcar Bears30120341101369137437
8Sheffield Tigers30121231111381134535
9Reading Racers30121230121350140534
10Scunthorpe Scorpions30120330121309143433
11Isle of Wight Islanders30140110141359139031
12Birmingham Brummies3090640111317.51401.530
13Stoke Potters3091520131307144125
14Newcastle Diamonds3080720131220150122
15Glasgow Tigers3080710141297146919
16Mildenhall Fen Tigers300015001593218040

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.[5]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
11/04Scunthorpe 44-48 Sheffield
10/04Sheffield55-36 Scunthorpe
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
23/04Birmingham 43-47 Glasgow
20/04Glasgow 40-52 Birmingham
24/04Redcar 53-40 Mildenhall
27/04Mildenhall40-50 Redcar
13/05Isle of Wight54-38 Sheffield
24/04Sheffield52-38 Isle of Wight
25/04Edinburgh54-38 Berwick
26/04Berwick42-51 Edinburgh
25/04Somerset64-28 Newcastle
27/04Newcastle39-39 Somerset
26/04Rye House60-30 Newport
Newport nsRye House
07/05Kings Lynn55-38 Reading
28/04Reading59-34 King's Lynn
27/04Stoke42-50 Workington
26/05Workington54-36 Stoke
ns match not staged Rye House into next roundQuarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
25/06Birmingham42-51 Rye House
31/05Rye House62-30 Birmingham
17/06Isle of Wight51-43 Workington
07/06Workington53-38 Isle of Wight
30/05Edinburgh55-38 Redcar
29/05Redcar39-53 Edinburgh
30/05Somerset53-39 Reading
29/06Reading51-44 Somerset
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
27/09Workington53-39 Edinburgh
26/09Edinburgh49-41 Workington
25/08Rye House50-43 Somerset
22/08Somerset53-38 Rye House

Final

First legSecond legSomerset were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–84.

Riders' Championship

Tai Woffinden won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 21 September at Owlerton Stadium.[6]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal width=50pxSF width=50pxFinal
1 2 1 3 3 312-3
2 1 3 2 2 31122
3 2 2 3 3 212 -1
4 3 3 3 2 fex1130
5 3 3 2 0 3111
6 3 3 2 2 2120
7 1 2 3 3 110
8 2 0 2 1 27
91 1 1 2 16
10 0 2 1 3 06
11 2 1 0 1 15
12 3 1 fex 1 ef 5
13 tex 2 0 1 25
14 1 ef 1 0 13
15 0 0 0 ef 33
16 Scott Richardson (res)1 1 02
17 Ben Taylor (res)0 00
18 ef ns ns ns ns0

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 27 June. The event was won by Workington Comets.[7] [8]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=200Riders
1Sheffield 25 Compton 13, Ashworth 10
2Reading 21 Ostergaard 16, Lemon 5
3Rye House 20 Neath 11, Allen 9
4Edinburgh 15Wethers 10, Lawson 5
5Birmingham9 Watson 9, Birkinshaw 0
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=200Riders
1Somerset 26 Kramer 13, Doyle 13
2Workington 23 Nermark 12, Nieminen 11
3Redcar 15Proctor 12, Havelock 3
4Isle of Wight14 Bunyan 12, Phillips 2
5Newcastle10 Henry 8, Franc 2

Semi finals

Final

Fours

Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship for the fourth time, it was held on 26 July 2006, at Derwent Park.[9]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=90Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=350Riders
1 Workington 14Nieminen 5, Wright C 3, Stonehewer 3, Haines 3
2 Somerset 13Doyle 6, Frampton 5, Werner 2, Katt 0
3 Sheffield11Ashworth 4, Compton 3, Wilson 2, Parsons 2
4 Edinburgh10Fisher 4, Wethers 3, Jonasson 2, Tully 1
Group B
width=20Poswidth=90Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=350Riders
1 King's Lynn 16Topinka 6, Dolan 5, Tacey 4, Lambert 1
2 Scunthorpe 16Bergstrom 5, Wilkinson 4, Hall 4, Karlsson 3
3 Newcastle 10 Stancl 4, King 3, Juul 2, Stoddart 1
4 Reading 6 Lemon 3, Suchanek 2, Mills 1, Madsen 0
Final
width=20Poswidth=90Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=350Riders
1 Workington 20+3Nieminen 6+3, Stonehewer 6, Wright C 5, Haines 3
2 King's Lynn 20+2Topinka 9+2, Dolan 7, Tacey 2, Lambert 2
3 Somerset 19Doyle 7, Katt 5, Frampton 4, Werner 3
4 Scunthorpe 13Wilkinson 5, Hall 5, Bergstrom 3, Karlsson 0

Final leading averages

width=200Riderwidth=200Teamwidth=40Average
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

Birmingham

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Isle of Wight

King's Lynn

Mildenhall

Newcastle

Newport (withdrew from league)

Reading

Redcar

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Sheffield

Somerset

Stoke

Workington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: British Speedway 2008 . . 2007 . 2008-11-23.
  2. Web site: The rise se and fall of Newport's speedway team which used to draw crowds of thousands . Wales Online . 9 February 2023.
  3. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021. 1 September 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210901122208/https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/history/leaguetables1991-present. dead.
  4. Web site: Wolves seal EL place . . 2008 . 2008-11-23.
  5. Web site: 2008 Premier League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  6. Web site: Tai Woffinden: Wolves hope to re-sign World speedway champion . BBC Sport . 27 June 2023.
  7. Web site: 2008 fixtures . Speedway Researcher . 29 May 2023.
  8. Web site: PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS RESULT . Birmingham Speedway . 29 May 2023.
  9. Web site: 2008 season fixtures and results . Speedway Researcher . 8 July 2023.

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