2004 Premier League speedway season

2004 Premier League speedway season
LeaguePremier League
ChampionsHull Vikings
Knockout CupHull Vikings
Young ShieldHull Vikings
IndividualAndre Compton
PairsReading Racers
FoursWorkington Comets
Highest averageJason Lyons
Division/s above2004 Elite League
Division/s below2004 Conference League

The 2004 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).[1]

Season summary

The League consisted of 15 teams for the 2004 season after the Swindon Robins and Arena Essex Hammers elected to compete in the Elite League and the closure of the Trelawny Tigers.[2]

The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Hull Vikings.[3]

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away BER ED EX GLA HV IOW KL ND NW RR RYE SHE SOM STO WOR
Berwick Bandits 57–38 55–41 45–44 42–42 48–45 65–29 59–35 54–40 48–45 53–42 57–37 53–42 48–49 49–44
Edinburgh Monarchs 60–36 49–41 57–37 43–47 62–32 55–38 65–27 55–41 47–42 44–46 54–39 55–39 64–20 53–43
Exeter Falcons 49–41 61–33 54–39 50–45 54–40 55–38 64–32 65–27 48.5–47.5 75–18 59–36 62–31 43–50 56–39
Glasgow Tigers 57–37 50–45 61–34 43–47 58–34 56–38 59–35 54–40 51–45 48–47 51–42 54–42 54–39 44–46
Hull Vikings 54–40 49–46 65–27 62–31 48–46 62–33 60–31 61–35 46–44 62–32 54–40 55–38 50–46 46–44
Isle of Wight Islanders 56–37 65–31 63–31 53–42 44–49 66–29 53–38 63–29 55–40 63–32 57–35 62–31 50–44 45–45
King's Lynn Stars 61–35 63–32 64–29 41–28 50–42 57–39 66–26 62–33 49–47 57–38 56–36 61–33 67–27 52–42
Newcastle Diamonds 43–51 49–43 49–45 49–47 34–60 46–49 57–39 49–32 47–48 45–48 52–44 47–43 50–43 43–51
Newport Wasps 51–44 50–43 46–44 53–39 38–58 45–45 50–44 46–44 50–43 42–47 43–46 45–45 41–54 44–46
Reading Racers 59–32 55–39 58–36 53–44 51–39 48–42 56–39 57–38 48–42 49–43 50–45 52–38 61–33 56–37
Rye House Rockets 48–42 50–40 45–44 51–41 44–51 52–41 58–35 56–36 51–39 49–44 52–42 49–41 50–45 56–39
Sheffield Tigers 55–38 65–27 57–38 55–41 52–38 55–39 56–38 67–26 65–26 51–46 69–25 54–42 44–33 44–46
Somerset Rebels 51–41 61–33 55–39 46–44 44–53 45–45 49–41 51–43 59–34 42–52 52–40 51–39 50–43 54–41
Stoke Potters 55–39 51–39 57–36 52–40 42–52 56–38 55–38 58–37 57–37 41–49 56–40 62–30 62–32 56–37
Workington Comets 60–33 65–30 66–26 68–25 53–43 49–41 54–36 69–25 65–28 57–39 58–34 51–44 58–35 52–42
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final table

Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Hull Vikings 28 23 0 5 1445 1166 46 12 58
2 Workington Comets 28 18 1 9 1425 1179 37 12 49
3 Reading Racers 28 17 0 11 1389.5 1228.5 34 12 46
4 Stoke Potters 28 15 0 13 1328 1268 30 9 39
5 Isle of Wight Islanders 28 13 2 13 1370 1240 28 10 38
6 Rye House Rockets 28 16 0 12 1243 1353 32 5 37
7 King's Lynn Stars 28 14 0 14 1321 1281 28 7 35
8 Sheffield Tigers 28 14 0 14 1344 1252 28 6 34
9 Berwick Bandits 28 13 0 15 1282 1337 26 7 33
10 Exeter Falcons 28 13 0 15 1306.5 1306.5 26 6 32
11 Glasgow Tigers 28 12 0 16 1282 1310 24 8 32
12 Edinburgh Monarchs 28 12 0 16 1282 1319 24 5 29
13 Somerset Rebels 28 12 1 15 1246 1361 25 4 29
14 Newport Wasps 28 7 2 19 1127 1450 16 1 17
15 Newcastle Diamonds 28 8 0 20 1133 1473 16 1 17

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 2004 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 37th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Hull Vikings were the winners of the competition.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
12/05 Hull 59-36 Berwick
24/07 Berwick 42-42 Hull
31/05 Exeter 53-19 Newport
22/07 Newport 46-50 Exeter
11/05 Isle of Wight 63-29 King's Lynn
12/05 King's Lynn 56-39 Isle of Wight
15/05 Rye House 55-39 Newcastle
16/05 Newcastle 41-49 Rye House
15/05 Workington 57-35 Edinburgh
14/05 Edinburgh 50-43 Workington
14/05 Somerset 48-42 Stoke
15/05 Stoke 44-46 Somerset
10/05 Reading 52-43 Glasgow
09/05 Glasgow 47-43 Reading

