SGB Premiership 2017

SGB Premiership 2017

League	SGB Premiership
Champions	Swindon Robins
Knockout Cup	Belle Vue Aces
Elite Shield	Poole Pirates
Individual	Fredrik Lindgren
Pairs	King's Lynn Stars
Highest average	Jason Doyle
Division/s below	SGB Championship National League
← 2016 2018 →

The 2017 SGB Premiership was the 83rd season of the top division of British Speedway. It was the first time that it was known as the SGB Premiership after changing its name from the Elite League. ^[1]

Jason Doyle topped the averages and won the league with Swindon

Summary

The season ran between March and October 2017 and 8 teams participated (Coventry withdrew from the league before the season started, after they had originally entered the league). The lineup of teams for 2017 was different from the lineup of the 2016 Elite League. The Lakeside Hammers and Coventry Bees dropped out of the league and were replaced by the Rye House Rockets and the Somerset Rebels. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

At the annual Speedway AGM, which was held early in November 2016, it was agreed that speedway in Great Britain would be given what was described as "the biggest revamp of the sport in modern history". This involved numerous alterations to both the regulations and the branding of the sport. The former top level of British speedway, the Elite League, was replaced by the Speedway Great Britain Premiership. Among the most notable changes to the regulations is the reintroduction of promotion and relegation between the top two leagues: the team that finishes in last place in the Premiership will race against the winners of the new second tier of British speedway (the SGB Championship) in order to decide who will compete in the Premiership in 2018. ^[5]

The Swindon Robins were the champions defeating the Wolverhampton Wolves in the Grand Final. ^{[6] [7]}

British TV broadcasting rights changed hands before the start of the 2017 SGB Premiership season, when Sky withdrew from their negotiated contract with the BSPA. BT then obtained the broadcasting rights for the 2017 season to be shown on their BT Sport channels. ^[1]

Belle Vue

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Rye House

Somerset

Swindon

Wolves

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Locations of the 2017 Premiership teams

League

Teams face each other four times: twice home and twice away. The first of the home and away meetings are called the 'A' fixtures, and the second are the 'B' fixtures.

Regular season

Final League Table

Pos.	Club	M	Home			Away					F	A	Pts	+/−
			W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L
1	Swindon Robins	28	11	1	2	5	3	0	3	3	1339	1181	+158	66
2	Wolverhampton Wolves	28	13	0	1	4	1	0	5	4	1354	1151	+197	63
3	Belle Vue Aces	28	10	1	3	3	4	0	3	4	1310	1224	+86	58
4	Poole Pirates	28	8	0	6	3	2	3	2	4	1286	1268	+18	50
5	Rye House Rockets	28	12	0	2	1	2	0	1	9	1289	1237	+52	48
6	Somerset Rebels	28	7	1	6	0	3	0	1	10	1184	1338	-154	32
7	King's Lynn Stars	28	5	0	9	1	3	0	1	9	1138	1364	-226	29
8	Leicester Lions	28	6	1	7	0	1	1	3	9	1197	1334	-137	27

^[8]

A Fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	KL	LEI	PP	RYE	SOM	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue		48–43	48–42	46–46	52–38	44–46	48–42	54–38
Kings Lynn	40–50		48–42	40–52	49–41	53–37	52–41	34–58
Leicester	41–49	54–38		34–56	44–46	48–42	48–42	36–57
Poole	43–47	44–49	52–40		50–33	54–36	45–47	46–44
Rye House	44–46	50–42	54–36	49–44		52–38	37–53	51–41
Somerset	50–40	44–46	61–30	47–43	54–38		44–46	44–49
Swindon	44–46	45–48	52–40	45–45	50–42	57–35		46–45
Wolverhampton	48–42	59–30	45–44	44–48	55–37	62–28	49–43

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B Fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	KL	LEI	PP	RYE	SOM	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue		54–39	42–48	59–31	58–33	49–41	35–49	53–40
Kings Lynn	45–48		50–40	43–50	44–46	43–47	40–50	21–41
Leicester	40–50	62–28		45–45	46–44	57–33	45–46	41–49
Poole	53–40	59–33	56–34		30–60	44–45	36–56	48–45
Rye House	48–44	65–26	55–38	56–35		60–30	46–29	48–42
Somerset	55–35	41–49	42–42	45–48	48–42		37–53	45–44
Swindon	48–42	48–41	50–41	56–34	57–33	54–35		52–40
Wolverhampton	49–41	48–24	54–39	50–43	50–41	56–34	52–38

