2011 Premier League speedway season

2011 Season
Champions
Premier League Glasgow Tigers
PL Play-Offs Not Held
Premier League KOC Newport Wasps
Premier Shield    Newcastle Diamonds
Premier League Pairs Glasgow Tigers
Premier League Fours Ipswich Witches
PLRC Australia Sam Masters
Season Facts
Biggest Home Win Sheffield 69-21
Rye House
Biggest Away Win Leicester 28-62
Glasgow (PL1)
Highest Average England Ben Barker
(10.40)
Competing Teams
Berwick Bandits
Edinburgh Monarchs
Glasgow Tigers
Ipswich Witches
Leicester Lions
Newcastle Diamonds
Newport Wasps		 Plymouth Devils
Redcar Bears
Rye House Rockets
Scunthorpe Scorpions
Sheffield Tigers
Somerset Rebels
Workington Comets
Seasons
Previous Season Next Season
2010 2012

The 2011 Premier League Season is the current Premier League speedway season. Glasgow Tigers won the league after winning both matches of a double-header on 9 October.

Pre-Season

New Entries

The Leicester Lions were hoping to gain entry to the 2010 season. However, the track was not ready in time for them to compete.[1] They therefore decided to return in 2011. With the stadium getting approval, the Lions were then confirmed as entrants for the 2011 season.[2]

On 15 November 2011, Plymouth Devils boss Mike Bowden confirmed that the Devils hope to join the 2011 Premier League after spending 5 years in the National League.[3] On 19 November, it was confirmed that the Stoke Potters were to withdraw from the 2011 Premier League season due to financial climate and making substantial losses over the last three season. However, it was confirmed that they would race in the 2011 National League.[4] It was also decided at the Yearly AGM meeting that the Birmingham Brummies and the Ipswich Witches would exchange league memberships, meaning the Brummies would move up to the Elite League and the Witches would move down to the Premier League.[5] On 27 November, the BSPA announced that the Coventry Bees and the Peterborough Panthers failed to declare their intention to race in the forthcoming Elite League season and are therefore seeking a league to compete in.[6] Because of this, the Kings Lynn Stars elected to compete in the 2011 Elite League and therefore withdrew from the Premier League.[7] Later that day, the Plymouth Devils announced that they were set to be accepted into the 2011 Premier League season[8]

Season Format

At the Annual AGM Meeting, it was decided that the Premier League would be expanded to 19 home and 19 away fixtures throughout the season. The 14 teams will initially race each other in Round 1 with a total of 26 meetings (13 home and 13 away). In Round 2 the league then split into two groups of seven teams, with everyone then racing each other in their group for a further 12 meetings (6 home and 6 away). The format and cut-off point for the split is made as each team reaches 10 home and 10 away matches. Group 1 will be teams placed 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 12th and 14th - Group 2 is 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 13th. Those additional 12 matches are then added onto the points gained from the 26 meetings in Round 1. The league table above at the end of the season will then show a total of 38 meetings (19 home and 19 away). The team that finishes top after these 38 meetings is declared Premier League Champions.[9]

The Premier League KOC has been retained for the 2011 season. A new competition, the Premier Shield has been introduced for the 2011 season. It is understood that it will work along the same lines as the Elite Shield, and contested by the previous seasons league winners and KOC champions. The 2011 Premier Shield will be contested between the Edinburgh Monarchs and the Newcastle Diamonds.[10][11]

The Premier Trophy and the Young Shield do not continue into the 2011 season. It has yet to be confirmed if anything will replace these competitions.[5]

Team Lineups

The Points Limit was once again set at 42.50 for the third year running. Rolling averages were introduced into the 2011 season in which the first set of averages will be taken at the end of April and will consider the averages from the end of the 2011 season. The first set of new averages was released on 1 May 2011.
The following issue is correct for the month of June 2011

