2008 Premier League speedway season

2008 Premier League speedway season

League	Premier League
Champions	Edinburgh Monarchs
Knockout Cup	Somerset Rebels
Premier Trophy	Edinburgh Monarchs
Young Shield	Workington Comets
Individual	Tai Woffinden
Pairs	Workington Comets
Fours	Workington Comets
Highest average	Daniel Nermark
Division/s above	2008 Elite League
Division/s below	2008 Conference
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Premier League speedway season was the second division of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom and the 14th season since its creation in 1995. The league was governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

Summary

The League consisted of 16 teams for the 2008 season with the addition of the 2007 Conference League champions the Scunthorpe Scorpions. New rules introduced for 2008 include three points for an away win compared to two points in 2007, and the removal of bonus points, in which a team was awarded an additional point for an aggregate win over a home and away match against another team. The team finishing at the top of the league table at the end of the season after accumulating the most points were declared the Premier League champions. The four highest placed teams were entered into promotion play-offs, whereby the Premier League play-off winner faced the Elite League relegation play-off final losers over two legs. ^[1] Teams finishing in fifth to twelfth at the time of the fixture cut-off date compete in the Young Shield. Newport Wasps withdrew from the league following the death of their promoter Tim Stone. ^[2]

The Edinburgh Monarchs were crowned the Premier League champions after ending the season as the highest placed team. ^[3] The Somerset Rebels finished second, King's Lynn Stars third and the Rye House Rockets fourth. All four teams took part in the promotion play-off with Edinburgh and King's Lynn reaching the final. Edinburgh won 93–90 on aggregate and faced Elite League team Wolverhampton Wolves, but lost the two-legged promotion/relegation final 106–76. ^[4]

Final league table

Key:
Promotion Play-Offs

Pos	Club	M	Home			Away			F	A	+/-	Pts
			W	D	L	W	D	L
1	Edinburgh Monarchs	30	15	0	0	7	2	6	1562	1161		53
2	Somerset Rebels	30	15	0	0	6	0	9	1517	1223		48
3	Kings Lynn Stars	30	14	1	0	4	4	7	1624	1111		45
4	Rye House Rockets	30	15	0	0	4	0	11	1500	1232		42
5	Workington Comets	30	12	2	1	5	0	10	1435.5	1300.5		41
6	Berwick Bandits	30	13	2	0	3	0	12	1428	1316		37
7	Redcar Bears	30	12	0	3	4	1	10	1369	1374		37
8	Sheffield Tigers	30	12	1	2	3	1	11	1381	1345		35
9	Reading Racers	30	12	1	2	3	0	12	1350	1405		34
10	Scunthorpe Scorpions	30	12	0	3	3	0	12	1309	1434		33
11	Isle of Wight Islanders	30	14	0	1	1	0	14	1359	1390		31
12	Birmingham Brummies	30	9	0	6	4	0	11	1317.5	1401.5		30
13	Stoke Potters	30	9	1	5	2	0	13	1307	1441		25
14	Newcastle Diamonds	30	8	0	7	2	0	13	1220	1501		22
15	Glasgow Tigers	30	8	0	7	1	0	14	1297	1469		19
16	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	30	0	0	15	0	0	15	932	1804		0

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 2008 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Somerset Rebels were the winners of the competition. ^[5]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
11/04	Scunthorpe	44-48	Sheffield
10/04	Sheffield	55-36	Scunthorpe

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
23/04	Birmingham	43-47	Glasgow
20/04	Glasgow	40-52	Birmingham
24/04	Redcar	53-40	Mildenhall
27/04	Mildenhall	40-50	Redcar
13/05	Isle of Wight	54-38	Sheffield
24/04	Sheffield	52-38	Isle of Wight
25/04	Edinburgh	54-38	Berwick
26/04	Berwick	42-51	Edinburgh
25/04	Somerset	64-28	Newcastle
27/04	Newcastle	39-39	Somerset
26/04	Rye House	60-30	Newport
07/05	Kings Lynn	55-38	Reading
28/04	Reading	59-34	King's Lynn
27/04	Stoke	42-50	Workington
26/05	Workington	54-36	Stoke

ns match not staged Rye House into next round Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/06	Birmingham	42-51	Rye House
31/05	Rye House	62-30	Birmingham
17/06	Isle of Wight	51-43	Workington
07/06	Workington	53-38	Isle of Wight
30/05	Edinburgh	55-38	Redcar
29/05	Redcar	39-53	Edinburgh
30/05	Somerset	53-39	Reading
29/06	Reading	51-44	Somerset

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
27/09	Workington	53-39	Edinburgh
26/09	Edinburgh	49-41	Workington
25/08	Rye House	50-43	Somerset
22/08	Somerset	53-38	Rye House

Final

First leg

11 October 2008

Workington Comets Jason Lyons (guest) 17 Joe Haines 9 Carl Stonehewer 8 John Branney 5 Charles Wright 3 Tony Reima 1 Kauko Nieminen R/R	43 – 46	Somerset Rebels Emil Kramer 10 Jason Doyle 10 Stephan Katt 9 Jordan Frampton 9 Matthias Kröger 6 Brent Werner 2 Simon Walker R/R
	[6] [7]

Derwent Park

Second leg

17 October 2008

Somerset Rebels Jason Doyle 14 Emil Kramer 11 Brent Werner 10 Matthias Kröger 9 Jordan Frampton 7 Stephan Katt 1 Simon Walker R/R	52 – 41	Workington Comets Jason Lyons (guest) 17 Joe Haines 8 Tony Reima 8 Charles Wright 4 Carl Stonehewer 3 John Branney 1 Kauko Nieminen R/R
	[6] [8]

Oaktree Arena

Somerset were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–84.

