2009 Premier League speedway season

2009 Premier League speedway season

League	Premier League
Champions	King's Lynn Stars
Knockout Cup	King's Lynn Stars
Premier Trophy	King's Lynn Stars
Young Shield	Workington Comets
Pairs	Birmingham Brummies
Fours	Workington Comets
Individual	Ricky Ashworth
Highest average	Darcy Ward
Division/s above	2009 Elite League
Division/s below	2009 National League
← 2008 2010 →

The 2009 Premier League season was the second division of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom and the 15th season since its creation in 1995. The league is governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

Summary

The League consisted of 14 teams for the 2009 season with the re-admission of the Newport Wasps and the loss of Mildenhall Fen Tigers, Isle of Wight Islanders (Both dropped to National League) and the Reading Racers (Loss of Stadium). New rules introduced for 2009 with a complete revamp of the points scoring system. 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 bottom Elite League team over two legs. Teams finishing in fifth to twelfth at the time of the fixture cut-off date compete in the Young Shield.

The Kings Lynn Stars were crowned the Premier League champions after ending the season as the highest placed team. ^[1] The Edinburgh Monarchs finished second, Newcastle Diamonds third and the Birmingham Brummies fourth. All four teams took part in the promotion play-off with Edinburgh and King's Lynn reaching the final. Edinburgh won 97–83 on aggregate and faced Elite League team Belle Vue Aces, but lost the two-legged promotion/relegation final.

New points scoring system

A new points scoring systems was devised for the 2009 season in an effort to make teams more competitive even when losing. If a Home team were to win by 7 or more points they would receive 3 points for the win. However, if the away team restricted the win from 1-6 points, the home team would receive only 2 points for the win, and the away team would be awarded 1 point for losing by less than 7 away from home.
If the match was a draw, the home team would be awarded 1 point and the away team awarded 2.
If the away team won the match by between 1-6 points, they would be awarded 3 points with the home team collecting 0. And finally if the away team won by 7 or more points, they would collect 4 points with the home team again collecting 0.

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away	BER	BIR	ED	GLA	KL	ND	NW	RED	RYE	SCU	SHE	SOM	STO	WOR
Berwick Bandits		42–48	51–41	47–46	46–49	51–39	45–45	50–40	51–42	47–43	63–29	48–42	54–42	42–48
Birmingham Brummies	54–39		41–49	44–46	55–36	50–39	52–43	47–43	58–36	57–38	49–43	50–43	58–34	53–39
Edinburgh Monarchs	60–30	38–34		50–39	46–45	55–40	51–41	60–33	50–42	51–40	51–39	42–33	60–31	55–39
Glasgow Tigers	42–48	49–41	55–38		41–49	43–47	66–26	45–48	48–42	49–43	40–50	48–45	48–42	41–49
King's Lynn Stars	65–25	55–38	54–38	64–29		64–28	59–33	57–38	66–27	56–37	59–35	59–33	69–23	60–34
Newcastle Diamonds	55–39	48–45	54–38	53–27	51–42		66–27	64–26	55–38	52–43	47–37	55–37	52–40	62–28
Newport Wasps	44–45	41–51	43–47	50–40	44–46	38–52		49–43	48–42	44–46	51–41	44–48	44–44	47–43
Redcar Bears	53–40	49–43	47–39	49–41	38–54	47–47	52–39		52–41	50–40	59–37	52–41	53–42	51–41
Rye House Rockets	59–33	43–46	56–36	56–37	46–43	61–32	45–44	49–44		53–39	52–38	57–35	65–30	58–35
Scunthorpe Scorpions	51–42	45–48	49–44	50–40	57–35	51–45	56–39	49–44	49–41		57–38	47–43	59–31	51–39
Sheffield Tigers	51–39	55–41	42–51	51–39	50–40	58–37	60–34	36–42	62–33	52–38		59–32	54–39	46–46
Somerset Rebels	61–35	48–42	50–40	58–36	46–44	54–39	59–34	53–40	46–44	53–40	48–42		54–40	52–41
Stoke Potters	49–41	47–43	49–40	50–42	33–57	51–38	51–39	47–43	48–42	56–37	45–44	49–40		48–42
Workington Comets	59–35	51–44	45–45	48–45	42–51	49–44	53–43	46–38	49–41	50–40	47–43	50–45	57–35

