SGB Premiership 2017

The 2017 SGB Premiership was the 83rd season of the top division of British Speedway. It was the first time that it was known as the SGB Premiership after changing its name from the Elite League.[1]

SGB Premiership 2017
LeagueSGB Premiership
ChampionsSwindon Robins
Knockout CupBelle Vue Aces
Elite ShieldPoole Pirates
IndividualFredrik Lindgren
PairsKing's Lynn Stars
Highest averageJason Doyle
Division/s belowSGB Championship
National League

Summary

The season ran between March and October 2017 and 8 teams participated (Coventry withdrew from the league before the season started, after they had originally entered the league). The lineup of teams for 2017 was different from the lineup of the 2016 Elite League. The Lakeside Hammers and Coventry Bees dropped out of the league and were replaced by the Rye House Rockets and the Somerset Rebels.[2][3][4]

At the annual Speedway AGM, which was held early in November 2016, it was agreed that speedway in Great Britain would be given what was described as "the biggest revamp of the sport in modern history". This involved numerous alterations to both the regulations and the branding of the sport. The former top level of British speedway, the Elite League, was replaced by the Speedway Great Britain Premiership. Among the most notable changes to the regulations is the reintroduction of promotion and relegation between the top two leagues: the team that finishes in last place in the Premiership will race against the winners of the new second tier of British speedway (the SGB Championship) in order to decide who will compete in the Premiership in 2018.[5]

The Swindon Robins were the champions defeating the Wolverhampton Wolves in the Grand Final.[6][7]

British TV broadcasting rights changed hands before the start of the 2017 SGB Premiership season, when Sky withdrew from their negotiated contract with the BSPA. BT then obtained the broadcasting rights for the 2017 season to be shown on their BT Sport channels.[1]

Locations of the 2017 Premiership teams

League

Teams face each other four times: twice home and twice away. The first of the home and away meetings are called the 'A' fixtures, and the second are the 'B' fixtures.

Regular season

Final League Table

Pos. Club M Home Away F A Pts +/−
W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Swindon Robins 28 11 1 2 5 3 0 3 3 1339 1181 +158 66
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 28 13 0 1 4 1 0 5 4 1354 1151 +197 63
3 Belle Vue Aces 28 10 1 3 3 4 0 3 4 1310 1224 +86 58
4 Poole Pirates 28 8 0 6 3 2 3 2 4 1286 1268 +18 50
5 Rye House Rockets 28 12 0 2 1 2 0 1 9 1289 1237 +52 48
6 Somerset Rebels 28 7 1 6 0 3 0 1 10 1184 1338 -154 32
7 King's Lynn Stars 28 5 0 9 1 3 0 1 9 1138 1364 -226 29
8 Leicester Lions 28 6 1 7 0 1 1 3 9 1197 1334 -137 27

[8]

A Fixtures

Home \ Away BV KL LEI PP RYE SOM SWI WOL
Belle Vue 48–43 48–42 46–46 52–38 44–46 48–42 54–38
Kings Lynn 40–50 48–42 40–52 49–41 53–37 52–41 34–58
Leicester 41–49 54–38 34–56 44–46 48–42 48–42 36–57
Poole 43–47 44–49 52–40 50–33 54–36 45–47 46–44
Rye House 44–46 50–42 54–36 49–44 52–38 37–53 51–41
Somerset 50–40 44–46 61–30 47–43 54–38 44–46 44–49
Swindon 44–46 45–48 52–40 45–45 50–42 57–35 46–45
Wolverhampton 48–42 59–30 45–44 44–48 55–37 62–28 49–43
Source: [9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B Fixtures

Home \ Away BV KL LEI PP RYE SOM SWI WOL
Belle Vue 54–39 42–48 59–31 58–33 49–41 35–49 53–40
Kings Lynn 45–48 50–40 43–50 44–46 43–47 40–50 21–41
Leicester 40–50 62–28 45–45 46–44 57–33 45–46 41–49
Poole 53–40 59–33 56–34 30–60 44–45 36–56 48–45
Rye House 48–44 65–26 55–38 56–35 60–30 46–29 48–42
Somerset 55–35 41–49 42–42 45–48 48–42 37–53 45–44
Swindon 48–42 48–41 50–41 56–34 57–33 54–35 52–40
Wolverhampton 49–41 48–24 54–39 50–43 50–41 56–34 52–38
Source: [9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Draw

