1996 Premier League speedway season

League	Premier League
Champions	Wolverhampton Wolves
Knockout Cup	Wolverhampton Wolves
Individual	Sam Ermolenko
Fours	Oxford Cheetahs
Highest average	Billy Hamill
Division/s below	1996 Conference League
← 1995 1997 →

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]}

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

Summary

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

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

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

First leg

Second leg

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

Riders' Championship

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

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

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

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

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References