Source: ^[2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

League table

Pos	Club	M	Home				Away					F	A	Pts
			3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L
1	Kings Lynn Stars	26	13	0	0	0	4	2	0	3	4	1378	1013	64
2	Edinburgh Monarchs	26	11	2	0	0	2	1	1	1	8	1378	1122	51
3	Newcastle Diamonds	26	12	1	0	0	1	1	1	2	8	1241	1139	49
4	Birmingham Brummies	26	9	2	0	2	1	3	0	5	4	1232	1139	49
5	Redcar Bears	26	10	1	1	1	0	2	0	5	6	1174	1197	44
6	Somerset Rebels	26	9	4	0	0	0	1	0	4	8	1199	1177	42
7	Workington Comets	26	7	4	1	1	1	1	1	2	8	1170	1215	41
8	Sheffield Tigers	26	10	0	1	2	1	0	0	4	8	1192	1179	39
9	Rye House Rockets	26	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	9	1211	1174	37
10	Scunthorpe Scorpions	26	8	4	0	1	0	1	0	2	10	1195	1199	37
11	Stoke Potters	26	7	5	0	1	0	0	1	1	11	1096	1275	32
12	Berwick Bandits	26	6	3	1	3	0	2	0	0	11	1128	1257	31
13	Glasgow Tigers	26	3	4	0	6	0	1	0	2	10	1122	1238	22
14	Newport Wasps	26	2	3	1	7	0	0	1	1	11	1074	1303	16

Key:
Premier League 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

Last updated: October 20, 2010

Source: BSPA

Premier League play-offs

Semi-finals

Leg 1

4 October 2009

Newcastle Diamonds	50 – 41	Edinburgh Monarchs
Mark Lemon 11+1		Kevin Wölbert 16

Newcastle Stadium

7 October 2009

Birmingham Brummies	43 – 47	Kings Lynn Stars
Richard Sweetman 10+2		Darcy Ward 15

Perry Barr Stadium

Leg 2

9 October 2009

Edinburgh Monarchs	52 (93) – (93) 43 8 - 4 Sudden Death	Newcastle Diamonds
Ryan Fisher 13		Rene Bach 13

Armadale Stadium

14 October 2009

King's Lynn Stars	55 (102) - (78) 35	Birmingham Brummies
Chris Schramm 14+1		Richard Sweetman 9+1

Norfolk Arena

Grand final

First leg

16 October 2009

19.45

Edinburgh Monarchs	56 - 36	King's Lynn Stars
Kevin Wölbert 14		William Lawson 11+1

Armadale Stadium

1 Ryan Fisher 3, 2', 2, 1', 1 9+2 2 Michał Rajkowski 0, 3, 3, 0 6 3 Andrew Tully 3, 0, 3, 3 9 4 Matthew Wethers 2', 3, 2', 2' 9+3 5 Kevin Wölbert 3, 3, 3, 2, 3 14 6 Aaron Summers 3, 0, 2', 0 5+1 7 Kalle Katajisto 0, X, 1, 3 4 Manager: Alan Bridgett 1 William Lawson (guest) 1', 2, 2, 1^, 3, 2 11+1 2 Tomáš Topinka , , , , R/R 3 Chris Schramm 2, X, 2, 3, 4^, X 11 4 Emiliano Sanchez 1, 1', 1', 1, 1 5+2 5 Josh Auty (guest) 2, 1, 1, 0, X 4 6 Linus Eklöf 2, 0, 0, 1', 0 3+1 7 Jan Graversen 1', 1', 0, N 2+2 Manager: Rob Lyon

Second leg

20 October 2009

19.30

King's Lynn Stars	47 (83) - 41 (97)	Edinburgh Monarchs
Chris Schramm 11+1		Kevin Wölbert 12

