2008 Elite League speedway season

British motorcycle speedway season February 2024 February 2024 Sky Sports Elite League Champions Poole Pirates Knockout Cup Eastbourne Eagles Craven Shield Coventry Bees Elite Shield Swindon Robins Individual Jason Crump Pairs Coventry Bees Leigh Adams 2008 Premier League2008 Conference 2007 2009 The 2008 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 74th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 12th since its establishment as the Elite League. The first fixtures of the season took place on 29 March and the season ended on 27 October. The Coventry Bees were the defending champions from 2007.http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/p/compet.html Historic league tables Speedway Archivehttp://www.speedwaygb.co/history/leaguetables2008.php 2008 league tables Speedway GB Summary New rules introduced for 2008 included three points for an away win compared to two points in 2007, and the removal of the bonus point, in which a team was awarded an extra point for an aggregate win over home and away matches against another team. Also new in 2008 was a relegation and promotion playoff between an Elite League team and a Premier League team. The two teams that finish bottom of the Elite League will face in each other in a two legged playoff with the loser facing the Premier League playoff winner over two legs. British Speedway 2008 British Speedway Promoters' Association 2007 http://www.british-speedway.co.uk/news.php?extend.1093.2 2008-05-22 The Poole Pirates finished top of the league table, with the Lakeside Hammers, Swindon Robins and Ipswich Witches occupying the other championship playoff places. Poole and Lakeside progressed to the grand final of the playoffs, with Poole winning the first leg at Lakeside 42–48, and the second leg at Poole 60–33, giving them a 108–75 victory. https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/speedway/7669306.stm Douglas praises champions Poole BBC Sport 2008-11-03 2008-10-14 The Poole Pirates were crowned with their third Elite League title, and fifth championship overall. Wolverhampton faced Premier League team the Edinburgh Monarchs in the relegation/promotion playoff final, with Wolverhampton winning comfortably over the two legs with a 106–76 aggregate victory, and thus avoided relegation. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12268_4427506,00.html Wolves seal EL place Sky Sports 2008 2008-11-03 Poole still had Magnus Zetterström, Bjarne Pedersen and Daniel Davidsson in their team, who were all members of the famous double double winners of 2004. They had since recruited Chris Holder, Davey Watt, Adam Skórnicki and Freddie Eriksson, who all made significant contributions for the Poole team.https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/4943/poole Speedway riders, history and results wwosbackup 1 August 2021 Jason Crump had left Poole for Belle Vue at the beginning of the season and missed out on a league title. Crump and fellow Australian Leigh Adams were victims of their own success, the pair had been the stand out riders for several seasons but they were so good that the league averages created problems for teams when assembling a side to adhere to the league's points limit allowance. Consequently, teams had to decide whether to retain the rider or move them on, in the case of Adams, Swindon kept him but found it hard to bring in new signings to support