1999 Premier League speedway season

1999 Premier League speedway season
LeaguePremier League
ChampionsSheffield Tigers
Knockout CupEdinburgh Monarchs
Young ShieldSheffield Tigers
IndividualSean Wilson
PairsWorkington Comets
FoursSheffield Tigers
Highest averageSean Wilson
Division/s above1999 Elite League
Division/s below1999 Conference League

The 1999 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

Season summary

The League consisted of 13 teams for the 1999 season with the addition of the Swindon Robins who dropped down from the Elite League and a new team, the Workington Comets who replaced the Hull Vikings and the Peterborough Panthers who moved up to the Elite League.

The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Sheffield Tigers.[1]

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away AE BER ED EX GLA IOW ND NW RR SHE STO SWI WOR
Arena Essex Hammers 59–32 45–48 58–32 46–45 46–44 46–43 47–43 48–42 45–45 54–35 51–39 55–35
Berwick Bandits 47–42 53–37 43–49 49–41 52–38 46–44 45–45 39–33 46–44 48–44 49–41 50–40
Edinburgh Monarchs 56–34 58–32 59–31 48–41 63–27 46–50 56–33 49–40 58–32 65–25 62–28 53–37
Exeter Falcons 42–48 52–38 53–37 62–27 50–40 50–40 46–44 55–35 50–40 52–38 45–44 59–31
Glasgow Tigers 46–44 46–43 49–43 46–44 46–43 46–44 42–48 42–48 44–46 48–43 46–44 46–42
Isle of Wight Islanders 54–36 55–35 59–31 44–46 48–42 41–49 48–42 51–38 43–48 53–36 46–43 55–35
Newcastle Diamonds 50–40 42–47 48–42 52–38 57–32 45–45 44–48 54–36 44–46 53–37 46–44 54–38
Newport Wasps 48–42 62–28 54–38 51–39 47–46 42–48 49–41 59–31 52–38 52–38 51–39 54–36
Reading Racers 43–47 43–47 51–39 50–40 53–38 43–47 49–44 42–48 40–49 46–47 45–47 43–47
Sheffield Tigers 62–38 68–22 60–30 57–32 62–28 54–36 56–33 54–36 55–35 56–34 61–29 49–41
Stoke Potters 46–44 59–33 39–52 58–31 50–39 48–45 48–43 43–47 47–37 43–47 47–43 48–42
Swindon Robins 53–37 53–37 49–41 52–38 53–37 58–32 52–38 43–50 56–36 45–45 57–34 54–39
Workington Comets 51–39 45–48 43–46 55–35 53–36 50–43 44–46 49–42 45–45 42–49 51–39 48–44
Source: [2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final table

Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Sheffield Tigers 24 18 2 4 1229 930 38 12 50
2 Newport Wasps 24 16 1 7 1152 1023 33 9 42
3 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 14 0 10 1151 1024 28 9 37
4 Swindon Robins 24 11 1 12 1110 1061 23 9 32
5 Newcastle Diamonds 24 11 1 12 1103 1066 23 8 31
6 Exeter Falcons 24 13 0 11 1071 1087 26 5 31
7 Berwick Bandits 24 13 1 10 1024 1140 27 4 31
8 Isle of Wight Islanders 24 11 1 12 1085 1078 23 7 30
9 Arena Essex Hammers 24 12 1 11 1081 1081 25 5 30
10 Stoke Potters 24 10 0 14 1026 1138 20 4 24
11 Workington Comets 24 8 1 15 1039 1132 17 3 20
12 Glasgow Tigers 24 9 0 15 999 1160 18 1 19
13 Reading Racers 24 5 1 18 1004 1154 11 2 13

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 1999 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 32nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Edinburgh Monarchs were the winners of the competition.[3]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
17/05 Reading 53-37 Glasgow
23/05 Glasgow 37-46 Reading
21/05 Edinburgh 53-31 Newcastle
23/05 Newcastle 42-27 Edinburgh
23/05 Newport 47-43 Stoke
22/05 Stoke 46-44 Newport
20/05 Sheffield 52-38 Isle of Wight
18/05 Isle of Wight 42-48 Sheffield
24/05 Exeter 67-23 Workington
12/06 Workington 48-42 Exeter

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
12/07 Reading 46-44 Sheffield
15/07 Sheffield 55-35 Reading
16/07 Edinburgh 57-33 Newport
04/07 Newport 53-37 Edinburgh
09/07 Arena Essex 55-35 Swindon
29/07 Swindon 53-37 Arena Essex
28/06 Exeter 63-37 Berwick
26/06 Berwick 49-40 Exeter

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
20/08 Edinburgh 56-34 Sheffield
26/08 Sheffield 55-35 Edinburgh
20/08 Arena Essex 50-39 Exeter
23/08 Exeter 46-44 Arena Essex