Riders' Championship

Tai Woffinden won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 21 September at Owlerton Stadium. ^[9]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total	SF	Final
1	Tai Woffinden	2 1 3 3 3	12	-	3
2	Jason Doyle	1 3 2 2 3	11	2	2
3	Adrian Rymel	2 2 3 3 2	12	-	1
4	Kauko Nieminen	3 3 3 2 fex	11	3	0
5	Ben Barker	3 3 2 0 3	11	1
6	Jason Bunyan	3 3 2 2 2	12	0
7	Shane Parker	1 2 3 3 1	10
8	Ulrich Østergaard	2 0 2 1 2	7
9	Jason King	1 1 1 2 1	6
10	Kevin Doolan	0 2 1 3 0	6
11	Magnus Karlsson	2 1 0 1 1	5
12	Andre Compton	3 1 fex 1 ef	5
13	Jason Lyons	tex 2 0 1 2	5
14	Gary Havelock	1 ef 1 0 1	3
15	William Lawson	0 0 0 ef 3	3
16	Scott Richardson (res)	1 1 0	2
17	Ben Taylor (res)	0 0	0
18	Henning Loof	ef ns ns ns ns	0

• f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 27 June. The event was won by Workington Comets. ^{[10] [11]}

Group A Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Sheffield 25 Compton 13, Ashworth 10 2 Reading 21 Ostergaard 16, Lemon 5 3 Rye House 20 Neath 11, Allen 9 4 Edinburgh 15 Wethers 10, Lawson 5 5 Birmingham 9 Watson 9, Birkinshaw 0

Group B Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Somerset 26 Kramer 13, Doyle 13 2 Workington 23 Nermark 12, Nieminen 11 3 Redcar 15 Proctor 12, Havelock 3 4 Isle of Wight 14 Bunyan 12, Phillips 2 5 Newcastle 10 Henry 8, Franc 2

Semi finals

• Workington bt Sheffield 7-2
• Somerset bt Reading 5-4

Final

• Workington bt Somerset 6-3

Fours

Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship for the fourth time, it was held on 26 July 2006, at Derwent Park. ^[12]

Group A Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Workington 14 Nieminen 5, Wright C 3, Stonehewer 3, Haines 3 2 Somerset 13 Doyle 6, Frampton 5, Werner 2, Katt 0 3 Sheffield 11 Ashworth 4, Compton 3, Wilson 2, Parsons 2 4 Edinburgh 10 Fisher 4, Wethers 3, Jonasson 2, Tully 1

Group B Pos Team Pts Riders 1 King's Lynn 16 Topinka 6, Dolan 5, Tacey 4, Lambert 1 2 Scunthorpe 16 Bergstrom 5, Wilkinson 4, Hall 4, Karlsson 3 3 Newcastle 10 Stancl 4, King 3, Juul 2, Stoddart 1 4 Reading 6 Lemon 3, Suchanek 2, Mills 1, Madsen 0

Final
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Workington	20+3	Nieminen 6+3, Stonehewer 6, Wright C 5, Haines 3
2	King's Lynn	20+2	Topinka 9+2, Dolan 7, Tacey 2, Lambert 2
3	Somerset	19	Doyle 7, Katt 5, Frampton 4, Werner 3
4	Scunthorpe	13	Wilkinson 5, Hall 5, Bergstrom 3, Karlsson 0

Final leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
Daniel Nermark	Workington	10.53
Kevin Doolan	Kings Lynn	10.47
Ulrich Østergaard	Reading	10.29
Jason Doyle	Somerset	10.28
Tai Woffinden	Rye House	10.15
Adrian Rymel	Berwick	10.07
Tomáš Topinka	Kings Lynn	9.98
Jason Lyons	Birmingham	9.97
Kauko Nieminen	Workington	9.50
Shane Parker	Glasgow	9.38

Riders & final averages

Berwick

• Adrian Rymel 10.07
• Michal Makovský 8.27
• Paul Clews 6.92
• Norbert Magosi 6.47
• Tero Aarnio 6.36
• Scott Smith 5.87
• Guglielmo Franchetti 4.91
• Tony Atkin 4.67
• Adam McKinna 3.03

Birmingham

• Jason Lyons 9.97
• Adam Roynon 8.65
• Tomasz Piszcz 7.88
• Craig Watson 7.68
• Kyle Legault 7.37
• James Birkinshaw 5.56
• Lee Smart 5.21
• Jack Roberts 4.38
• Ben Taylor 3.79
• James Cockle 3.67
• Jack Hargreaves 3.59
• Jay Herne 2.94

