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2002 Elite League speedway season

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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

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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

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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

'A' Fixtures

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Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS KL OX PET PP WOL
Belle Vue Aces 44–46 42–48 53–37 48–42 45–45 53–37 48–42 45–45
Coventry Bees 49–40 43–47 42–48 60–30 48–42 54–35 51–39 47–43
Eastbourne Eagles 60–30 44–45 55–35 58–32 48–42 64–26 60–30 56–34
Ipswich Witches 37–52 52–38 45–44 49–35 40–51 46–44 45–45 41–49
King's Lynn Silver Machine 43–47 32–48 37–53 47–42 55–35 51–41 49–41 39–51
Oxford Cheetahs 47–43 44–46 43–47 48–42 47–43 38–52 46–44 46–44
Peterborough Panthers 46–43 46–44 44–46 59–31 64–26 45–44 47–43 49–41
Poole Pirates 52–38 50–40 47–44 51–39 49–41 50–40 55–35 48–42
Wolverhampton Wolves 55–35 53–37 47–43 58–31 59–31 43–47 51–39 48–24
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures

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Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS KL OX PET PP WOL
Belle Vue Aces 38–51 45–45 49–41 59–31 42–36 47–43 47–43 41–49
Coventry Bees 49–41 45–45 49–41 62–28 51–39 51–39 40–50 47–43
Eastbourne Eagles 50–40 45–45 44–46 58–32 51–38 54–36 49–41 51–39
Ipswich Witches 49–41 56–34 43–47 45–45 47–43 457–33 50–40 39–50
King's Lynn Silver Machine 59–31 37–52 44–46 50–40 49–41 42–48 40–50 42–47
Oxford Cheetahs 47–42 46–44 51–39 45–45 52–38 47–43 54–36 50–40
Peterborough Panthers 52–38 58–32 50–40 48–42 65–25 n/a 41–49 55–35
Poole Pirates 52–38 43–47 52–38 50–39 60–29 53–37 46–44 44–46
Wolverhampton Wolves 56–34 45–45 47–43 55–35 67–23 52–38 60–30 54–36
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

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

Quarter-finals

  • Wolverhampton Wolves 50-39 Peterborough Panthers
  • Coventry Bees 59-31 Poole Pirates

Semi-finals

  • Wolverhampton Wolves 51-39 Coventry Bees

Final

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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
Joe Screen 9
David Norris 8
Dean Barker 2
Savalas Clouting 2
Adam Shields 0
[7]

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

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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.[8]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
08/04 Wolverhampton 57-33 Poole
03/04 Poole 45-45 Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
27/05 Reading 47-43 Arena Essex
29/04 Wolverhampton 61-29 Oxford
27/04 Coventry 36-35 Kings Lynn
26/04 Oxford 45-45 Wolverhampton
24/04 Kings Lynn 42-48 Coventry
22/04 Belle Vue 51-39 Peterborough
20/04 Eastbourne 54-36 Ipswich
19/04 Peterborough 59-31 Belle Vue
18/04 Ipswich 39-51 Eastbourne

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/07 Wolverhampton 40-49 Eastbourne
29/06 Coventry 49-41 Peterborough
29/06 Eastbourne 52-38 Wolverhampton
28/06 Peterborough 50-40 Coventry

Final

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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 (guest) 13
Mark Lemon (guest) 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

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Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August.[9]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1   Tony Rickardsson 1 3 3 3 3 13 x 3
2   Nicki Pedersen 3 3 3 3 2 14 x 2
3   Jason Crump 3 3 3 1 0 10 2 1
4   Craig Boyce 1 2 3 2 3 11 3 0
5   Mikael Karlsson 3 3 2 3 1 12 1
6   Ryan Sullivan 3 2 1 3 3 12 0
7   Peter Karlsson 2 2 2 2 2 10
8   Joe Screen 2 2 1 2 0 7
9   Scott Nicholls 2 1 0 1 3 7
10   Sebastian Ułamek 1 1 0 2 2 6
11   Stuart Robson 1 0 1 1 2 5
12   Mark Loram 2 0 2 0 1 5
13   Gary Havelock 0 0 2 1 1 4
14   Davey Watt 0 1 1 0 1 3
15   Jason Lyons 0 1 0 1
16   Alun Rossiter 0 0 0 0 0 0

Leading final averages

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Rider Team Average
  Tony Rickardsson Poole 10.88
  Jason Crump Belle Vue 10.44
  Ryan Sullivan Peterborough 10.34
  Leigh Adams Oxford 10.10
  Mikael Karlsson Wolverhampton 9.93
  Scott Nicholls Ipswich 9.76
  Mark Loram Eastbourne 9.56
  Andreas Jonsson Coventry 9.39
  Peter Karlsson Wolverhampton 9.23
  Lee Richardson Coventry 8.97

Riders & final averages

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Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Oxford

Peterborough

Poole

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  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. ^ a b "2002 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Speedway". Wolverhampton Express and Star. 26 September 2002. Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "2002 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  9. ^ "Rickardsson roars to create Poole history". Dorest Echo. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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