Semi Finals Grand Final
          
1 Poole Pirates 44 38 82
4 Swindon Robins 46 51 97
Swindon Robins 43 47 90
Wolverhampton Wolves 47 42 89
3 Wolverhampton Wolves 51 39 90
2 Belle Vue Aces 38 51 89

Home team scores are in Dark Black

Semi-Finals

11 September [10] Poole Pirates 44–46 Swindon Robins Poole Stadium
Referee(s):
Mick Bates

25 September [11] Swindon Robins 51–38 Poole Pirates Abbey Stadium, Blunsdon
Referee(s):
Graham Flint

25 September [12] Wolverhampton Wolves 51–38 Belle Vue Aces Monmore Green
Referee(s):
Willie Dishington

29 September [13] Belle Vue Aces 51–39 Wolverhampton Wolves National Speedway Stadium
Referee(s):
Phil Griffin

Grand Final

2 October [14] Swindon Robins
Jason Doyle 11
Nick Morris 9
David Bellego 7
Tobiasz Musielak 6
Bradley Wilson-Dean 4
Liam Carr 4
Adam Ellis 2		 43–47 Wolverhampton Wolves
Sam Masters 12
Rory Schlein 11
Chris Harris 9
Kyle Howarth 7
Mark Riss 5
Nathan Greaves 3
Jacob Thorssell R/R		 Abbey Stadium, Blunsdon
Referee(s):
Christina Turnbull

4 October [15] Wolverhampton Wolves
Sam Masters 12
Rory Schlein 10
Kyle Howarth 8
Nathan Greaves 7
Chris Harris 4
Mark Riss 1
Jacob Thorssell R/R		 42–47 Swindon Robins
Jason Doyle 13
Nick Morris 11
Tobiasz Musielak 8
Adam Ellis 6
Bradley Wilson-Dean 5
David Bellego 4
Liam Carr 0		 Monmore Green
Referee(s):
Chris Durno

Promotion and relegation play-off
9 October [16] Sheffield Tigers 32–58 Leicester Lions Owlerton Stadium
Referee(s):
Craig Ackroyd

16 October [17] Leicester Lions 49–41 Sheffield Tigers Beaumont Park Stadium
Referee(s):
Mick Bates

Knockout Cup

The 2017 Knockout Cup was the 75th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. The competition returned after a four-year absence under a new name, it had previously been known as the Elite League Knockout Cup. Belle Vue Aces were the winners of the competition for a 14th time and extended their all time record.

Draw

Quarter Finals Semi Finals Final
               
1 Somerset Rebels 49 42 91
8 Leicester Lions 41 48 89
Wolverhampton Wolves 59 37 96
Somerset Rebels 31 53 84
5 King's Lynn Stars 36 42 78
4 Wolverhampton Wolves 54 48 102
Wolverhampton Wolves 50 38 88
Belle Vue Aces 40 52 92
3 Rye House Rockets 41 39 80
6 Swindon Robins 49 51 100
Swindon Robins 50 38 88
Belle Vue Aces 39 52 91
7 Poole Pirates 46 33 79
2 Belle Vue Aces 44 57 111

Home team scores are in bold

Final
10 October [18] Wolverhampton Wolves
Nick Morris (10)
Ricky Wells (13)
Scott Nicholls (8)
Rider Replacement
Sam Masters (7)
Mark Riss (7)
Nathan Greaves (5)		 50–40 Belle Vue Aces
Kenneth Bjerre (11)
Steve Worrall (6)
Rider Replacement
Rohan Tungate (5)
Craig Cook (10)
Dan Bewley (6)
Jack Smith (2)		 Monmore Green
Referee(s):
Ronnie Allan

16 October [19] Belle Vue Aces
Kenneth Bjerre (15)
Steve Worrall (7)
Rider Replacement
Rohan Tungate (14)
Craig Harris (6)
Dan Bewley (8)
Jack Smith (2)		 52–38 Wolverhampton Wolves
Scott Nicholls (4)
Richard Lawson (10)
Richie Worrall (5)
Rider Replacement
Sam Masters (10)
Mark Riss (6)
Nathan Greaves (3)		 National Speedway Stadium
Referee(s):
Graham Flint

Elite Shield
27 March [20] Wolverhampton Wolves 50–40 Poole Pirates Monmore Green
Referee(s):
Margaret Vardy

