2010 Elite League speedway season

The 2010 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 76th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 14th since its establishment in 1997.[1]

2010 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Knockout CupPoole Pirates
Elite ShieldWolverhampton Wolves
IndividualFreddie Lindgren
PairsCoventry Bees
Highest averageFreddie Lindgren
Division/s below2010 Premier League
2010 National League

Summary

edit

The first fixtures of the season took place on 29 March and the season ended on 27 October. The Wolverhampton Wolves were the defending champions from 2009.[2]

The negative side of playoffs was experienced during the 2010 season when Coventry Bees claimed the title. Coventry had finished in the fourth and final play off spot, 26 points behind regular season table winners Poole Pirates, who in turn had finished 20 points ahead of their nearest rivals racking up 78 points in total. Coventry went on to win their semi final and then defeat Poole in the final. Although Poole won the Knockout Cup there was a distinct feeling of an injustice. Poole's Australian contingent of Chris Holder, Darcy Ward, Davey Watt and Jason Doyle had been consistent all season except during the play off final and Coventry's Polish duo of Krzysztof Kasprzak and Przemysław Pawlicki both hit great form on the night.[3]

League table

edit
Pos Club M Home Away F A +/- Pts
3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Poole Pirates 32 16 0 0 0 5 2 0 4 5 1667 1278 78
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 15 1 0 0 0 3 1 3 9 1527 1432 61
3 Peterborough Panthers 32 12 2 0 2 2 1 0 2 11 1495 1464 53
4 Coventry Bees 32 9 2 1 4 2 4 0 0 10 1469 1475 52
5 Lakeside Hammers 32 11 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 12 1447 1503 48
6 Swindon Robins 32 8 2 0 6 1 2 2 2 9 1476 1493 44
7 Eastbourne Eagles 32 9 3 2 2 0 1 0 3 12 1406 1533 41
8 Belle Vue Aces 32 10 2 1 3 0 1 0 2 13 1413 1539 40
9 Ipswich Witches 32 4 5 0 7 0 0 1 2 13 1386 1569 26
Key:
Championship play-offs
Relegation play-offs

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

'A' Fixtures

edit
Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 51–41 59–36 55–37 57–38 51–41 36–55 51–39 47–43
Coventry Bees 42–48 53–40 50–44 53–40 41–51 39–54 49–46 44–46
Eastbourne Eagles 55–41 50–40 45–45 45–45 47–43 49–41 43–47 45–48
Ipswich Witches 51–42 45–47 49–43 43–50 50–43 44–46 46–47 50–43
Lakeside Hammers 54–40 59–32 53–43 49–43 58–37 53–40 55–40 51–44
Peterborough Panthers 51–41 50–40 43–47 51–42 56–39 47–43 57–36 57–36
Poole Pirates 59–36 63–29 63–29 63–30 70–24 54–39 58–35 57–35
Swindon Robins 57–38 42–48 60–36 56–36 44–46 54–39 44–52 51–45
Wolverhampton Wolves 50–43 56–38 46–44 54–39 56–38 55–40 50–43 50–42
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures

edit
Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 37–53 55–35 51–44 47–37 56–38 48–44 39–53 45–45
Coventry Bees 65–27 58–35 52–44 51–41 58–34 53–42 45–45 52–43
Eastbourne Eagles 57–35 56–39 50–42 53–40 56–37 48–42 47–43 49–41
Ipswich Witches 48–42 41–49 47–43 49–43 50–46 33–59 56–37 44–46
Lakeside Hammers 49–44 49–41 49–41 55–37 39–51 43–46 45–45 49–41
Peterborough Panthers 54–40 44–46 57–36 50–39 51–42 49–44 51–42 57–35
Poole Pirates 55–37 58–35 61–31 52–40 56–33 50–39 51–41 53–39
Swindon Robins 57–35 44–46 50–34 53–40 51–44 47–49 40–53 48–45
Wolverhampton Wolves 56–39 50–40 61–29 57–38 56–37 50–43 50–40 55–40
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship play-offs

edit

Semi-finals

Leg 1

Wolverhampton Wolves44.5 – 44.5Poole Pirates
Freddie Lindgren 14.5 report Bjarne Pedersen 10
Referee: Craig Ackroyd

Leg 2

Poole Pirates53 – 41Wolverhampton Wolves
Bjarne Pedersen 13 Freddie Lindgren 14+1
Referee: Mick Bates
Peterborough Panthers44 - 49Coventry Bees
Krzysztof Buczkowski 14+1 Chris Harris 13
Referee: Jim Lawrence

Grand final

First leg

Coventry Bees51 - 39Poole Pirates
Referee: Daniel Holt
1 Krzysztof Kasprzak 3, 2, 3, X, 3 11
2 Richard Sweetman 1, 1', 1 3+1
3 Ben Barker 0, 3, 0, X 3
4 Edward Kennett 2, 2', 2, 1' 7+2
5 Chris Harris 2', 1', 1', 3, X 7+3
6 Lewis Bridger 3, 2, 1, 2, 2 10
7 Przemysław Pawlicki 2', 3, 3, 2 10+1
Manager: Alun Rossiter
 
1 Chris Holder 2, 0, 3, 2, X 7
2 Darcy Ward X, 1, F, 0 1
3 Artur Mroczka 1, 0, 0 1
4 Bjarne Pedersen 3, 3, 4^, 3, 2 15
5 Davey Watt 0, 3, 3, X 6
6 Leon Madsen 0, 0, 1, 3 4
7 Jason Doyle 1, 1, 2, 1, F 5
Manager: Neil Middleditch
 