Norfolk Arena

1 Ulrich Ostergaard (guest) 1', 2, 3, 2, 1' 9+2 2 Kozza Smith , , , , R/R 3 Emiliano Sanchez 3, 1', X, 1', 1' 6+3 4 Chris Schramm 2', 2, 2, 3, 2 11+1 5 Ty Proctor (guest) 0, 3, 3, X 6 6 Linus Eklöf 1', 1', 1, 0, 2, 2' 7+3 7 Jan Graversen 2, 2, 2, 2, 0 8 Manager: Rob Lyon 1 Ryan Fisher 3, 3, 2, X 8 2 Michał Rajkowski 0, 0, F 0 3 Andrew Tully 1, 0, 2, 3, 0 6 4 Matthew Wethers 0, 2, 1', 0 3+1 5 Kevin Wölbert 3, 3, 0, 3, 3 12 6 aron Summers 0, 0, 3, 0 3 7 Kalle Katajisto 3, 1, 3, 1', 1 9+1 Manager: Alan Bridgett

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 2009 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 42nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners of the competition. ^[3]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/05	Stoke Potters	48-42	Berwick Bandits
06/05	Berwick Bandits	50-39	Stoke Potters
10/05	Newcastle Diamonds	48-42	Scunthorpe Scorpions
08/05	Scunthorpe Scorpions	65-25	Newcastle Diamonds
29/04	Birmingham Brummies	43-47	Rye House Rockets
09/05	Rye House Rockets	53-37	Birmingham Brummies
14/05	Redcar Bears	52-38	Newport Wasps
21/06	Newport Wasps	40-50	Redcar Bears
08/05	Somerset Rebels	46-44	Glasgow Tigers
24/05	Glasgow Tigers	45-44	Somerset Rebels
28/05	Sheffield Tigers	56-34	Edinburgh Monarchs
08/05	Edinburgh Monarchs	59-31	Sheffield Tigers

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
20/05	King's Lynn Stars	58-32	Berwick Bandits
20/06	Berwick Bandits	26-57	King's Lynn Stars
13/06	Rye House Rockets	56-34	Somerset Rebels
12/06	Somerset Rebels	53-37	Rye House Rockets
20/06	Workington Comets	47-43	Edinburgh Monarchs
19/06	Edinburgh Monarchs	56-34	Workington Comets
13/08	Redcar Bears	46-44	Scunthorpe Scorpions
31/07	Scunthorpe Scorpions	50-39	Redcar Bears

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/10	Scunthorpe Scorpions	45-27	King's Lynn Stars
06/10	King's Lynn Stars	70-20	Scunthorpe Scorpions
19/09	Rye House Rockets	49-41	Edinburgh Monarchs
11/09	Edinburgh Monarchs	63-27	Rye House Rockets

Final

First leg

23 October 2009

Edinburgh Monarchs Kevin Wölbert 13 Ryan Fisher 11 Matthew Wethers 10 Andrew Tully 9 Kalle Katajisto 3 Aaron Summers 2 Michał Rajkowski R/R	48 – 41	King's Lynn Stars Jan Graversen 14 Darcy Ward 11 Emiliano Sanchez 6 Ty Proctor (guest) 6 Linus Eklöf 3 Chris Schramm 1 Kozza Smith R/R
	[4] [5]

Armadale Stadium

Second leg

28 October 2009

King's Lynn Stars Chris Schramm 14 Ty Proctor (guest) 13 Emiliano Sanchez 11 Linus Eklöf 10 Jan Graversen 6 Simon Lambert (guest) 3 Darcy Ward R/R	57 – 33	Edinburgh Monarchs Ryan Fisher 14 Kalle Katajisto 9 Matthew Wethers 5 Andrew Tully 4 Aaron Summers 0 Luke Bowen 0 Kevin Wölbert R/R
	[4] [6]

Norfolk Arena

King's Lynn were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–81.

Riders' Championship

Ricky Ashworth won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 27 September at Owlerton Stadium. ^[7]

Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21	22
1	(10) Ricky Ashworth (SHE)	13			3			2						2			3		3				13	1		3
2	(15) Darcy Ward (KL)	11				3			1			3						3	1				11	2		2
3	(12) Ty Proctor (RED)	11			2					3		2			2						2		11	3	2	1
4	(11) David Howe (SS)	10			1				2		3					3						1	10	6	3	0
5	(5) William Lawson (GLA)	10		3			2					1					2					2	10	4	1
6	(7) Andre Compton (WOR)	10		0					3					1	3					3			10	5	0
7	(1) Kenni Larsen (ND)	9	3				3				1				0				2				9	7
8	(6) Jordan Frampton (NW)	9		2				3			2							1			1		9	8
9	(4) Ryan Fisher (EDI)	8	1							2				0				2				3	8	9
10	(13) Jason Lyons (BIR)	7				0	1							3		0					3		7	10
11	(2) Steve Johnston (SOM)	6	2					0				0				2				2			6	11
12	(8) Jason Bunyan (STO)	5		1						1			2			1			0				5	12
13	(14) Tomáš Topinka (KL)	5				2		1					1		1							R	5	13
14	(3) Magnus Karlsson (SS)	3	0						0				3				0				0		3	14
15	(16) Chris Neath (RH)	2				1				0	0						1			EF			2	15
16	(9) Michal Makovsky (BER)	1			0		0						0					0		1			1	16
	(17) Adam Wrathall	0																					0
	(18) Gary Irving	0																					0
Placing	Rider	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pts	Pos	21	22