him. League table Key: Competition playoffs Relegation playoffs Pos Club M Home Away F A +/- Pts W D L W D L1 Poole Pirates32140280816001321+279522 Lakeside Hammers32150171815511375+176523 Swindon Robins321222501114981434+64414 Ipswich Witches32111452914831439+44405 Eastbourne Eagles321105401214621472-10346 Coventry Bees321024211314181506-88297 Belle Vue Aces321303021414231491-68288 Peterborough Panthers321213101513711528-157289 Wolverhampton Wolves32808001613411581-24016 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 Results Teams face each other four times: twice home and away. The first of the home and away meetings are called the 'A' fixtures, and the second are the 'B' fixtures. A Fixtures   Home\Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP SWI WOL Belle Vue Aces46-4342-4852-3847-4352-4150-4342-5160-30 Coventry Bees45-4543-4752-3741-4948-4248-4552-4148-45 Eastbourne Eagles50-4050-4042-4853-3959-3541-4846-4453-40 Ipswich Witches52-4150-4351-3942-5160-3141-5143-5053-38 Lakeside Hammers54-3963-2948-4551-4256-3748-4550-4553-40 Peterborough Panthers47-4551-3848-4249-4136-36*35-5742-4848-42 Poole Pirates59-3353-3952-4140-5054-3844-4653-3962-31 Swindon Robins49-4349-4356-3745-4553-4053-4039-5150-42 Wolverhampton Wolves48-4544-4550-3943-4841-4959-3354-3642-48 * Meeting abandoned after heat 12. Result stands. Last updated: September 11, 2008. Source: BSPA Colours: Blue = home win; Red = away win; White = draw Home team listed in the left-hand column B Fixtures   Home\Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP SWI WOL Belle Vue Aces50-4048-4548-4242-4853-3948-4247-4349-41 Coventry Bees52-4052-4145-4542-5159-3637-5652-4353-40 Eastbourne Eagles56-3746-4741-4949-4446-4441-5250-4363-27 Ipswich Witches48-4245-4552-4144-4854-3852-3854-3949-41 Lakeside Hammers59-3456-3756-3755-3849-4153-3941-4958-32 Peterborough Panthers52-4251-4239-5452-4056-3747-4352-4156-37 Poole Pirates50-31*54-3660-3359-3450-4254-3658-3555-37 Swindon Robins45-4551-3953-3949-4453-3949-4442-5162-29 Wolverhampton Wolves48-4547-4345-4840-5243-4754-3844-4647-46 *Meeting abandoned after heat 13. Result stands. Last updated: October 7, 2008. Source: BSPA Colours: Blue = home win; Red = away win; White = draw Home team listed in the left-hand column Championship Playoffs Semi-finals 2008-09-29 19:30 Poole Pirates 59 – 33 (Report) Ipswich Witches Bjarne Pedersen 13+1 Kenneth Bjerre (guest) 11 Wimborne Road, Poole Dave Watters 2008-09-29 19:30 Lakeside Hammers 56 – 33 (Report) Swindon Robins Andreas Jonsson 15 Leigh Adams 14 Arena Essex Raceway, Purfleet Phil Griffin Poole and Lakeside progressed to the grand final Grand final First leg 2008-10-06 19:30 Lakeside Hammers 42 – 48 (Report) Poole Pirates Arena Essex Raceway, Purfleet Chris Gay Lakeside: 1 SWE Andreas Jonsson (c) (2,3,0,3,1',3,3) 15+1 2 ENG Leigh Lanham (1',1,1,1,2) 6+1 3 Rider replacement 4 SWE Jonas Davidsson (1,3,2',2,2,0) 10+1 5POL Tomasz Jędrzejak (0,2,1,3,2') 8+1 6SWE Ricky Kling (1,0,1',1') 3+27POL Krzysztof Jabłoński (0,1',0) 1+1Manager:ENG Jon Cook Poole: 1 AUS Chris Holder (3,2,2,0) 7 2 SWE Magnus Zetterström (0,0,3,1') 4+1 3 DEN Bjarne Pedersen (c) (2',2',3,3,2) 12+2 4 POL Adam Skórnicki (3,3,f,3,1') 10+1 5AUS Davey Watt (3,2,1,1) 7 6SWE Freddie Eriksson (2',0,0) 2+17SWE Daniel Davidsson (3,0,2',0,1') 6+1Manager:ENG Neil Middleditch Second leg 2008-10-13 19:30 Poole Pirates 60 – 33(108 – 75) Report Lakeside Hammers Wimborne Road, Poole Tony