2011 Premier League speedway season

The 2011 Premier League Season was the second division of British speedway. Glasgow Tigers won the league after winning both matches of a double-header on 9 October.[1]

2011 Premier League speedway season
LeaguePremier League
ChampionsGlasgow Tigers
Knockout CupNewport Wasps
Premier ShieldNewcastle Diamonds
IndividualSam Masters
PairsGlasgow Tigers
FoursIpswich Witches
Highest averageBen Barker
Division/s above2011 Elite League
Division/s below2011 National League

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.[2] They therefore decided to return in 2011. With the stadium getting approval, the Lions were then confirmed as entrants for the 2011 season.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] Because of this, the Kings Lynn Stars elected to compete in the 2011 Elite League and therefore withdrew from the Premier League.[8] Later that day, the Plymouth Devils announced that they were set to be accepted into the 2011 Premier League season[9]

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.[10]

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.[11][12]

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.[6]

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

Final League table (including Phase Two)
PosClubMHomeAwayFAPts
3W2WDL4W3WD1LL
1 Glasgow Tigers 38 19 0 0 0 3 6 0 2 8 1925 1568 89
2 Sheffield Tigers 38 17 1 0 1 1 3 0 8 7 1880 1604 74
3 Ipswich Witches 38 15 2 0 2 3 2 3 1 10 1793 1670 74
4 Workington Comets 38 16 1 1 1 2 2 1 5 9 1787 1667 72
5 Newport Wasps 38 11 2 0 6 5 2 1 3 8 1794 1697 68
6 Somerset Rebels 38 12 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 10 1786 1712 67
7 Scunthorpe Scorpions 38 13 4 0 2 1 2 0 3 13 1709 1786 60
8 Rye House Rockets 38 10 6 0 3 2 0 1 6 10 1687 1750 58
9 Berwick Bandits 38 8 9 0 2 1 0 1 5 12 1712 1710 53
10 Redcar Bears 38 8 7 2 2 1 1 1 3 13 1690 1792 52
11 Edinburgh Monarchs 38 13 1 1 4 1 1 0 2 15 1764 1737 51
12 Newcastle Diamonds 38 9 5 0 5 0 1 0 6 12 1693 1794 46
13 Plymouth Devils 38 4 7 1 7 0 1 0 1 17 1496 1929 31
14 Leicester Lions 38 4 1 4 10 1 1 0 2 15 1586 1886 27

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 League Knockout Cup
Main article: 2011 Premier League Knock-Out Cup

Premier Shield

First leg

Edinburgh Monarchs44 - 46Newcastle Diamonds
Matthew Wethers 11 report Stuart Robson 13
Referee: Jim McGregor

Second leg

Newcastle Diamonds48 (94) - 45 (89)Edinburgh Monarchs
Stuart Robson 14 report Andrew Tully 10+2
Referee: Michael Breckon

Riders' Championship

Sam Masters won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 25 September at Owlerton Stadium.[13]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1Australia Sam Masters2 2 3 3 313-3
2England Ricky Ashworth3 3 3 fx 312-2
3Finland Kauko Nieminen3 2 3 3 fx1121
4England Ben Barker3 3 0 3 21130
5Sweden Sebastian Aldén3 3 2 2 r101
6Australia Jason Doyle1 3 3 1 2100
7Australia Rusty Harrison1 2 2 1 39
8Australia Shane Parker2 2 2 2 08
9Australia Kevin Doolan0 1 1 3 38
10Germany Kevin Wölbert2 0 2 1 27
11Australia Mark Lemon1 1 0 2 15
12Australia Aaron Summers0 0 1 2 14
13England Joe Screent 1 1 r 24
14England Ben Wilson2 1 0 0 14
15England Jordan Framptonf 0 1 0 01
16England Tom Woolley (res)11
17England Luke Chessell (res)0 00
18Denmark Charlie Gjedde0 00
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 24 June. The event was won by Glasgow Tigers.[14][15]

Semi finals

  • Glasgow bt Sheffield 5-4
  • Workington bt Redcar 5-4

Final

  • Glasgow bt Workington 7-2

Fours

Ipswich Witches won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, held on 23 October 2011, at Beaumont Park Stadium.[16] The semi finals had been held on 7 August but the final was postponed due to rain.

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1Ipswich44Trésarrieu 12 Bjerre 12, Doolan 10, Risager 9, Poole 1
2Leicester33Nieminen 14, Karlsson 13, Graversen 6, Bondarenko 0, Garrity 0
3Workington30Lawson 13, Harrison 8, Ingalls 7, Nielsen 2, Kerr 0
4Somerset21Gathercole 10, Wright 5, Savies 3, Perry 2, Holder 1

Final leading averages
Rider Team Average
Denmark Charlie GjeddeNewport10.25
England Ben BarkerPlymouth10.01
England Stuart RobsonNewcastle9.56
England Joe ScreenGlasgow9.54
Australia Shane ParkerSheffield9.43
England Chris NeathRey House9.13
Sweden Magnus KarlssonLeicester8.93
Australia Mark LemonNewcastle8.88
Germany Kevin WölbertEdinburgh8.82
Australia Josh GrajczonekGlasgow8.74

Riders & final averages

Berwick

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Ipswich

Leicester

Newcastle

Newport

Plymouth

Redcar

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Sheffield

Somerset

Workington

See also

References
  1. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  2. "Leicester Delay". BSPA. 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  3. "Leicester: Lions Get Connected". BSPA. 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  4. "Devils Hoping for Premier". BSPA. 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  5. "Potters Going National". BSPA. 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  6. "British Speedway AGM - Key Points". BSPA. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  7. "British Speedway Statement". BSPA. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  8. "Kings Lynn Join The Elite". BSPA. 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  9. "Plymouth Make Premier Move". BSPA. 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  10. "British Speedway Official Website".
  11. "MARCH 2011 - British Speedway Official Website".
  12. "APRIL 2011 - British Speedway Official Website".
  13. "Australian Sam Masters is new title-holder". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  14. "2011 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  15. "Grieves is enjoying life to the max". Daily Record. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  16. "2011 season fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
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