BREAKING NEWS
Cloud Server Hosting For Online Businesses
Inexpensive SEO Services
Benefits of Wanting to play Free Online Slot machines
1996 Premier League speedway season

Summary

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.[1][2]

1996 Premier League speedway season
LeaguePremier League
ChampionsWolverhampton Wolves
Knockout CupWolverhampton Wolves
IndividualSam Ermolenko
FoursOxford Cheetahs
Highest averageBilly Hamill
Division/s below1996 Conference League

As from 1997 the Elite League would be the top division and the Premier League would be the second division.

Summary edit

The one league set up only lasted for a second season due to the huge disparity between the sides. 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.[3][4]

Cradley Heathens and Stoke Potters merged for the 1996 season and despite their American stars Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock finishing first and second in the averages they 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.[5]

Final table edit

Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 29 0 7 18 76
2 Peterborough Panthers 36 23 0 13 15 61
3 Eastbourne Eagles 36 23 1 12 12 59
4 Swindon Robins 36 22 2 12 12 58
5 Cradley & Stoke Heathens 36 21 1 14 13 56
6 Belle Vue Aces 36 21 1 14 12 55
7 Hull Vikings 36 20 3 13 11 54
8 Ipswich Witches 36 20 0 16 12 52
9 London Lions 36 20 0 16 11 51
10 Coventry Bees 36 16 2 18 10 44
11 Bradford Dukes 36 16 0 20 9 41
12 Scottish Monarchs 36 16 0 20 5 37
13 Oxford Cheetahs 36 12 4 20 8 36
14 Poole Pirates 36 13 2 21 5 33
15 Exeter Falcons 36 13 2 21 4 32
16 Middlesbrough Bears 36 11 1 14 6 29
17 Long Eaton Invaders 36 12 0 24 4 28
18 Sheffield Tigers 36 13 0 23 2 28
19 Reading Racers 36 11 1 24 2 25

PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; BP = Bonus Points Pts = Total Points

Premier League Knockout Cup edit

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.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
20/04 Bradford 65-31 Sheffield
18/04 Sheffield 42-54 Bradford
24/04 Hull 56-40 Middlesbrough
23/05 Middlesbrough 50-45 Hull
04/05 Swindon 51-45 Oxford
26/04 Oxford 50-46 Swindon

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
20/05 Wolverhampton 56-39 Ipswich
23/05 Ipswich 53-43 Wolverhampton
24/05 Belle Vue 53-43 Cradley Heath
13/07 Cradley Heath 52-44 Belle Vue
25/05 Bradford 57-39 Edinburgh
22/05 Edinburgh 44-52 Bradford
29/05 Long Eaton 56-40 Hull
31/05 Hull 47-49 Long Eaton
26/04 Peterborough 59-37 Coventry
25/05 Coventry 40-56 Peterborough
23/05 Hackney 54-42 Reading
13/05 Reading 40-56 Hackney
20/05 Exeter 45-51 Poole
26/06 Poole 44-52 Exeter
27/05 Swindon 59-37 Eastbourne
25/05 Eastbourne 56-39 Swindon

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
19/08 Wolverhampton 48-48 Belle Vue
23/08 Belle Vue 48-48 Wolverhampton
24/08 Bradford 62-34 Long Eaton
28/08 Long Eaton 50-45 Bradford
23/08 Peterborough 52-44 Hackney
15/08 Hackney 51-45 Peterborough
09/09 Exeter 52-44 Swindon
17/08 Swindon 48-48 Exeter
09/09 Wolverhampton 51-45 Belle Vue
13/09 Belle Vue 49-46 Wolverhampton

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
23/09 Wolverhampton 59-37 Bradford
28/09 Bradford 54-42 Wolverhampton
13/09 Peterborough 61-35 Exeter
23/09 Exeter 48-48 Peterborough

Final edit

First leg

Wolverhampton Wolves
Peter Karlsson 14
Mikael Karlsson 12
Ronnie Correy 12		58 - 38Peterborough Panthers
Jason Crump 13
Ryan Sullivan 10
[7]

Second leg

Peterborough Panthers54 - 42Wolverhampton Wolves

Wolverhampton Wolves were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.

Riders' Championship edit

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.[8]

Pos. Rider Total SF Final
1   Sam Ermolenko 7 2 3
2   Jason Crump 12 3 2
3   Leigh Adams 10 2 1
4   Chris Louis 11 3 ef
5   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 edit

Oxford Cheetahs won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 4 August 1996, at the East of England Arena.[9]

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Oxford 23 Cox 7, Brhel 7, Topinka 7, Hare 3
2 Peterborough 17 Crump 8, Jirout 6, Swain 2, Nielsen 1
3 Hull 16 Ott 6, Grahame 4, Thorp 3, Morton 3
4 Ipswich 16 Louis 6, Doncaster 6, Howe 3, Clouting 1

Leading final averages edit

Rider Team Average
  Billy Hamill Cradley & Stoke 10.67
  Greg Hancock Cradley & Stoke 10.55
  Chris Louis Ipswich 10.29
  Jason Crump Peterborough 10.20
  Peter Karlsson Wolverhampton 10.14
  Leigh Adams London 10.09
  Martin Dugard Eastbourne 10.08
  Sam Ermolenko Sheffield 9.73
  Mikael Karlsson Wolverhampton 9.71
  Ronnie Correy Wolverhampton 9.62
  Joe Screen Bradford 9.57
  Gary Havelock Bradford 9.55
  Brian Andersen Coventry 9.46
  Craig Boyce Poole 9.38
  Mark Loram Exeter 9.28
  Chris Manchester Belle Vue 9.27
  Jimmy Nilsen Swindon 9.22
  Lars Gunnestad Poole 9.13
  Kelvin Tatum London 9.07
  Ryan Sullivan Peterborough 9.01

Riders & final averages edit

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley & Stoke

Eastbourne

Exeter

Hull

Ipswich

London

Long Eaton

Middlesbrough

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Reading

Scottish Monarchs

Sheffield

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ^ "1996 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ SPEEDWAY GB – British Speedway Official Website
  5. ^ "Heathens at Stoke:End of Another Era". Cradley Speedway.
  6. ^ "1996 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ^ "Speedway". Reading Evening Post. 10 October 1996. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "American ace survives late drama". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 21 October 1996. Retrieved 7 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Cheetahs race to four team title". Hull Daily Mail. 5 August 1996. Retrieved 5 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

By using this platform, you agree to the Terms of Use ©2020 Knowpia