Berwick Bandits Edinburgh Monarchs Glasgow Tigers
Rider CMA Rider CMA Rider CMA
Sweden Sebastian Alden 7.65* Germany Kevin Wolbert 7.95 United Kingdom Joe Screen (C) 9.20
Sweden Ludvig Lindgren 7.27* United Kingdom Craig Cook 7.61 United Kingdom James Grieves 7.17
Czech Republic Josef Franc 7.16 United Kingdom Andrew Tully 7.32 Australia Richard Sweetman 7.05
United Kingdom Lee Complin (C) 7.08 Australia Matthew Wethers (C) 7.20 Australia Christian Henry 5.57
Australia Kozza Smith 6.79 Finland Kalle Katajisto 6.98 Poland Michal Rajkowski 5.36
New Zealand Jade Mudgway 3.88 United Kingdom Kyle Howarth 5.28 Netherlands Theo Pijper 5.10
Australia Mitchell Davey 3.00 United Kingdom Tim Webster 3.00* United Kingdom Nick Morris 5.02
TOTAL 42.83 TOTAL 45.34 TOTAL 44.06
Remaining 0.00 Remaining 0.00 Remaining 0.00
Ipswich Witches Leicester Lions Newcastle Diamonds
Rider CMA Rider CMA Rider CMA
Australia Kevin Doolan (C) 8.02 Finland Kauko Nieminen (C) 8.87 United Kingdom Mark Lemon 9.18
France Matt Tresarrieu 7.54 Sweden Magnus Karlsson 7.81 United Kingdom Stuart Robson 8.85
Denmark Lasse Bjerre 6.82 Denmark Henning Bager 7.63* Denmark Claes Nedermark 6.26
Australia Taylor Poole 6.42 Denmark Jan Graversen 4.64 United Kingdom Derek Sneddon (C) 5.47
Denmark Morten Risager 6.29 Russia Ilya Bondarenko 4.53 United Kingdom Jason King 5.09
United Kingdom Chris Mills 5.16 Australia Charles Wright 3.94 United Kingdom Kyle Newman 4.02
United Kingdom Jerran Hart 4.10 Australia John Oliver 3.77 United Kingdom Richie Worrall 3.22
TOTAL 44.35 TOTAL 41.19 TOTAL 42.09
Remaining 0.00 Remaining 1.31 Remaining 0.41
Newport Wasps Plymouth Devils Redcar Bears
Rider CMA Rider CMA Rider CMA
Australia Jason Doyle 7.92 United Kingdom Ben Barker 10.40 Australia Jason Lyons 8.37
United Kingdom Leigh Lanham (C) 7.60 Denmark Jesper Kristiansen 6.32 Czech Republic Matej Kus 7.60
Denmark Charlie Gjedde 7.38 Denmark Lee Smart (C) 5.70 Australia Aaron Summers 7.16
Australia Justin Sedgman 6.19 United States Ricky Wells 5.51 United Kingdom Gary Havelock 7.12
Sweden Robin Aspegren 5.52 Czech Republic Hynek Stichauer 5.40 Denmark Peter Juul Larsen 4.59
Australia Todd Kurtz 4.38 United Kingdom Kyle Hughes 4.18 Czech Republic Lubos Tomicek 4.44
Australia Mark Jones 3.16 Italy Gino Franchetti 3.74 United Kingdom Robert Branford 3.00
TOTAL 42.15 TOTAL 41.25 TOTAL 42.28
Remaining 0.35 Remaining 1.25 Remaining 0.22
Rye House Rockets Scunthorpe Scorpions Sheffield Tigers
Rider CMA Rider CMA Rider CMA
United Kingdom Jordan Frampton 7.91 United Kingdom David Howe (C) 7.87 United Kingdom Josh Auty 8.20
United Kingdom Chris Neath (C) 7.86 United Kingdom Richard Hall 7.23 Australia Shane Parker (C) 8.19
United Kingdom Steve Boxall 6.59 Denmark Michael Palm Toft 7.00* United Kingdom Ricky Ashworth 8.14
United Kingdom James Brundle 5.14 Finland Tero Aarnio 6.31 Argentina Emiliano Sanchez 6.06
United Kingdom Ritchie Hawkins 5.01 United Kingdom Ben Wilson 5.78 Australia Hugh Skidmore 5.81
United Kingdom Luke Bowen 4.79 Denmark Thomas Jorgensen 5.26 United Kingdom Simon Lambert 4.98
Australia Tyson Nelson 4.65 United Kingdom Steve Worrall 3.26 United Kingdom Ashley Birks 3.59
TOTAL 41.95 TOTAL 42.71 TOTAL 44.97
Remaining 0.55 Remaining 0.00 Remaining 0.00
Somerset Rebels Workington Comets
Rider CMA Rider CMA
Australia Travis McGowan 8.11 United Kingdom James Wright 8.06
Australia Cory Gathercole 7.60 Czech Republic Tomas Topinka 7.40
Australia Sam Masters 7.28 United Kingdom Rusty Harrison 7.33
Germany Christian Hefenbrock 6.50 Denmark Peter Kildemand 7.11
Sweden Anders Mellgren 4.80 United Kingdom Richard Lawson 6.01
Australia James Holder (C) 4.35 United States Kenny Ingalls 5.27
Australia Alex Davies 3.86 United Kingdom Gary Irving 3.00
TOTAL 42.50 TOTAL 44.18
Remaining 0.00 Remaining 0.00

*Average Assessed.