Steele Poole: 1 AUS Chris Holder (3,3,3,0,3) 12 2 SWE Magnus Zetterström (2',1,3,2') 8+2 3 DEN Bjarne Pedersen (c) (3,3,3,3,2') 14+1 4 POL Adam Skórnicki (1,ex,1,2) 4 5AUS Davey Watt (3,1,2,2) 8 6SWE Freddie Eriksson (2',0,1',1') 4+37SWE Daniel Davidsson (3,2',2',1,2') 10+3Manager:ENG Neil Middleditch Lakeside: 1 ENG Scott Nicholls (guest) (1,ex,6^,3,1) 11 2 ENG Leigh Lanham (c) (0,1,0) 1 3 Rider replacement 4 POL Tomasz Jędrzejak (0,2,1,1,3,0) 7+1 5SWE Jonas Davidsson (2,1,2,2,3,1) 11 6SWE Ricky Kling (0,ex,0,0) 07POL Krzysztof Jabłoński (1,0,2,0,0,ex) 3Manager:ENG Jon Cook Poole win 108-75 on aggregate and are the 2008 Elite League Champions. Relegation playoffs Semi-finals 2008-10-14 19:30 Wolverhampton Wolves 48 – 47 Report Peterborough Panthers Niels Kristian Iversen 11 Rory Schlein 14+1 Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton 2008-10-16 19:30 Peterborough Panthers 67 – 23 Wolverhampton Wolves Karol Zabik 14+1 Jesper B. Monberg 7 East of England Showground, Peterborough Jim Lawrence Peterborough win 114-71 on aggregate. Wolverhampton will face the Premier League playoff winners, the Edinburgh Monarchs, over two legs. Final 2008-10-24 19:30 Edinburgh Monarchs 37 – 53 Report Wolverhampton Wolves Ryan Fisher 14 Jesper B. Monberg 14 Armadale Stadium, Armadale, West Lothian Stuart Wilson 2008-10-27 19:30 Wolverhampton Wolves 53 – 38 Report Edinburgh Monarchs Jesper B. Monberg 12 Ryan Fisher 16+1 Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton Jim Lawrence Wolverhampton win 106–76 on aggregate and avoid relegation. Elite League Knockout Cup The 2008 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 70th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2014/07/elite-league-ko-cup-2008.html 2008 Elite League Knockout Cup Speedway archive First round Date Team one Score Team two07/04 Wolverhampton 54-38 Ipswich03/04 Ipswich 50-42 Wolverhampton Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two23/06 Wolverhampton 52-40 Eastbourne21/06 Eastbourne 62-30 Wolverhampton20/06 Coventry 56-37 Belle Vue20/06 Lakeside 50-42 Peterborough19/06 Peterborough 39-51 Lakeside19/06 Swindon 50-40 Poole18/06 Poole 53-40 Swindon16/06 Belle Vue 49-44 Coventry Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two30/08 Eastbourne 54-39 Lakeside13/08 Lakeside 52-41 Eastbourne13/08 Poole 45-45 Coventry11/08 Coventry 45-45 Poole Final First leg 25 October 2008 Eastbourne EaglesEdward Kennett 12Lee Richardson 12Simon Gustafsson 9Lewis Bridger 9Cameron Woodward 8Scott Nicholls 6James Brundle 1 57 - 35 https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/3791559.eastbourne-57-pirates-35/ Eastbourne 57 Pirates 35 Bournemouth Echo 24 June 2021 Poole PiratesBjarne Pedersen 12Chris Holder 8Magnus Zetterström 7Freddie Eriksson 6Davey Watt 2Daniel Davidsson 0 Arlington Stadium Second leg 26 October 2008 Poole PiratesChris Holder 12Adam Skórnicki 9Davey Watt 9Bjarne Pedersen 5Daniel Davidsson 4Magnus Zetterström 3Freddie Eriksson 3 45 - 45 Eastbourne EaglesScott Nicholls 12Lee Richardson 11Edward Kennett 8Simon Gustafsson 5Lewis Bridger 4Cameron Woodward 4James Brundle 0 Poole Stadium The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 102-78. Craven Shield North Group main FBR grey BV COV WOL Belle Vue 50–42 49–41 Coventry 54–39 59–33 Wolverhampton 48–44 53–37 complete https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/2008.html Speedway Researcher 2008 fixtures and results 