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
18/08 Hull 53-39 Reading
23/08 Reading 51-42 Hull
26/07 Exeter 62-29 Sheffield
22/07 Sheffield 57-37 Exeter
06/07 Isle of Wight 59-36 Rye House
31/07 Rye House 52-42 Isle of Wight
26/06 Workington 54-40 Somerset
25/06 Somerset 48-44 Workington

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
06/10 Hull 62-35 Exeter
20/09 Exeter 57-34 Hull
02/09 Isle of Wight 56-38 Workington
18/09 Workington 43.5-46.5 Isle of Wight

Final

First leg

Hull Vikings
Garry Stead 15
Emil Kramer 11
Emiliano Sanchez 11
Magnus Karlsson 10
Paul Thorp 8
Joel Parsons 1
Ross Brady R/R		56 – 39Isle of Wight Islanders
Craig Boyce 11
Sebastian Trésarrieu 10
Ray Morton 6
Krister Marsh 6
Ulrich Østergaard 3
Jason Bunyan 2
Glenn Phillips 1
[6][7]

Second leg

Isle of Wight Islanders
Jason Bunyan 12
Craig Boyce 9
Krister Marsh 9
Sebastian Trésarrieu 7
Ray Morton 6
Ulrich Østergaard 5
Glenn Phillips 4		52 – 43Hull Vikings
Magnus Karlsson 12
Garry Stead 11
Paul Thorp 9
Emil Kramer 6
Emiliano Sanchez 4
Joel Parsons 1
Ross Brady R/R
[6][7]

Hull were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 99–91.

Riders' Championship

Andre Compton won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held on 19 September at Owlerton Stadium. Compton was awarded the title following a last bend crash in the final with Simon Stead, the latter was attributed as the cause of the crash.[8]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1 England Andre Compton 2 3 3 2 0 10 3 3
2 Australia Mark Lemon 2 2 2 2 3 11 2 2
3 England Simon Stead 3 3 3 3 3 15 - 1
4 Australia Craig Boyce 2 1 3 3 2 11 - ef
5 Australia Craig Watson 3 3 2 ex 2 11 1
6 England Danny Bird 2 ex 3 1 3 9 0
7 England Carl Stonehewer 3 2 1 3 ex 9
8 Czech Republic Tomáš Topinka 1 3 1 0 3 8
9 Czech Republic Adrian Rymel 0 2 2 3 0 7
10 Denmark Jan Staechmann 1 2 2 1 1 7
11 Australia Rory Schlein 3 1 - - - 4
12 Australia Shane Parker 1 1 1 ex 1 4
13 England Glenn Cunningham ex 1 0 ex 2 3
14 Australia Jason Lyons ex ef 0 2 1 3
15 England Chris Neath ex ex 0 2 1 3
16 England Luke Priest (res) 2 1 3
17 England Paul Cooper (res) 1 0 1
18 Scotland Ross Brady ex ex - - - 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Smallmead Stadium on 20 June. The event was won by Reading (Danny Bird & Phil Morris) who beat Stoke (Paul Pickering & Alan Mogridge) in the final.[9][10]

Other teams

  • Berwick: Kristensen, Franc
  • Exeter: Lemon, Stephens
  • Isle of Wight: Boyce, Bunyan
  • Sheffield: Ashworth, Compton
  • Somerset: Fry, Cunningham
  • Workington: Stonehewer, Collins

Semi finals

  • Reading bt Glasgow 6–3
  • Stoke bt Rye House 5–4

Final

  • Reading bt Stoke 7–2

Fours

Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 21 August 2004, at Derwent Park.[11][12]

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Workington 29 Stonehewer, Stead, Nieminen, Collins
2 Stoke 20 Pickering, Staechmann, Mogridge, Kessler
3 Glasgow 12 Parker, Stancl, Bentley, Grieves
4 Rye House 11 Werner, Neath, Watt, Robson

Final leading averages

Rider Team Average
Australia Jason Lyons Newcastle 10.13
Slovenia Matej Žagar Reading 10.02
England Simon Stead Workington 10.01
England Carl Stonehewer Workington 9.84
England Sean Wilson Sheffield 9.69
England Danny Bird Reading 9.67
Australia Craig Watson Newport 9.66
Australia Shane Parker Glasgow 9.58
Denmark Frede Schött Edinburgh 9.53
Australia Craig Boyce Isle of Wight 9.47

Riders & final averages

Berwick

Edinburgh

Exeter

  • Mark Lemon 9.39
  • Graeme Gordon 7.74
  • Roger Lobb 7.55
  • Mark Simmonds 7.47
  • Seemond Stephens 7.41
  • Michael Coles 7.14
  • Nick Simmons 3.61

Glasgow

Hull

Isle of Wight

King's Lynn

Newcastle

Newport

Reading

Rye House

Sheffield

Somerset

Stoke

Workington

See also

References

  1. ^ "2004 tables". Speedway GB.
  2. ^ "Final tables". Speedway archive.
  3. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  4. ^ "2004 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  5. ^ "2004 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ a b "2004 KO Cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Hull 2004 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Controversial Compton claims PLRC". Crash.net. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. ^ "2004 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Reading race to Pairs title". Crash.net. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  11. ^ "2004 season fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Comets set to host biggest ever meeting". Whitehaven News. Retrieved 7 July 2023.