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1998 Premier League speedway season
League Premier League
Champions Peterborough Panthers
Knockout Cup Reading Racers
Young Shield Isle of Wight Islanders
Individual Glenn Cunningham
Pairs Peterborough Panthers
Fours Peterborough Panthers
Highest average Nicki Pedersen
Division/s above 1998 Elite League
Division/s below 1998 Conference League

The 1998 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 1998 season with the following the closure of the Long Eaton Invaders and the decision of the Oxford Cheetahs to compete in the Elite League. The addition of the Peterborough Panthers who dropped down from the Elite League limited the reduction in numbers.

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

Final table

Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Peterborough Panthers 24 16 2 6 1206 945 34 12 46
2 Reading Racers 24 16 0 8 1130 989 32 10 42
3 Exeter Falcons 24 14 1 9 1134 1023 31 7 38
4 Hull Vikings 24 15 0 9 1098 1037 30 6 36
5 Sheffield Tigers 24 13 0 11 1088 1064 26 7 33
6 Isle of Wight Islanders 24 11 2 11 1095 1055 24 8 32
7 Glasgow Tigers 24 13 0 11 1085 1065 26 6 32
8 Newport Wasps 24 11 3 10 1067 1081 25 7 32
9 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 11 0 13 1078 1077 22 7 29
10 Newcastle Diamonds 24 10 3 11 1041 1109 23 3 26
11 Arena Essex Hammers 24 8 2 14 995 1139 18 2 20
12 Berwick Bandits 24 7 1 17 982 1173 15 2 17
13 Stoke Potters 24 3 0 21 956 1198 6 1 7

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 1998 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Reading Racers were the winners of the competition. [2] [3] [4]

Northern Group

Pos Team Played W D L Pts
1 Berwick Bandits 11 7 1 3 15
2 Sheffield Tigers 12 7 1 4 15
3 Glasgow Tigers 12 7 1 4 15
4 Edinburgh Monarchs 11 5 1 5 11
5 Newcastle Diamonds 9 3 2 4 8
6 Hull Vikings 12 4 0 8 8
7 Stoke Potters 8 3 0 6 6

Southern Group

Pos Team Played W D L Pts
1 Peterborough Panthers 10 7 0 3 14
2 Reading Racers 10 5 1 4 11
3 Arena Essex Hammers 10 5 0 5 10
4 Exeter Falcons 10 4 2 4 10
5 Isle of Wight Islanders 10 3 3 4 9
6 Newport Wasps 10 2 0 8 4

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
20/07 Reading 56-34 Sheffield
16/07 Sheffield 45-45 Reading
14/08 Peterborough 56-34 Berwick
22/08 Berwick 42-48 Peterborough

Final

First leg

Peterborough Panthers
Philippe Bergé 10
Simon Stead 9
David Howe 8
Glenn Cunningham 5
Nigel Sadler 5
Brett Woodifield 4
Oliver Allen 3		44 – 46 Reading Racers
Lee Richardson 14
Petri Kokko 12
Paul Clews 7
Dave Mullett 5
Jusin Elkins 5
Phil Morris 2
Krister Marsh 1
[5]

Second leg

Reading Racers
Lee Richardson 18
Dave Mullett 10
Petri Kokko 10
Krister Marsh 8
Paul Clews 7
Jusin Elkins 4
Phil Morris R/R		57 – 33 Peterborough Panthers
Leigh Lanham (guest) 11
Brett Woodifield 9
Philippe Bergé 5
Nigel Sadler 5
Ross Brady 3
Oliver Allen 0
David Howe 0
[5]

Reading were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 103–77.

Riders' Championship

Glenn Cunningham won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 13 September at Owlerton Stadium. [6]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1 England Glenn Cunningham 2 2 3 3 3 13 - 3
2 England Carl Stonehewer 3 3 2 1 3 12 2 2
3 England Peter Carr 3 3 2 3 3 14 - 1
4 Denmark Nicki Pedersen 2 2 3 2 2 12 3 0
5 Australia Craig Watson 1 3 2 2 2 11 1
6 England Leigh Lanham 0 3 0 3 3 10 0
7 England Paul Bentley 1 0 3 2 2 9
8 England Paul Pickering 1 1 2 3 0 8
9 Australia Frank Smart 2 1 1 1 2 7
10 England Scott Smith 0 2 3 0 1 7
11 England Lee Richardson 3 2 1 0 r 6
12 England David Walsh 0 0 1 2 1 6
13 England Paul Thorp 3 r 3
14 England Martin Dixon 2 0 1 0 3
15 England Steve Masters 1 1 0 t 1 3
16 England Derrol Keats 0 0 1 1 1 3
17 Australia Mick Powell 0 1 1
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Hayley Stadium on 26 July. The event was won by Peterborough Panthers. [7] [8]

Semi finals

  • Peterborough bt Reading 5-4
  • Exeter bt Newcastle 6-3

Final

  • Peterborough bt Exeter 5-4

Fours

Peterborough Panthers won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 30 August 1998, at the East of England Arena. [9]

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Peterborough 24 Cunningham 8, Berge 6 Woodifield 5 Sadler 5
2 Hull 19 Thorp 7, Grahame 5, Bentley 4, Dicken 3,
3 Edinburgh 19 Carr P 8, McKinna 6, Little 4, Andersson 1
4 Reading 10 Richardson 4, Kokko 4, Clews 2, Elkins 0, Mullett 0

Leading averages

Rider Team Average
Denmark Nicki Pedersen Newcastle 9.97
England Carl Stonehewer Sheffield 9.93
England Lee Richardson Reading 9.60
England Paul Thorp Hull 9.56
England Glenn Cunningham Peterborough 9.55
England Dave Mullett Reading 9.48
Finland Petri Kokko Reading 9.36
Australia Mick Powell Glasgow 9.32
Denmark Jan Andersen Peterborough 9.29
England Peter Carr Edinburgh 9.26

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

Berwick

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hull

Isle of Wight

Newcastle

Newport

Peterborough

Reading

Sheffield

Stoke

  • Paul Pickering 9.00
  • Neil Collins 7.37
  • Mark Burrows 5.78
  • Craig Taylor 5.03
  • Stewart McDonald 4.63
  • Dean Felton 4.39
  • Rob Clarence 2.07

See also

References

  1. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  2. ^ "1998 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  3. ^ "Racers on verge of cup triumph". Reading Evening Post. 21 September 1998. Retrieved 1 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Super Racers are the KO Cup Winners". Reading Evening Post. 22 September 1998. Retrieved 1 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ a b "1998 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Stonehewer second best". Nottingham Evening Post. 14 September 1998. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1998 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Speedway". Birmingham Daily Post. 27 July 1998. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Last heat fury". Hull Daily Mail. 31 August 1998. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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