9 December 2025 South Group main FBR grey EAS PP SWI Eastbourne 52–42 52–41 Poole 51–43 54–39 Swindon 48–42 46–44 complete https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/2008.html Speedway Researcher 2008 fixtures and results 10 December 2025 East Group main FBR grey IPS LAK PET Ipswich 43–47 61–31 Lakeside 40–52 58–35 Peterborough 47–43 45–45 complete https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/2008.html Speedway Researcher 2008 fixtures and results 10 December 2025 Semi-final Team one Team two ScorePooleCoventry 58–34, 32–58 Final Team one Team two ScoreLakeside Coventry 43–47, 35–58 Riders' Championship The Elite League Riders Championship involves the riders with the highest average from each club competing in the Elite League. It took place on 8 October 2008, at the Premier League track at Birmingham after the original staging of the event on 20 August was abandoned due to bad weather. https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/speedway/7656544.stm Elite League stars in Birmingham BBC Sport 2008-10-16 2008-10-07 Format The top 15 highest averaged riders in the Elite League plus one wild card and two reserves take part, although no more than two riders from each club participate. There are 20 qualifying heats, a 'last chance' qualifying heat and a final. The top two scorers from the 20 qualifying heats qualify directly for the final. The next top four scorers take place in the last chance qualifying heat, with the 1st and 2nd place riders from that heat also qualifying to the final.http://www.super7even.com/elrc.htm Elite League Riders Championship British Speedway Promoters' Association 2008-08-02 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080512153601/http://www.super7even.com/elrc.htm May 12, 2008 Result 2008-10-08, Perry Barr Stadium pl Crump wygrał w Birmingham SportoweFakty.pl 2008-10-08 http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2008/10/08/crump-wygral-w-birmingham/ 2008-10-09 https://web.archive.org/web/20081009193209/http://www.sportowefakty.pl/zuzel/2008/10/08/crump-wygral-w-birmingham/ 9 October 2008 live Changes: (5) POL Jarosław Hampel (IPS) → Janniro (COV) (6) GBR Lee Richardson (EAS) → Kennett (8) GBR Chris Harris (COV) → Bjerre (PET) (10) GBR Scott Nicholls (EAS) → Batchelor (SWI) (11) AUS Adam Shields (LH) → Davidsson (12) DEN Bjarne Pedersen (PP) → Watt (13) DEN Mads Korneliussen (SWI) → King (PET) (14) SWE Andreas Jonsson (LH) → Schlein (IPS) (15) DEN Hans N. Andersen (PET) → Bridger (EAS) x x 1 2 AUS Jason Crump 3 2 1 3 3 3 x 2 x 3 BV 2 14 AUS Rory Schlein 3 1 1 3 2 5 x 3 x 2 IPS 3 8 DEN Kenneth Bjerre 3 2 3 2 3 2 x x 1 PET 4 4 AUS Leigh Adams 1 3 3 3 3 1 x x 0 SWI 5 1 AUS Chris Holder 2 3 3 1 2 4 x 1 x PP 6 12 AUS Davey Watt 2 1 2 2 3 6 x 0 x PP 7 15 GBR Lewis Bridger 2 2 3 0 1 x x EAS 8 16 DEN Niels K. Iversen 1 0 2 2 2 x x WOL 9 13 GBR Daniel King E 2 2 1 2 x x PET 10 3 SWE Fredrik Lindgren 0 0 2 3 1 x x WOL 11 7 POL Piotr Świderski 0 3 1 0 1 x x IPS 12 11 SWE Jonas Davidsson 3 1 0 0 1 x x LH 13 10 AUS Troy Batchelor 1 3 0 1 0 x x SWI 14 6 GBR Edward Kennett 1 0 1 2 0 x x EAS 15 5 USA Billy Janniro 2 0 0 0 - x x COV 16 9 DEN Charlie Gjedde 0 1 0 1 0 x x BV 17 17 Jay Herne (res) r 0 x x Pairs The Elite League Pairs Championship was held in Swindon on 17 August and was won by Coventry Bees. The original date had been set for King's Lynn Stadium on 5 April but was