Final

Date Team one Score Team two
25/09 Edinburgh 54-36 Arena Essex
16/10 Arena Essex 49-41 Edinburgh

First leg

Edinburgh Monarchs
Peter Carr 14
Blair Scott 13
James Grieves 12
Ross Brady 8
Kevin Little 7
Justin Elkins 0
Brian Turner 0		54 – 36Arena Essex Hammers
Leigh Lanham 10
Gary Corbett 9
Colin White 8
John Wainwright 4
Troy Pratt 3
Roger Lobb 1
Matt Read 1
[4][5]

Second leg

Arena Essex Hammers
Leigh Lanham 12
Troy Pratt 12
Colin White 10
Gary Corbett 5
Roger Lobb 5
Matt Read 4
John Wainwright 1		49 – 41Edinburgh Monarchs
James Grieves 11
Ross Brady 9
Peter Carr 8
Kevin Little 8
Phil Ambrose 4
Blair Scott 2
Justin Elkins R/R
[4][5]

Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95–85.

Riders' Championship

Sean Wilson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 12 September at Owlerton Stadium.[6]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1 England Sean Wilson 3 1 3 3 3 13 - 3
2 Denmark Jesper Olsen 2 3 3 3 2 13 3 2
3 Australia Craig Watson 3 2 2 0 3 10 2 1
4 England Carl Stonehewer 3 3 3 1 3 13 - 0
5 England Michael Coles 3 1 1 3 3 11 1
6 England Paul Pickering 2 3 3 2 1 11 0
7 England Glenn Cunningham 2 2 2 1 2 9
8 England Peter Carr ex 3 2 2 2 9
9 England Les Collins 1 ex 2 2 2 7
10 Sweden Anders Henriksson 1 0 1 3 1 6
11 Wales Phil Morris 1 1 1 2 0 5
12 England Paul Bentley 1 2 0 1 1 5
13 England Leigh Lanham ex 2 0 1 1 4
14 Scotland James Grieves 2 0 0 0 0 2
15 England Neville Tatum 0 1 1 0 0 2
16 England David Meldrum 0 0 0 0 0 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Hayley Stadium on 25 July. The event was won by Workington Comets.[7][8]

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Workington 38 Stonehewer 20, Werner 18
2 Arena Essex 31 Lanham 18, White 13
3 Newport 28 Smart 18, Watson 10
5 Edinburgh 24 Grieves 20, Little 4
u Sheffield ? Wilson, Compton
u Glasgow ? Collins, Sanchez
u Newcastle ? Olsen, Eriksson

Fours

Sheffield Tigers won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 29 August 1999, at the East of England Arena.[9]

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Sheffield 28 Smith 8, Compton 7, Stead 6, Wilson 5, Lee 2
2 Newport 24 Watson 9, Smart 8, Henriksson 5, Appleton 2
3 Isle of Wight 10 Lanham 3, White 3, Lobb 3, Pratt 1
4 Arena Essex 10 Tatum 4, Carter 2, Berge 2, Swain 2

Final leading averages

Rider Team Average
England Sean Wilson Sheffield 10.56
England Carl Stonehewer Workington 9.92
England Paul Bentley Glasgow 9.76
Denmark Jesper Olsen Newcastle 9.68
England Peter Carr Edinburgh 9.59
Australia Craig Watson Newport 9.59
Finland Petri Kokko Reading 9.42
England Michael Coles Exeter 9.36
England Les Collins Glasgow 9.23
England Leigh Lanham Arena Essex 9.10

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

  • Leigh Lanham 9.10
  • Colin White 8.76
  • Troy Pratt 7.19
  • Gary Corbett 5.99
  • Matt Read 5.37
  • Roger Lobb 5.33
  • John Wainwright 3.59

Berwick

Edinburgh

Exeter

  • Michael Coles 9.36
  • Mark Simmonds 8.03
  • Graeme Gordon 7.75
  • Lee Dicken 6.46
  • Wayne Barrett 5.39
  • Chris Harris 4.86
  • Gary Lobb 4.03
  • Chris Courage 2.24

Glasgow

Isle of Wight

Newcastle

Newport

Reading

  • Petri Kokko 9.42
  • Dave Mullett 9.04
  • Per Wester 9.00
  • Phil Morris 7.49
  • Paul Clews 5.70
  • Justin Elkins 5.59
  • Jarno Kosonen 4.51
  • Marc Norris 3.83
  • Shane Colvin 2.35
  • Peter Collyer 1.81

Sheffield

Stoke

Swindon

Workington

See also

References

  1. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  2. ^ "1999 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  3. ^ "1999 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  4. ^ a b "1999 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Edinburgh fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Wilson on top". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 13 September 1999. Retrieved 25 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1999 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Speedway". Reading Evening Post. 26 July 1999. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Wasps speed wat to Premier Fours runners-up spot". South Wales Echo. 30 August 1999. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.