Second leg

Poole Pirates40 (79) - 50 (101)Coventry Bees
Referee: Peter Clarke
1 Chris Holder 1, 2, 1, 1, 0 5
2 Darcy Ward 3, 1', 2, 0 6+1
3 Artur Mroczka 2', 0, 0 2+1
4 Bjarne Pedersen 3, 2, 2, 0, 1 8
5 Davey Watt 3, 2', 3, 0 8+1
6 Leon Madsen 2, 3, 0, 1, 1 7
7 Jason Doyle 0, 1, 0, 3 4
Manager: Neil Middleditch
 
1 Krzysztof Kasprzak 2, 3, 2, 3, 3 13
2 Richard Sweetman 0, 1, 1, 1' 3+1
3 Ben Barker 1, 0, 0, 2' 3+1
4 Edward Kennett R/R
5 Chris Harris Fx, 3, 3, 3, 2', 2' 13+2
6 Lewis Bridger 1, 0, 0, 1 2
7 Przemysław Pawlicki 3, 2, 1, 3, 2', 2, 3 16+1
Manager: Alun Rossiter
 

Coventry were declared Elite League Champions, on Aggregate 101-79.

Elite League Knockout Cup

edit

The 2010 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 72nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
12/04 Wolverhampton 56-39 Ipswich
08/04 Ipswich 43-46 Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/06 Swindon 49-41 Peterborough
17/09 Peterborough 58-37 Swindon
05/07 Belle Vue 50-40 Poole
21/07 Poole 57-35 Belle Vue
19/07 Coventry 48-42 Wolverhampton
30/09 Wolverhampton 51-43 Coventry
23/09 Eastbourne 53-41 Lakeside
24/09 Lakeside 45-45 Eastbourne

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
13/10 Poole 58-36 Peterborough
11/10 Peterborough 43-50 Poole
11/10 Wolverhampton 44-46 Eastbourne
10/10 Eastbourne 63-29 Wolverhampton

Final

edit

First leg

Eastbourne
Matej Žagar 11
Joonas Kylmakorpi 10
Cameron Woodward 9
Lewis Bridger 9
Simon Gustafsson 7
Ricky Kling 3
49 - 41Poole
Chris Holder 10
Davey Watt 9
Darcy Ward 6
Leon Madsen 6
Jason Doyle 5
Bjarne Pedersen 4
Artur Mroczka 1
[7]

Second leg

Poole
Bjarne Pedersen 12
Chris Holder 11
Leon Madsen 11
Darcy Ward 9
Davey Watt 7
Jason Doyle 4
54 - 41Eastbourne
Joonas Kylmakorpi 14
Lewis Bridger 9
Cameron Woodward 7
Matej Žagar 6
Simon Gustafsson 5
Ricky Kling 0
[8]

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-90.

Riders' Championship

edit

Freddie Lindgren won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at East of England Arena on 16 October.[9]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1   Freddie Lindgren 3 2 0 3 3 11 x 3
2   Chris Harris 2 3 3 2 3 13 x 2
3   Kenneth Bjerre 3 2 0 3 2 10 2 1
4   Bjarne Pedersen 3 0 1 3 3 10 3 0
5   Chris Holder 3 0 3 1 1 8 1
6   Scott Nicholls 2 3 2 1 2 10 0
7   Simon Stead 1 2 1 2 2 8
8   Kauko Nieminen 1 2 2 0 3 8
9   Niels Kristian Iversen 2 1 3 2 8
10   Hans Andersen 0 0 2 3 2 7
11   Joonas Kylmäkorpi 0 1 3 2 0 6
12   Danny King 1 3 2 0 0 6
13   Peter Karlsson 0 3 1 - 1 5
14   Tai Woffinden 2 1 0 0 1 4
15   Cameron Woodward 0 1 0 1 1 3
16   Krzysztof Kasprzak 1 0 1 1 - 3
17   Lewis Kerr (res) 0 0

Pairs

edit

The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Foxhall Stadium on 4 September and was won by Coventry Bees.[10]

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Coventry 26 Kasprzak 14, Harris 12
2 Poole 23 Pedersen 12, Holder 11
3 Lakeside 22 Shields 12, Davidsson 10
4 Peterborough 20 Bjerre 10, Iversen 10
5 Swindon 18 Zengota 11, Korneliussen 7
6 Ipswich 17 King 9, Nicholls 8
7 Wolves 15 Klindt 12, Haines 3
8 Eastbourne 13 Kling 9, Woodward 4
9 Belle Vue 8 Wright J 6, Sitera 2

Semi finals

  • Eastbourne 7 Peterborough 2 - Harris, Kasprzak, Iversen, Bjerre
  • Poole 7 Lakeside 2 - Holder, Pedersen, Shields, Jacobs

Final

  • Coventry 5 Poole 4 - Kasprzak, Harris, Holder, Pedersen

Final leading averages

edit
Rider Team Average
  Freddie Lindgren Wolverhampton 10.23
  Leigh Adams Swindon 9.90
  Kenneth Bjerre Peterborough 9.62
  Lee Richardson Lakeside 9.35
  Scott Nicholls Ipswich 9.34
  Krzysztof Kasprzak Coventry 9.02
  Bjarne Pedersen Poole 8.83
  Chris Harris Coventry 8.80
  Hans Andersen Belle Vue 8.70
  Chris Holder Poole 8.58

Riders & final averages

edit

Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Lakeside

Peterborough

Poole

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "2010 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  4. ^ "2010 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  5. ^ "2010 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  6. ^ "2010 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ^ "EASTBOURNE: EAGLES 49 POOLE 41 (KOC FINAL.1)". Speedway GB. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  8. ^ "EASTBOURNE: POOLE 54 EAGLES 41 (KOC FINAL.2)". Speedway GB. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Elite League Riders' Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  10. ^ "2010 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.