1998 Speedway Conference League

1998 Speedway Conference League
LeagueConference League
ChampionsSt Austell Gulls
Knockout CupSt Austell Gulls
IndividualSteve Bishop
Division/s above1998 Elite League
1998 Premier League

The 1998 Speedway Conference League sponsored by Dunlop, was the third tier/division of British speedway.[1]

Summary

The title was won by St Austell Gulls.[2]

Final league table

Pos Team Played W D L F A Pts
1 St Austell Gulls 16 13 1 2 844 562 27
2 Newport Mavericks 16 10 0 6 742 682 20
3 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 16 8 1 7 704 709 17
4 Norfolk Braves 16 6 0 10 690 739 12
5 Buxton Hitmen 16 2 0 14 573 861 4
6 Skegness Braves+ 4 1 0 3 166 191 2

+ withdrew - Norfolk replaced Skegness and took over fixtures

Fixtures & results

A Fixtures

Home \ Away BUX MIL NEW NOR SA
Buxton Hitmen 40–50 29–61 30–60 36–53
Mildenhall Fen Tigers 63–27 42–47 44–46 55–35
Newport Mavericks 62–28 54–36 53–36 53–33
Norfolk Braves 54–36 51–38 56–33 38–51
St Austell Gulls 61–29 51–38 57–32 57–32
Source: [3]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B Fixtures

Home \ Away BUX MIL NEW NOR SA
Buxton Hitmen 44–46 48–41 50–40 36–53
Mildenhall Fen Tigers 49–41 51–39 45–44 45–45
Newport Mavericks 58–30 56–34 51–35 35–54
Norfolk Braves 55–34 42–48 43–47 39–51
St Austell Gulls 55–35 46–20 70–20 71–19
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Conference League Knockout Cup

The 1998 Conference league Knockout Cup (sponsored by Dunlop) was the first edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams.[5]

In 1995 there had been an Academy League Knockout Cup and in 1996 a Conference League Knockout Cup but due to a merger of the British Leagues, both the 1995 and 1996 editions acted as the second tier of British speedway at the time.

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
21/06 Skegness 41-49 Mildenhall
21/06 Mildenhall 48-41 Skegness

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
30/08 Buxton 43-47 Mildenhall
19/07 Mildenhall 49-41 Buxton
17/07 Newport 52-38 St Austell
14/07 St Austell 59-31 Newport

Final

22 September [6] St Austell Gulls
Steve Bishop 17
Seemond Stephens 14
Roger Lobb 12
Garry Lobb 		53–36 Mildenhall Fen Tigers
David Mason 13
Ross Brady 8
Geoff Powell 5
Dean Garrod
Jamie Barton 		Clay Country Moto Parc

3 October [7] Mildenhall Fen Tigers
Geoff Powell 12
Ross Brady 9 		38–52 St Austell Gulls
Seemond Stephens 15
James Birkinshaw 13
Steve Bishop 10 		Mildenhall Stadium

Riders' Championship

Steve Bishop won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 12 July at the Clay Country Moto Parc in St Austell.[8]

Pos. Rider Team Total
1 Steve Bishop St. Austell 15
2 Andrew Appleton Newport 14
3 Seemond Stephens St. Austell 12
4 Adrian Newman St. Austell 11
5 Peter Boast Norfolk 10
6 Wayne Barrett St. Austell 10
7 Roger Lobb Newport 9
8 Dean Garrod Mildenhall 8
9 Jason Prynne St. Austell 8
10 Chris Neath Newport 7
11 Paul Lydes Uings Mildenhall 4
12 Richard Ford Newport 4
13 Kevin Phillips St. Austell 3
14 Paul Macklin Buxton 3
15 Martin Williams Newport 1
16 Chris Harris St. Austell 1
17 Vince Purnell (res) 0

See also

References

  1. ^ "1998 tables". Speedway GB.
  2. ^ "Final table". Speedway archive.
  3. ^ "1998 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  4. ^ "1998 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  5. ^ "1998 Conference league Knockout Cup". Speedway Archive.
  6. ^ "Speedway". Reading Evening Post. 23 September 1998. Retrieved 31 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Speedway". South Wales Echo. 5 October 1998. Retrieved 31 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1998 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 28 June 2023.