Last updated: August 1, 2011

Source: BSPA

Fixtures & Results

Phase 1

Phase 1 of the 2011 Premier League consists of each team racing each other, both at their home track and the oppositions away track. This would consist of 26 meetings for each team.

  Home\Away BER EDI GLA IPS LEI ND NW PLY RED RH SS SHE SOM WOR
Berwick Bandits 53-39 44-46 62-28 46-44 49-43 59-34 48-44 40-38 54-36 51-42 48-44
Edinburgh Monarchs 49-44 53-40 44-45 53-39 51-42 64-28 56-37 55-37 60-32 49-41 48-41
Glasgow Tigers 50-39 58-32 53-37 60-32 50-43 62-31 61-32 54-36 50-43 56-39
Ipswich Witches 53-42 51-41 42-48 47-44 49-41 59-35 49-43 49-47 69-24 53-38 42-51 63-27
Leicester Lions 45-45 44-49 28-62 42-42 52-43 45-45 44-45 41-52 56-35 40-52 45-48 40-50 45-45
Newcastle Diamonds 52-43 41-49 50-40 52-40 42-47 50-43 49-45 49-44 48-45 54-39
Newport Wasps 42-49 57-37 42-50 52-40 48-42 55-38 37-53 43-49 48-44 43-50 43-50
Plymouth Devils 39-45 43-47 40-53 47-43 39-51 51-38 44-45 45-45 41-49
Redcar Bears 46-43 54-41 44-46 45-45 53-37 59-34 50-40 62-30 48-45 48-43 49-41 46-44
Rye House Rockets 54-39 48-42 45-34 54-39 43-44 41-49 54-41 46-44 54-39 51-41
Scunthorpe Scorpions 56-39 46-44 54-36 53-40 47-42 52-41 56-38 46-43 49-41 44-46
Sheffield Tigers 51-41 56-40 52-44 56-36 61-33 52-39 56-35 62-30 57-37 64-29 55-39 43-47 57-36
Somerset Rebels 62-31 59-34 53-41 53-43 48-42 45-45 46-44 62-32 40-53
Workington Comets 57-36 53-42 59-31 51-42 57-38 50-40 60-34 59-37 55-37 53-41

Last updated: August 2, 2011. Source: BSPA

Colours: Green = home win; Red = away win; White = draw

Home team listed in the left-hand column

Phase 2

Phase 2 of the Premier League will be split up into 2 separate fixture lists, with teams racing other teams depending on where they were in the 2011 Premier League Table at the cut off point. The Declaration Point was made on 20 July 2011 and the two groups are as follows:

Group 1

Group 1 consists of Glasgow, Somerset, Edinburgh, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Newport and Leicester.

  Home\Away EDI GLA LEI NW RED SS SOM
Edinburgh Monarchs
Glasgow Tigers
Leicester Lions
Newport Wasps
Redcar Bears
Scunthorpe Scorpions
Somerset Rebels

Last updated: August 2, 2011. Source: BSPA

Colours: Green = home win; Red = away win; White = draw

Home team listed in the left-hand column

Group 2

Group 2 consists of Sheffield, Workington, Ipswich, Rye House, Berwick, Newcastle and Plymouth.

  Home\Away BER IPS ND PLY RH SHE WOR
Berwick Bandits
Ipswich Witches
Newcastle Diamonds
Plymouth Devils
Rye House Rockets
Sheffield Tigers
Workington Comets

