2003 Premier League speedway season

The 2003 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]

2003 Premier League speedway season
LeaguePremier League
ChampionsEdinburgh Monarchs
Knockout CupIsle of Wight Islanders
IndividualSean Wilson
PairsWorkington Comets
FoursSwindon Robins
Highest averageFrede Schött
Division/s above2003 Elite League
Division/s below2003 Conference League

Season summary

The League consisted of 18 teams for the 2003 season with the addition of the King's Lynn Stars who dropped down from the Elite League.

The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Edinburgh Monarchs.[2][3]

Final table
Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Edinburgh Monarchs 34 26 0 8 1653 1393 52 14 66
2 Sheffield Tigers 34 22 0 12 1655 1397 44 13 57
3 Isle of Wight Islanders 34 22 0 12 1603 1463 44 12 56
4 Swindon Robins 34 20 1 13 1598.5 1451.5 41 12 53
5 Berwick Bandits 34 20 1 13 1563 1465 41 12 53
6 King's Lynn Stars 34 19 1 14 1598 1448 39 13 52
7 Arena Essex Hammers 34 19 0 15 1609 1421 38 12 50
8 Trelawny Tigers 34 19 0 15 1599.5 1470.5 38 12 50
9 Workington Comets 34 19 2 13 1551 1489 40 9 49
10 Newport Wasps 34 17 2 15 1504 1546 36 8 44
11 Newcastle Diamonds 34 17 0 17 1525 1518 34 9 43
12 Glasgow Tigers 34 17 2 15 1479 1529 36 7 43
13 Exeter Falcons 34 13 0 21 1435 1592 26 5 31
14 Rye House Rockets 34 12 1 21 1441 1612 25 5 30
15 Stoke Potters 34 10 1 23 1443 1597 21 3 24
16 Reading Racers 34 9 2 23 1404 1653 20 2 22
17 Somerset Rebels 34 9 2 23 1357 1705 20 2 22
18 Hull Vikings 34 8 1 25 1395 1663 17 2 19

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 2003 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 36th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Isle of Wight Islanders were the winners of the competition.[4]

First round
Date Team one Score Team two
11/04Somerset43-49Newport
06/04Newport61-35Somerset
09/04King's Lynn52-43Workington
22/03Workington46-43King's Lynn

Second round
Date Team one Score Team two
05/05Reading51-45Trelawny
13/05Trelawny65-30Reading
13/05Isle of Wight54-38Swindon
15/05Swindon49-51Isle of Wight
12/05Exeter50-43Newport
11/05Newport47-43Exeter
10/05Berwick52-36Glasgow
11/05Glasgow42-42Berwick
15/05Sheffield56-43Hull
14/05Hull48-41Sheffield
28/05King's Lynn62-34Edinburgh
16/05Edinburgh59-37King's Lynn
18/04Arena Essex44-46Rye House
19/04Rye House44-46Arena Essex
11/05Newcastle50-40Stoke
10/05Stoke51-44Newcastle
23/05
replay		Arena Essex55-40Rye House
26/05
replay		Rye House44-46Arena Essex

Quarter-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
24/06Isle of Wight61 34Exeter
23/06Exeter53 42Isle of Wight
24/06Trelawny61 34Berwick
21/06Berwick55 42Trelawny
26/06Sheffield50 48King's Lynn
02/07King's Lynn48 49Sheffield
27/06Arena Essex55 41Newcastle
22/06Newcastle49 41Arena Essex

Semi-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
26/08Isle of Wight63-27Trelawny
12/08Trelawny53-37Isle of Wight
04/09Sheffield51-39Arena Essex
29/08Arena Essex50-40Sheffield

Final
Date Team one Score Team two
07/1049-44Sheffield
16/10Sheffield47-46Isle of Wight

Final

First leg

Isle of Wight Islanders
Adam Shields 12		49 – 44Sheffield Tigers
Brent Werner 12
[5]

Second leg

Sheffield Tigers
James Birkinshaw 11
Andrew Moore 9
Richard Hall 8
Ricky Ashworth 8
Sean Wilson 7
Brent Werner 4
Ross Brady R/R		47 – 46Isle of Wight Islanders
Adam Shields 17
Paul Pickering (guest) 12
Danny Bird 6
Sebastian Trésarrieu 5
Glen Phillips 4
Stephane Trésarrieu 2
Gary Phelps 0
[5][6]

Isle of Wight were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95–91.

Riders' Championship

Sean Wilson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held on 28 September at Owlerton Stadium.[7]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1England Sean Wilson3 2 3 3 11233
2Australia Adam Shields3 3 3 2 314-2
3England Carl Stonehewer3 3 3 3 315-1
4Australia Craig Watson2 3 2 2 21120
5England Garry Stead2 0 2 3 291
6England Chris Harrisex 2 3 1 390
7Australia Shane Parker3 0 0 3 28
8Denmark Kenneth Bjerre1 3 0 2 17
9Denmark Frede Schött2 2 1 1 17
10Finland Joonas Kylmäkorpi1 1 1 0 36
11Czech Republic Michal Makovský1 2 2 0 16
12England Paul Fryex 1 1 1 25
13England Andrew Appleton1 1 2 1 05
14Australia Mark Lemon2 1 0 ex 03
15Denmark Jan Staechmann0 ex 1 2 03
16Scotland James Grieves0 0 0 0 00
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Derwent Park on 19 July. The event was won by Workington (Carl Stonehewer and Simon Stead) who beat Newport (Frank Smart and Niels Kristian Iversen) in the final.[8]

Fours

Swindon Robins won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 27 July 2003, at the Abbey Stadium.[9][10]

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1Swindon25Gjedde 9, Allen, Fry, Neath
2Trelawny22Harris 8, Zagar 8
3Newport21Smart 6, Iversen 6, Watson, Atkin
4Glasgow4Stancl2, Doolan 2

Leading averages
Rider Team Average
Denmark Frede SchöttEdinburgh10.11
Australia Adam ShieldsIsle of Wight9.99
Denmark Kenneth BjerreNewcastle9.80
Finland Joonas KylmäkorpiArena Essex9.69
England Carl StonehewerWorkington9.68
England Leigh LanhamArena Essex9.67
Denmark Charlie GjeddeSwindon9.60
Australia Shane ParkerKings Lynn9.59
England Sean WilsonSheffield9.48
England Simon SteadWorkington9.47

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

Berwick

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hull

Isle of Wight

King's Lynn

Newcastle

Newport

Reading

Rye House

Sheffield

Somerset

Stoke

Swindon

Trelawny

Workington

See also

References
  1. "2003 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. "2003 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. "2003 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. "Sheffield Match reports". Sheffield Speedway. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  7. "Wilson walks off with PLRC". Crash.net. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  8. "2003 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  9. "2003 season fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  10. "Speedway: Diamonds hit by Little problem ahead of clash". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
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