Edinburgh

• Ryan Fisher 8.80
• Matthew Wethers 8.28
• William Lawson 8.00
• Thomas H. Jonasson 7.78
• Andrew Tully 7.73
• Derek Sneddon 7.11
• Aaron Summers 6.15

Glasgow

• Shane Parker 9.38
• Robert Ksiezak 6.97
• Trent Leverington 6.80
• Josh Grajczonek 6.22
• Ross Brady 5.79
• Lee Dicken 5.55
• Anders Andersen 4.58
• Mitchell Davey 2.94

Isle of Wight

• Jason Bunyan 8.07
• Krzysztof Stojanowski 7.35
• Cory Gathercole 7.32
• Paul Fry 7.10
• Glen Phillips 7.00
• James Holder 6.10
• Richard Sweetman 5.82
• Andrew Bargh 3.96

King's Lynn

• Kevin Doolan 10.47
• Tomáš Topinka 9.98
• Shaun Tacey 7.28
• Russell Harrison 7.12
• Simon Lambert 6.61
• John Oliver 6.35
• Kozza Smith 6.23

Mildenhall

• Kaj Laukkanen 8.17
• Robbie Kessler 7.44
• Theo Pijper 4.98
• Michał Rajkowski 4.66
• Sebastian Truminski 4.57
• Jan Graversen 4.51
• Marek Mroz 4.35
• Mark Baseby 3.46
• Henning Loof 3.05
• Casper Wortmann 3.05
• Luke Priest 2.67
• Jari Makinen 2.31
• Matthew Wright 2.29

Newcastle

• Josef Franc 7.89
• Jason King 7.82
• Kenni Larsen 7.79
• Christian Henry 7.28
• George Štancl 7.20
• Ben Powell 5.43
• Richard Juul 4.31
• Sean Stoddart 4.18
• Jamie Robertson 3.79
• Jerran Hart 3.59

Newport (withdrew from league)

• Craig Watson 6.60
• Tony Atkin 6.44
• Sebastian Truminski 6.27
• Nick Simmons 5.91
• Paul Clews 5.49
• Marek Mroz 4.63
• Jerran Hart 2.40

Reading

• Ulrich Østergaard 10.29
• Mark Lemon 8.04
• Tom P. Madsen 6.66
• Chris Mills 5.76
• Tomáš Suchánek 5.34
• Jamie Smith 5.07
• Nicki Glanz 4.59
• Danny Warwick 4.56

Redcar

• Gary Havelock 9.27
• James Grieves 9.10
• Ty Proctor 8.24
• Chris Kerr 7.54
• Josh Auty 5.45
• Daniel Giffard 4.16
• Benji Compton 4.00
• Arlo Bugeja 3.63
• Joni Keskinen 1.28

Rye House

• Tai Woffinden 10.15
• Stefan Ekberg 8.11
• Chris Neath 8.10
• Tommy Allen 7.79
• Robert Mear 7.15
• Luke Bowen 6.20
• Danny Betson 5.03
• Daniel Halsey 3.78

Scunthorpe

• Magnus Karlsson 7.90
• Richard Hall 7.17
• Andrew Moore 7.16
• Carl Wilkinson 6.93
• Viktor Bergström 6.58
• Emiliano Sanchez 6.42
• Ben Powell 5.49
• Byron Bekker 4.62
• Benji Compton 3.52

Sheffield

• Andre Compton 9.09
• Ricky Ashworth 8.25
• Joel Parsons 7.29
• Ben Wilson 7.26
• Paul Cooper 6.38
• Lee Smethills 5.92
• Sam Martin 2.56
• Kyle Hughes 2.30

Somerset

• Jason Doyle 10.28
• Emil Kramer 8.14
• Simon Walker 8.05
• Jordan Frampton 7.31
• Stephan Katt 6.66
• Brent Werner 6.34
• Matthias Kröger 6.29

Stoke

• Ben Barker 8.23
• Lee Complin 7.95
• Andrew Moore 6.87
• Emiliano Sanchez 6.39
• Mark Burrows 5.64
• Jesper Kristiansen 5.63
• Klaus Jakobsen 5.48
• Barrie Evans 5.04
• Krister Jacobsen 4.64

Workington

• Daniel Nermark 10.53
• Kauko Nieminen .9.50
• Carl Stonehewer 7.93
• Joe Haines 6.22
• Charles Wright 5.12
• Tomi Reima 5.03
• John Branney 4.79
• Scott Smith 3.28

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "British Speedway 2008". British Speedway Promoters' Association. 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
2. "The rise se and fall of Newport's speedway team which used to draw crowds of thousands". Wales Online. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
3. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
4. "Wolves seal EL place". Sky Sports. 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
5. "2008 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
6. "2008 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
7. "2008 KO cup final 1st leg". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
8. "2008 KO cup final 2nd leg". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
9. "Tai Woffinden: Wolves hope to re-sign World speedway champion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
10. "2008 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
11. "PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS RESULT". Birmingham Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
12. "2008 season fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 8 July 2023.