2014 Elite League speedway season

The 2014 Elite League speedway season was the 80th season of the top division of UK speedway and the took place between March and October 2014. The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning in 2013.[1]

2014 Elite League speedway season
LeagueElite League
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Elite ShieldPoole Pirates
Riders ChampionshipTroy Batchelor
Knockout Cupnot held
Highest averageNiels Kristian Iversen
Division/s below2014 Premier League
2014 National League

Teams

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Summary

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This season saw the first team line-up change since 2011, with the Leicester Lions replacing the Peterborough Panthers who dropped down a division. Ahead of the season the BSPA announced a new rule called the "Fast Track Scheme" which means every side has to use two British youngsters at reserve who have passed through the National League - the third tier of British speedway.[2]

Poole Pirates won their second consecutive Elite League title, defeating Coventry Bees 90–71 in the Grand Final.[3] Poole continued their success, their sixth league title in eleven years. Darcy Ward, Maciej Janowski, Przemysław Pawlicki and Josh Grajczonek all returned for Poole and they were backed up by Kyle Newman and Václav Milík Jr.[4]

Final league table

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Pos. Club M Home Away F A +/− Pts
3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Poole Pirates (Q) 32 12 2 0 2 4 1 4 3 4 1542 1333 +209 70
2 King's Lynn Stars (Q) 32 11 4 0 1 3 4 0 5 4 1528 1346 +182 70
3 Coventry Bees (Q) 32 10 3 0 3 5 2 0 2 7 1489 1406 +83 64
4 Swindon Robins (Q) 32 10 3 0 3 3 1 0 4 8 1465 1407 +58 55
5 Eastbourne Eagles 32 12 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 12 1430 1460 −30 47
6 Lakeside Hammers 32 10 3 1 2 0 1 1 3 11 1435 1445 −10 45
7 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 6 4 2 4 0 2 0 3 11 1398 1524 −126 37
8 Belle Vue Aces 32 8 3 1 4 0 0 1 1 14 1372 1524 −152 34
9 Leicester Lions 32 5 3 1 7 0 0 0 3 13 1350 1564 −214 25
Birmingham Brummies Club folded, results expunged

'A' Fixtures

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Home \ Away BV BIR COV EAS KL LH LEI PP SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 51–39 36–56 52–40 39–54 45–45 56–35 51–39 41–39 50–39
Birmingham Brummies 50–40 46–44 52–44 30–60 37–56 n/a n/a n/a 46–44
Coventry Bees 52–40 46–44 60–32 42–48 49–41 48–42 47–43 41–49 48–42
Eastbourne Eagles 50–43 62–30 61–30 49–40 48–42 52–37 45–45 54–37 59–31
King's Lynn Stars 52–38 60–32 53–43 60–32 52–43 48–42 47–43 48–42 49–41
Lakeside Hammers 58–32 69–21 54–35 55–41 45–47 52–42 35–26 47–44 53–30
Leicester Lions 50–43 n/a 40–50 49–41 42–47 48–41 45–45 45–47 44–46
Poole Pirates 53–40 48–42 49–41 52–37 44–46 50–40 59–34 56–34 49–41
Swindon Robins 57–36 n/a 26–36 46–44 50–40 55–37 48–40 45–47 46–47
Wolverhampton Wolves 45–45 58–35 47–43 61–32 47–42 48–42 56–37 45–45 52–38
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures

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Home \ Away BV BIR COV EAS KL LH LEI PP SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 56–39 40–53 47–43 48–42 42–33 55–38 54–38 48–44 55–38
Birmingham Brummies n/a n/a n/a 42–48 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Coventry Bees 52–39 n/a 60–33 52–38 55–35 50–42 40–50 53–40 58–34
Eastbourne Eagles 57–35 n/a 49–44 49–44 50–40 55–36 50–40 53–40 55–35
King's Lynn Stars 50–40 n/a 61–31 39–24 59–35 51–39 41–49 44–43 54–39
Lakeside Hammers 59–31 n/a 39–56 47–43 47–43 59–36 45–45 56–38 57–35
Leicester Lions 56–36 n/a 54–38 45–44 39–51 48–42 41–49 37–52 47–45
Poole Pirates 57–37 60–32 47–48 56–35 48–42 53–37 59–31 56–35 48–42
Swindon Robins 42–33 n/a 60–31 56–36 52–41 57–35 47–43 46–43 59–36
Wolverhampton Wolves 48–45 n/a 44–46 56–37 37–53 44–46 50–42 36–59 51–41
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.