m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fell • ns - non-starter • nc - non-classify

gate A - inside

gate B

gate C

gate D - outside

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 26 June. The event was won by Birmingham Brummies. ^{[8] [9]}

Group A Pos Team Pts Riders 1 King's Lynn 24 Topinka 14, Ward 10 2 Somerset 23 Johnston 12, Kramer 11 3 Scunthorpe 20 Karlsson 11, Howe 9 4 Berwick 13 Franc 7, Makovsky 6 5 Rye House 10 Sundstrom 10, Neath 0

Group B Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Workington 27 Rymek 14, Doolan 13 2 Birmingham 19 Lyons 12, Piszcz 7 3 Edinburgh 17 Tully 9, Fisher 8 4 Redcar 16 Havelock 10, Proctor 6 5 Glasgow 11 Grieves 7, Brown 4

Semi finals

• Birmingham bt King's Lynn 6-3
• Somerset bt Workington 7-2

Final

• Birmingham bt Somerset 6-3

Fours

Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship for the fifth time, the Championship was held on 25 July 2009, at the Derwent Park. ^{[10] [11]}

Group A Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Berwick 14 Makovsky 5, Franc 4, Clews 3, Aarnio 2 2 Somerset 12 Johnston 4, Kramer 4, Gathercole 4, Walker 0, Sedgmen 0 3 King's Lynn 11 Topinka 6, Schramm 4, Sanchez 1, Graversen 0, Smith 0 4 Redcar 11 Proctor 5, Stonehewer 3, Havelock 2, Wilson 1

Group B Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Workington 18 Compton 6, Rymel 5, Doolan 4, Lawson 3 2 Edinburgh 12 Wethers 5, Fisher 3, Rajkowski 3, Summers 1 3 Rye House 12 Neath 3, Mear 3, Sundstrom 3, Bowen 3 4 Scunthorpe 6 Karlsson 3, Howe 3, Wilkinson 0, Lambert 0

Final
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Workington	27	Compton 9, Rymel 9, Doolan 7, Lawson 2
2	Somerset	18	Johnston 8, Gathercole 6, Kramer 2, Sedgmen 2, Walker 0
3	Edinburgh	14	Fisher 5, Wethers 4, Summers 3, Rajkowski 2
4	Berwick	13	Clews 5, Makovsky 4, Franc 4, Aarnio 0

Final Leading averages

^[12]

Rider	Team	Average
Darcy Ward	Kings Lynn	9.71
Tomáš Topinka	Kings Lynn	9.62
Steve Johnston	Somerset	9.46
Kevin Doolan	Workington	9.35
David Howe	Scunthorpe	9.18
Mark Lemon	Newcastle	9.17
James Grieves	Glasgow	8.97
Shane Parker	Glasgow	8.93
Ryan Fisher	Edinburgh	8.89
Kevin Wölbert	Edinburgh	8.97

Riders & final averages

Berwick

• Michal Makovský 8.49
• Josef Franc 8.28
• Stanisław Burza 7.60
• Paul Clews 7.39
• William Lawson 6.02
• Tero Aarnio 5.55
• Guglielmo Franchetti 4.43
• Danny Warwick 4.00
• Tamas Sike 2.81
• Frank Facher 2.59
• Greg Blair 2.33

Birmingham

• Tomasz Piszcz 8.64
• Jason Lyons 8.42
• Richard Sweetman 7.20
• Russell Harrison 6.91
• Ludvig Lindgren 6.73
• Robert Ksiezak 6.12
• Lee Smart 5.25
• Manuel Hauzinger 5.10
• Jay Herne 4.64
• Marek Mroz 3.52
• James Cockle 3.13
• Ben Taylor 2.31