29 March [21] Poole Pirates 58–32 Wolverhampton Wolves Poole Stadium
Referee(s):
Ronnie Allan

Riders' Championship

Freddie Lindgren won the Riders' Championship for the third time. The final was held at National Speedway Stadium on 16 September.[22][23]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1Sweden Freddie Lindgren2,1,3,3,211x3
2Australia Max Fricke3,3,exc,1,2922
3England Craig Cook3,2,2,3,313x1
4Sweden Jacob Thorssell3,0,3,0,2830
5Denmark Hans Andersen3,3,2,2,0101
6Australia Josh Grajczonek1,2,3,2,190
7England Scott Nicholls2,3,1,1,18
8Australia Nick Morris1,2,2,0,38
9England Chris Harris0,1,1,3,38
10England Josh Autyret,2,3,2,18
11Australia Brady Kurtz2,3,0,2,ret7
12Australia Jason Doyle1,0,ret,3,37
13England Richard Lawson1,0,2,1,15
14Sweden Kim Nilssonret,1,1,1,25
15England Danny King0,1,1,0,02
16Denmark Thomas Jørgensen2,0,0,0,exc2
17England Rob Shuttleworth (res)00
  • f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure t-touched tapes

Pairs Championship

A pairs championship was held for the top tier of speedway the first time since the Elite League Pairs Championship. last held in 2011. Despite its comeback for 2017 it was not held again afterwards.[24]

Result

Semi Finals

Team One Team Two Score Result
WolverhamptonRye House7-2Thorsell, Lindgren, Harris, Nicholls
King's LynnSwindon5-4Doyle, Lambert, Holder, Morris

Final

Team One Team Two Score Result
King's LynnWolverhampton7-2Lambert, Holder, Thorsell, Lindgren

Final leading averages
Rider Team Average
Australia Jason DoyleSwindon10.26
Sweden Fredrik LindgrenWolverhampton9.95
Australia Nick MorrisSwindon9.42
Sweden Jacob ThorssellWolverhampton9.33
Denmark Kenneth BjerreBelle Vue8.98
United Kingdom Craig CookBelle Vue8.68
Poland Krzysztof KasprzakRye House8.64
Australia Rory SchleinWolverhampton8.61
United Kingdom Chris HarrisRye House8.47
Australia Brady KurtzPoole8.47

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue Aces

King's Lynn Stars

Leicester Lions

Poole Pirates

Rye House Rockets

Somerset Rebels

Swindon Robins

Wolverhampton Wolves

See also

References
  1. "British Speedway moves to BT Sport for 2017 season". Sport on the Box. 7 March 2017.
  2. "2017 SGB CHAMPIONSHIP DECLARATIONS". Speedway GB.
  3. "Recap: Coventry Bees axed from 2017 SGB Premiership: Updates and reaction". Coventry Telegraphy. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  4. "SGB Premiership 2017 Roll of Honour".
  5. "BRITISH SPEEDWAY GETS MAJOR REVAMP". Speedway GB. Speedway GB. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  6. "2017 Champions". Swindon Robins.
  7. "SPEEDWAY: Swindon Robins crowned champs after brilliant late rally at Wolverhampton". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard.
  8. 2017 SGB Premiership League Table Retrieved From Official Speedway GB Website
  9. All British Speedway Result Details Are Retrieved From Official Speedway GB Website:
  10. "Advantage Swindon - By Two!". 12 September 2017.
  11. "Robins Reach The Final". 26 September 2017.
  12. "Advantage Wolves?". 26 September 2017.
  13. "Wolves Book Grand Final Spot". 30 September 2017.
  14. "Robins Won't Give Up". 3 October 2017.
  15. "Robins Clinch The Crown". 5 October 2017.
  16. "Lions Roar At Owlerton". 10 October 2017.
  17. "Lions Survive". 17 October 2017.
  18. "Wolves Lead By Ten". 11 October 2017.
  19. "Aces Are Cup Kings". 17 October 2017.
  20. "Advantage Wolves?". 28 March 2017.
  21. "Pirates' Shield Success". 30 March 2017.
  22. "Elite League Riders' Championship". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  23. "SGB Premiership Riders' Individual Championship" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  24. "Stars Win Pairs Championship". 31 March 2017.
  25. "Premier ship pairs" (PDF). Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
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