2002 Elite League speedway season

The 2002 Elite League speedway season was the 68th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2002 was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1] It was the first time that playoffs were introduced to determine the champions.[2]

2002 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsWolverhampton Wolves
Knockout CupEastbourne Eagles
Craven ShieldPoole Pirates
Riders ChampionshipTony Rickardsson
Highest averageTony Rickardsson
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

Season summary

In 2002, the league consisted of nine teams. The title was decided by a play-off between the top five teams. The team that finished top of the table were seeded directly to the final. The next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final.[3]

Eastbourne Eagles topped the regular season table but were defeated by Wolverhampton Wolves for the league title when losing the play off final. It was Wolves third title success in 11 years and the Swedish Karlsson brothers, Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson were once again integral to the Wolves team throughout the season.[4] Eastbourne's season was not a total loss because they beat Peterborough in the final of the Knockout Cup thanks to efforts from their English rider contingent of Mark Loram, Joe Screen and Dean Barker.

Tony Rickardsson became World Champion for the fifth time during the season, topped the league averages, won the Elite League Riders' Championship and helped his club Poole win the Craven Shield.[5]

Final table
Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Eastbourne Eagles 32 20 3 9 1562 1316 43 15 58
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 20 2 10 1549 1311 42 12 54
3 Coventry Bees 32 19 3 10 1492 1383 41 9 50
4 Poole Pirates 32 17 1 14 1455 1406 35 11 46
5 Peterborough Panthers 31 15 0 16 1394 1395 30 6 36
6 Oxford Cheetahs 31 14 2 15 1369 1407 30 5 35
7 Ipswich Witches 32 11 3 18 1375 1494 25 6 31
8 Belle Vue Aces 32 11 3 18 1379 1484 25 4 29
9 King's Lynn Silver Machine 32 7 1 24 1247 1626 15 3 18

Peterborough v Oxford not held.

= Qualified for Play Off final
= Qualified for Play Offs

Play-offs

Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Wolverhampton Wolves
Mikael Karlsson 13
Peter Karlsson 12
Paul Hurry 9
Jesper B. Jensen 5
David Howe 5
Chris Neath 3
Adam Skórnicki 2		49 - 41Eastbourne Eagles
Mark Loram 10
Stefan Andersson 10

Second leg

Eastbourne Eagles
Mark Loram 12
Billy Janniro 12
Dean Barker 6
Stefan Andersson 5
Joe Screen 5
David Norris 4
Edward Kennett 2		46 - 44Wolverhampton Wolves
Mikael Karlsson 14
Peter Karlsson 10
David Howe 8
Adam Skórnicki 6
Jesper B. Jensen 3
Chris Neath 3
Paul Hurry 0

The Wolverhampton Wolves were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2002 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 64th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.[6]

First round
Date Team one Score Team two
08/04Wolverhampton57-33Poole
03/04Poole45-45Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
27/05Reading47-43Arena Essex
29/04Wolverhampton61-29Oxford
27/04Coventry36-35Kings Lynn
26/04Oxford45-45Wolverhampton
24/04Kings Lynn42-48Coventry
22/04Belle Vue51-39Peterborough
20/04Eastbourne54-36Ipswich
19/04Peterborough59-31Belle Vue
18/04Ipswich39-51Eastbourne

Semi-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
01/07Wolverhampton40-49Eastbourne
29/06Coventry49-41Peterborough
29/06Eastbourne52-38Wolverhampton
28/06Peterborough50-40Coventry

Final

First leg

Eastbourne Eagles
David Norris 14
Mark Loram 14
Dean Barker 8
Adam Shields 7
Stefan Andersson 6
Joe Screen 5
Savalas Clouting 1		55 - 35Peterborough Panthers
Lee Richardson 13
Mark Lemon 9
Zdeněk Tesař 9
Shane Parker 3
Chris Harris 1
Jason King 0
R/R

Second leg

Peterborough Panthers
Ryan Sullivan 15
Shane Parker 10
Magnus Zetterström 8
Chris Harris 6
Piotr Protasiewicz 6
Simon Stead 5
Zdeněk Tesař 1		51 - 39Eastbourne Eagles
Mark Loram 9
Joe Screen 9
Dean Barker 9
Steve Johnston 7
Adam Shields 3
Stefan Andersson 2
Paul Lee 0

The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.

Riders' Championship

Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August.[7]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1Sweden Tony Rickardsson1 3 3 3 313x3
2Denmark Nicki Pedersen3 3 3 3 214x2
3Australia Jason Crump3 3 3 1 01021
4Australia Craig Boyce1 2 3 2 31130
5Sweden Mikael Karlsson3 3 2 3 1121
6Australia Ryan Sullivan3 2 1 3 3120
7Sweden Peter Karlsson2 2 2 2 210
8England Joe Screen2 2 1 2 07
9England Scott Nicholls2 1 0 1 37
10Poland Sebastian Ułamek1 1 0 2 26
11England Stuart Robson1 0 1 1 25
12England Mark Loram2 0 2 0 15
13England Gary Havelock0 0 2 1 14
14Australia Davey Watt0 1 1 0 13
15Australia Jason Lyons0 1 01
16England Alun Rossiter0 0 0 0 00

Leading final averages
Rider Team Average
Sweden Tony RickardssonPoole10.88
Australia Jason CrumpBelle Vue10.44
Australia Ryan SullivanPeterborough10.34
Australia Leigh AdamsOxford10.10
Sweden Mikael KarlssonWolverhampton9.93
England Scott NichollsIpswich9.76
England Mark LoramEastbourne9.56
Sweden Andreas JonssonCoventry9.39
Sweden Peter KarlssonWolverhampton9.23
England Lee RichardsonCoventry8.97

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. "2002 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. "Tony Rickardsson". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. "2002 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. "Rickardsson roars to create Poole history". Dorest Echo. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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