2004 Elite League speedway season

The 2004 Elite League speedway season was the 70th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1][2] Poole Pirates completed the double (league and cup winners) for the second year running. They were the first team to achieve this since Oxford Cheetahs in 1986.[3]

2004 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupPoole Pirates
IndividualBjarne Pedersen
PairsSwindon Robins
Highest averageTony Rickardsson
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

Season summary

In 2004, the league increased to ten teams, with the Arena Essex Hammers and the Swindon Robins moving up from the Premier League. 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 and the next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final.[4]

Poole Pirates dominated the season again and completed the 'double double' meaning winning the league and cup for two consecutive seasons. This had not been achieved since Oxford Cheetahs during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Poole retained the majority of their 2003 squad, five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson, Magnus Zetterström, Antonio Lindbäck and Bjarne Pedersen but Ryan Sullivan was brought in from Peterborough to replace Leigh Adams who moved to Swindon.[5]

Rickardsson topped the league averages but only raced part of the season returning to Sweden to spend more time with his family. Arguably Leigh Adams was the star rider of the season helping new Elite League side Swindon to a respectable mid-table position.[6]

Final table

Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Poole Pirates 36 23 2 11 1721 1603 48 13 61
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 21 0 15 1729 1586 42 16 58
3 Ipswich Witches 36 21 0 15 1701 1626 42 11 53
4 Eastbourne Eagles 36 18 3 15 1699 1632 39 11 50
5 Oxford Silver Machine 36 19 0 17 1679 1672 38 10 48
6 Swindon Robins 36 18 3 15 1657 1667 39 6 45
7 Belle Vue Aces 35 17 0 18 1630 1597 34 9 43
8 Arena Essex Hammers 36 16 0 20 1651 1679 32 8 40
9 Peterborough Panthers 35 12 2 21 1514 1722 23 3 26
10 Coventry Bees 36 9 0 27 1565 1762 18 3 21

* Belle Vue v Peterborough 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

Second leg

The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 112-71.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2004 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 66th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition. Poole had started the final second leg under protest because of the Ipswich team changes that included a late replacement rider Davey Watt, who Poole considered was ineligible.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
01/04Coventry42-54Belle Vue
06/05Swindon56-38Wolverhampton
22/03Wolverhampton50-43Swindon

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
23/09Swindon48-42Belle Vue
11/09Eastbourne46-48Ipswich
12/05Kings Lynn56-39Isle Of Wight
06/05Swindon56-38Wolverhampton
07/04Arena Essex48-46Oxford
02/04Peterborough44-46Poole
01/04Coventry42-54Belle Vue
26/03Oxford47-46Arena Essex
25/03Ipswich51-42Eastbourne
24/03Poole58-37Peterborough

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
07/10Ipswich51-42Arena Essex
07/10Swindon53-40Poole
06/10Arena Essex43-46Ipswich
06/10Poole61-30Swindon

Final

First leg

Second leg

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 99-87.

Riders' Championship

Bjarne Pedersen won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 17 October.[8]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1Denmark Bjarne Pedersen3 2 2 2 21123
2Australia Ryan Sullivan3 3 3 3 214x2
3Denmark Hans Andersen1 3 2 3 31231
4Australia Rory Schlein3 3 2 1 312x0
5Slovenia Matej Ferjan2 3 3 3 0111
6Sweden Mikael Max2 2 2 3 3120
7Australia Leigh Adams2 2 3 1 19
8England Scott Nicholls3 1 1 0 38
9Australia Adam Shields2 1 1 2 17
10England David Howe0 0 3 1 26
11Australia Davey Watt1 1 1 2 05
12England Gary Havelock0 2 0 0 24
13Poland Rafał Dobrucki1 0 0 2 03
14England Chris Harris1 1 0 0 13
15United States Josh Larsen0 0 1 1 13
16France Sebastien Trésarrieu0 0 0 0 00

Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship, sponsored by Suzuki, was held at the Abbey Stadium on 11 April and was won by Swindon Robins.[9]

Semi finals

  • Swindon beat Eastbourne
  • Belle Vue beat Peterborough 7–2

Final

  • Swindon beat Belle Vue 5–4

Leading final averages

Rider Team Average
Sweden Tony RickardssonPoole10.89
Australia Leigh AdamsSwindon10.83
Australia Jason CrumpBelle Vue10.67
England David NorrisEastbourne9.95
England Mark LoramArena Essex9.87
United States Greg HancockOxford9.83
Denmark Nicki PedersenEastbourne9.48
Sweden Mikael MaxWolverhampton9.39
England Scott NichollsIpswich9.33
Sweden Andreas JonssonCoventry9.07

Rider & final averages

Arena Essex

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "2004 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. Bamford, Robert (2005). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2005. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-3396-2.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. "Rickardsson says farewell to Poole as he puts family first". Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  7. "2004 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. "Elite League Riders' Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  9. "Speedway: It's home sweet home for Robins". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
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