Last updated: August 2, 2011. Source: BSPA

Colours: Green = home win; Red = away win; White = draw

Home team listed in the left-hand column

League table

Pos Club M Home Away F A +/- Pts
3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Sheffield Tigers 25 12 0 0 1 1 2 0 5 4 1244 1060 +184 51
2 Glasgow Tigers 21 10 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 5 1040 880 +160 50
3 Workington Comets 20 10 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 5 972 870 +102 44
4 Somerset Rebels 21 5 2 1 1 3 1 1 2 5 1001 935 +66 39
5 Ipswich Witches 22 8 2 0 2 1 1 2 0 6 1020 978 +42 39
6 Edinburgh Monarchs 21 9 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 6 1002 930 +72 38
7 Redcar Bears 23 6 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 6 1058 1041 +17 38
8 Rye House Rockets 22 6 2 0 2 2 0 0 3 7 975 1018 -43 33
9 Scunthorpe Scorpions 22 6 3 0 1 1 1 0 2 8 975 1050 -75 33
10 Berwick Bandits 20 5 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 6 922 899 +23 29
11 Newcastle Diamonds 22 5 3 0 2 0 1 0 4 7 985 1039 -54 28
12 Newport Wasps 20 3 2 0 6 2 0 1 0 6 894 943 -49 23
13 Leicester Lions 24 2 0 4 7 0 1 0 1 9 989 1197 -208 14
14 Plymouth Devils 19 1 1 1 6 0 1 0 1 8 745 982 -237 10

Home: 3W = Home win by 7 points or more; 2W = Home win by between 1 and 6 points
Away: 4W = Away win by 7 points or more; 3W = Away win by between 1 and 6 points; 1L = Away loss by 6 points or less
M = Meetings; D = Draws; L = Losses; F = Race points for; A = Race points against; +/- = Race points difference; Pts = Total Points

Last updated: June 22, 2011

Source: BSPA

Premier Shield

First leg

1 Germany Kevin Wolbert 0, 1', 0, 0 1+1
2 Australia Matthew Wethers (c) 1, 2, 3, 3, 2 11
3 United Kingdom Andrew Tully F, 0, 1, 3 4
4 United Kingdom Craig Cook 3, 2, 3, 2, F 10
5 Finland Kalle Katajisto 3, 2, 3, 2 10
6 United Kingdom Ashley Morris 2', 0, 0, 1' 3+2
7 United Kingdom Jay Herne 3, 1, 0, 1 5
Manager: John Campbell
1 Denmark Rene Bach 2', 3, 1', 1 7+2
2 United Kingdom Derek Sneddon (c) 3, 1, 2, 2 8
3 Czech Republic Lubos Tomicek 1', 1, 1', 2 5+2
4 United Kingdom Stuart Robson 2, 3, 2, 3, 3 13
5Australia Mark Lemon 2, 3, 2, 3, 1 11
6United Kingdom Kyle Newman 1, 0, 1', F 2+1
7United Kingdom Richie Worrall 0, 0, 0, F 0
Manager: George English

Second leg

3 April 2011
18.30
Newcastle Diamonds 48 (94) - 45 (89) Edinburgh Monarchs
Stuart Robson 14 report Andrew Tully 10+2
Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle
Referee: Michael Breckon
1 Denmark Rene Bach 3, 3, 3, 1, 1' 11+1
2 United Kingdom Derek Sneddon (c) 1, 1, 3, 1 6
3 Czech Republic Lubos Tomicek 0, 0, 0, 2 2
4 United Kingdom Stuart Robson 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 14
5Australia Mark Lemon 3, 3, 3, 0 9
6United Kingdom Kyle Newman 2, 0, 1, 1 4
7United Kingdom Richie Worrall 0, 2', 0, 0 2+1
Manager: George English
1 Germany Kevin Wolbert 0, 2, 2, 3, 0 7
2 Australia Matthew Wethers (c) 2, 1', 2, 0 5+1
3 United Kingdom Andrew Tully 1', 1', 2, 6^ 10+2
4 United Kingdom Craig Cook 2, 2, 0, 2 6
5 Finland Kalle Katajisto 0, 2, 2, 2', 3 9+1
6 United Kingdom Ashley Morris 1, 0, 1', 1 3+1
7 United Kingdom Robert Branford (G) 3, 1, 1', 0 5+1
Manager: John Campbell

References

  1. ↑ "Leicester Delay". BSPA. 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  2. ↑ "Leicester: Lions Get Connected". BSPA. 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  3. ↑ "Devils Hoping for Premier". BSPA. 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  4. ↑ "Potters Going National". BSPA. 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "British Speedway AGM - Key Points". BSPA. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  6. ↑ "British Speedway Statement". BSPA. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  7. ↑ "Kings Lynn Join The Elite". BSPA. 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  8. ↑ "Plymouth Make Premier Move". BSPA. 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  9. ↑ http://www.speedwaygb.co/pltable11.html
  10. ↑ http://www.speedwaygb.co/march11.html
  11. ↑ http://www.speedwaygb.co/april11.html