postponed.https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/3437/elite-league-pairs-swindon 2008 Elite League Pairs Speedway Updates 20 May 2023 PosTeamPtsRiders1 Swindon 26Adams 16, Korneliussen 102Belle Vue 25 Crump 15, Gjedde 103 Coventry 23 Andersen 14, Harris 94 Ipswich 21 Swiderski 11, Schlein 105 Poole 20 Pedersen B 11, Holder 96 Wolves 15 Iversen 13, Lindgren 27 Peterborough 12 Bjerre 6, King 68 Eastbourne 11 Richardson 9, Woodward 29Lakeside 9 Shields 9, Davidsson 0 Semi finals Swindon 5 Ipswich 4 - Schlein, Adams, Korneliussen, Swiderski Coventry 5 Belle Vue 4 - Crump, Andersen, Harris, Gjedde Final Coventry 5 Swindon 4 - Korneliussen, Harris, Andersen, Adams Leading final averages Rider Team Average AUS Leigh Adams Swindon 11.04 AUS Jason Crump Belle Vue 10.94 SWE Andreas Jonsson Lakeside 9.98DEN Hans Andersen Coventry 9.89 ENG Scott Nicholls Eastbourne 9.58 DEN Bjarne Pedersen Poole 9.30 AUS Chris Holder Poole8.95 POL Piotr ŚwiderskiIpswich8.67 ENG Lee RichardsonEastbourne8.65POL Jarosław HampelIpswich8.55 Riders & final averages Belle Vue 22em AUS Jason Crump 10.94 DEN Charlie Gjedde 8.41 AUS Jason Lyons 7.36 ENG Joe Screen 6.63 AUS Kevin Doolan 5.90 DEN Patrick Hougaard 5.75 SWE Billy Forsberg 5.70 POL Łukasz Jankowski 5.14 AUS Robert Ksiezak 3.32 ENG Nick Simmons 2.31 DEN Jonas Raun 1.96 POL Michał Rajkowski 1.91 Coventry 22em DEN Hans Andersen 9.89 (15 matches) ENG Chris Harris 8.35 ENG Simon Stead 7.59 AUS Rory Schlein 7.37 ENG Oliver Allen 6.97 USA Billy Janniro 6.71 ENG Ben Barker 5.42 POL Stanisław Burza 4.52 CZE Filip Šitera 4.13 DEN Andreas Messing 3.02 Eastbourne 22em ENG Scott Nicholls 9.58 ENG Lee Richardson 8.65 ENG Edward Kennett 7.63 AUS Cameron Woodward 6.72 ENG Lewis Bridger 6.31 SWE Simon Gustafsson 4.93 ENG James Brundle 2.24 Ipswich 22em POL Piotr Świderski 8.67 POL Jarosław Hampel 8.55 AUS Rory Schlein 7.93 ENG Chris Louis 6.81 GER Tobias Kroner 6.38 AUS Steve Johnston 6.33 POL Robert Miśkowiak 6.18 ENG Chris Schramm 4.27 Lakeside 22em SWE Andreas Jonsson 9.98 AUS Adam Shields 8.57 FIN Kauko Nieminen 7.73 SWE Jonas Davidsson 7.30 FIN Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.25 POL Tomasz Jędrzejak 7.00 ENG Leigh Lanham 6.72 SWE Ricky Kling 5.70 CZE Luboš Tomíček Jr. 5.38 POL Krzysztof Jabłoński 2.00 Peterborough 22em DEN Hans Andersen 9.45 (22 matches) DEN Kenneth Bjerre 8.08 AUS Ryan Sullivan 7.67 CZE Karol Ząbik 6.96 ENG Danny King 6.49 DEN Henning Bager 6.05 CZE Lukáš Dryml 5.78 DEN Claus Vissing 5.46 DEN Morten Risager 5.32 AUS Ty Proctor 4.48 DEN Henrik Møller 2.46 CZE Zdeněk Simota 2.11 Poole 22em DEN Bjarne Pedersen 9.30 AUS Chris Holder 8.95 AUS Davey Watt 8.30 POL Krzysztof Kasprzak 7.89 SWE Magnus Zetterström 7.29 POL Adam Skórnicki 7.11 SWE Freddie Eriksson 6.05 SWE Daniel Davidsson 5.36 POL Karol Ząbik 5.18 POL Zbigniew Suchecki 4.10 Swindon 22em AUS Leigh Adams 11.04 CRO Jurica Pavlic 8.16 DEN Mads Korneliussen 7.38 AUS Troy Batchelor 7.12 SWE Sebastian Aldén 5.53 ENG James Wright 5.52 AUS Travis McGowan 5.06 AUT Manuel Hauzinger 3.11 NED Theo Pijper 2.80 Wolverhampton 22em SWE Freddie Lindgren 8.52 DEN Niels Kristian Iversen 8.46 ENG David Howe 6.01 DEN Jesper B. Monberg 5.85 CZE Aleš Dryml Jr. 5.67 GER Christian Hefenbrock 5.14 DEN Morten Risager 4.91 DEN Nicolai Klindt 4.90 DEN Kenneth Hansen 4.32 SWE Ludvig Lindgren 2.72 See also Speedway in the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway) References Category:SGB Premiership Elite League Speedway