Edinburgh

• Ryan Fisher 8.89
• Kevin Wolbert 8.87
• Andrew Tully 7.83
• Matthew Wethers 7.74
• Thomas H. Jonasson 7.44
• Michał Rajkowski 7.06
• Aaron Summers 6.26
• Sean Stoddart 3.53
• Byron Bekker 3.17
• Max Dilger 2.54

Glasgow

• James Grieves 8.97
• Shane Parker 8.93
• William Lawson 7.79
• Josh Grajczonek 6.78
• Russell Harrison 5.76
• Anders Andersen 5.50
• Lee Dicken 4.91
• Mitchell Davey 4.51
• Peter Juul 2.40

King's Lynn

• Darcy Ward 9.71
• Tomáš Topinka 9.62
• Chris Schramm 8.49
• Emiliano Sanchez 8.12
• Kozza Smith 7.40
• Christian Henry 6.93
• Linus Eklöf 6.39
• Jan Graversen 5.92
• Darren Mallett 5.08

Newcastle

• Mark Lemon 9.17
• Kenni Larsen 8.19
• René Bach 8.17
• Jason King 7.83
• Derek Sneddon 5.86
• Steve Boxall 5.57
• Trent Leverington 5.52
• Craig Branney 4.78
• Adam McKinna 4.10
• Casper Wortmann 2.18

Newport

• Mark Lemon 8.00
• Leigh Lanham 7.64
• Jordan Frampton 7.36
• Paul Fry 6.40
• Chris Kerr 6.19
• Brent Werner 6.00
• James Holder 5.20
• Jonas Andersson 4.14
• Kyle Newman 2.26

Redcar

• Ty Proctor 8.55
• Gary Havelock 8.23
• Ben Wilson 7.90
• Carl Stonehewer 6.97
• Robbie Kessler 6.59
• Stuart Swales 5.18
• Benji Compton 3.85
• Arlo Bugeja 3.52

Rye House

• Chris Neath 7.82
• Linus Sundström 7.46
• Robert Mear 7.42
• Joe Haines 7.39
• Luke Bowen 6.97
• Andrew Silver 6.20
• Tommy Allen 5.11

Scunthorpe

• David Howe 9.18
• Magnus Karlsson 8.67
• Carl Wilkinson 7.04
• Simon Lambert 5.77
• Viktor Bergström 5.67
• Ritchie Hawkins 5.08
• Jerran Hart 4.89
• Byron Bekker 3.52

Sheffield

• Ricky Ashworth 8.42
• Richard Hall 7.88
• Josh Auty 7.51
• Joel Parsons 6.21
• Chris Mills 5.88
• Hugh Skidmore 5.87
• Paul Cooper 5.71
• Ritchie Hawkins 5.39
• Scott Smith 4.53

Somerset

• Steve Johnston 9.46
• Emil Kramer 8.79
• Cory Gathercole 8.23
• Simon Walker 5.77
• Justin Sedgmen 5.16
• Nick Simmons 4.89
• Jay Herne 4.57
• Tom Brown 4.30
• Jari Makinen 2.27

Stoke

• Jason Bunyan 8.55
• Lee Complin 7.63
• Phil Morris 5.89
• Klaus Jakobsen 5.82
• Tom P. Madsen 5.76
• Jesper Kristiansen 5.62
• Robert Ksiezak 5.06
• Craig Branney 4.00
• Glen Phillips 3.38

Workington

• Kevin Doolan 9.35
• Adrian Rymel 8.74
• Andre Compton 8.18
• Richard Lawson 5.57
• John Branney 5.37
• Charles Wright 5.36
• Craig Cook 3.93
• Luke Priest 2.54

See also

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

References

1. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
2. "2009 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
3. "2009 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
4. "2009 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
5. "2009 KO cup final 1st leg". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
6. "2009 KO cup final 2nd leg". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
7. "ASHWORTH DELIGHTED WITH RIDERS VICTORY". BritishSpeedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
8. "2009 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
9. "Lyons and Piszcz lead Birmingham win". Daily Express. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
10. "2009 season fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
11. "2009 Premier League Fours". You Tube. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
12. "Greensheet Averages". Speedway GB.