Play-offs

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Draw

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Semi-finals Grand final
          
3 Coventry Bees 49 50 99
4 Swindon Robins 41 45 86
3 Coventry Bees 34 37 71
1 Poole Pirates 37 53 90
1 Poole Pirates 45 47 92
2 King's Lynn Stars 44 43 87

Semi-finals

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29 September 2014 Report Coventry Bees 49–41 Swindon Robins Brandon Stadium
Referee(s):
Chris Durno


29 September 2014 Report King's Lynn Stars 44–45 Poole Pirates King's Lynn Stadium
Referee(s):
Graham Flint


6 October 2014 Report Swindon Robins 45–50 Coventry Bees Abbey Stadium
Referee(s):
Dan Holt


16 October 2014[a] Report Poole Pirates 47–43 King's Lynn Stars Poole Stadium
Referee(s):
Christina Turnbull

Grand final

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17 October 2014[b] Report Coventry Bees
Howarth 10
Harris 8
Garrity 5
Hansen 5
Andersen 3
Sarjeant 2
Barker 1
34–37 Poole Pirates
Newman 9
Pawlicki 8
Janowski 6
Batchelor 5
Milik 5
King 4
Williamson 0
Brandon Stadium
Referee(s):
Peter Clarke


20 October 2014 Report Poole Pirates
Janowski 14
Newman 11
Pawlicki 8
Milik 8
Batchelor 6
Morris 5
Compton 1
53–37 Coventry Bees
Howarth 9
Harris 7
Garrity 6
Andersen 6
Sarjeant 4
Fricke 3
Hansen 2
Poole Stadium
Referee(s):
Mick Bates

Knockout Cup

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The Knockout Cup was not held during 2014.

Riders' Championship

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Troy Batchelor won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at King's Lynn Stadium on 25 September.[7][8]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1   Troy Batchelor 2 3 3 1 3 12 3 3
2   Maciej Janowski 1 3 2 2 2 10 2 2
3   Jason Doyle 3 1 3 3 2 12 x 1
4   Matej Žagar 3 T/exc 3 3 3 12 x 0
5   Bjarne Pedersen 2 3 3 2 1 11 1
6   Hans Andersen 3 2 2 2 0 9 0
7   Chris Harris 2 2 1 1 3 9
8   Václav Milík Jr. 0 2 2 3 1 9
9   Rory Schlein 3 2 1 1 1 8
10   Danny King 1 3 0 3 0 7
11   Dakota North 0 1 1 2 2 6
12   Jacob Thorssell 1 1 2 1 1 6
13   Richard Lawson 1 1 0 1 2 5
14   Peter Kildemand 2 0 1 ret - 3
15   Robert Lambert 0 0 0 0 3 3
16   James Cockle 0 1 1
17   Davey Watt 0 ret ret - - 0
18   Scott Campos (res) 0 0 0
  • f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure t-touched tapes

Final Leading averages

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[9]

Rider Team Average
  Niels Kristian Iversen Kings Lynn 9.62
  Darcy Ward Poole 9.24
  Lewis Blackbird Eastbourne 8.95
  Matej Žagar Belle Vue 8.84
  Maciej Janowski Poole 8.70
  Chris Harris Coventry 8.69
  Jason Doyle Leicester 8.67
  Hans Andersen Coventry 8.63
  Troy Batchelor Swindon 8.46
  Piotr Pawlicki Wolverhampton 8.36

Riders & averages

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Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Eastbourne

Kings Lynn

Lakeside

Leicester

Poole

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Postponed from 6 October 2014 due to a waterlogged track.
  2. ^ Result stood after 12 heats, due to rain.

References

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  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Sky Sports - Sports News, Transfers, Scores | Watch Live Sport".
  3. ^ "2014 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Fixtures and Results". British Speedway. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Fixtures and Results". British Speedway. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Elite League Riders' Championship". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Troy Batchelor claims Elite League Rider crown at King's Lynn". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Greensheet Averages" (PDF). Speedway GB.