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Draw

	Semi Finals							Grand Final
	1	Poole Pirates	44	38	82
	4	Swindon Robins	46	51	97
								Swindon Robins		43	47	90
								Wolverhampton Wolves		47	42	89
	3	Wolverhampton Wolves	51	39	90
	2	Belle Vue Aces	38	51	89

Home team scores are in Dark Black

Semi-Finals

11 September	[10]	Poole Pirates	44–46	Swindon Robins	Poole Stadium Referee(s): Mick Bates

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25 September	[11]	Swindon Robins	51–38	Poole Pirates	Abbey Stadium, Blunsdon Referee(s): Graham Flint

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25 September	[12]	Wolverhampton Wolves	51–38	Belle Vue Aces	Monmore Green Referee(s): Willie Dishington

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29 September	[13]	Belle Vue Aces	51–39	Wolverhampton Wolves	National Speedway Stadium Referee(s): Phil Griffin

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Grand Final

2 October	[14]	Swindon Robins Jason Doyle 11 Nick Morris 9 David Bellego 7 Tobiasz Musielak 6 Bradley Wilson-Dean 4 Liam Carr 4 Adam Ellis 2	43–47	Wolverhampton Wolves Sam Masters 12 Rory Schlein 11 Chris Harris 9 Kyle Howarth 7 Mark Riss 5 Nathan Greaves 3 Jacob Thorssell R/R	Abbey Stadium, Blunsdon Referee(s): Christina Turnbull

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4 October	[15]	Wolverhampton Wolves Sam Masters 12 Rory Schlein 10 Kyle Howarth 8 Nathan Greaves 7 Chris Harris 4 Mark Riss 1 Jacob Thorssell R/R	42–47	Swindon Robins Jason Doyle 13 Nick Morris 11 Tobiasz Musielak 8 Adam Ellis 6 Bradley Wilson-Dean 5 David Bellego 4 Liam Carr 0	Monmore Green Referee(s): Chris Durno

Promotion and relegation play-off

9 October	[16]	Sheffield Tigers	32–58	Leicester Lions	Owlerton Stadium Referee(s): Craig Ackroyd

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16 October	[17]	Leicester Lions	49–41	Sheffield Tigers	Beaumont Park Stadium Referee(s): Mick Bates

Knockout Cup

The 2017 Knockout Cup was the 75th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. The competition returned after a four-year absence under a new name, it had previously been known as the Elite League Knockout Cup. Belle Vue Aces were the winners of the competition for a 14th time and extended their all time record.

Draw

	Quarter Finals							Semi Finals							Final
	1	Somerset Rebels	49	42	91
	8	Leicester Lions	41	48	89
								Wolverhampton Wolves		59	37	96
								Somerset Rebels		31	53	84
	5	King's Lynn Stars	36	42	78
	4	Wolverhampton Wolves	54	48	102
															Wolverhampton Wolves		50	38	88
															Belle Vue Aces		40	52	92
	3	Rye House Rockets	41	39	80
	6	Swindon Robins	49	51	100
								Swindon Robins		50	38	88
								Belle Vue Aces		39	52	91
	7	Poole Pirates	46	33	79
	2	Belle Vue Aces	44	57	111

Home team scores are in bold

Final

10 October	[18]	Wolverhampton Wolves Nick Morris (10) Ricky Wells (13) Scott Nicholls (8) Rider Replacement Sam Masters (7) Mark Riss (7) Nathan Greaves (5)	50–40	Belle Vue Aces Kenneth Bjerre (11) Steve Worrall (6) Rider Replacement Rohan Tungate (5) Craig Cook (10) Dan Bewley (6) Jack Smith (2)	Monmore Green Referee(s): Ronnie Allan

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16 October	[19]	Belle Vue Aces Kenneth Bjerre (15) Steve Worrall (7) Rider Replacement Rohan Tungate (14) Craig Harris (6) Dan Bewley (8) Jack Smith (2)	52–38	Wolverhampton Wolves Scott Nicholls (4) Richard Lawson (10) Richie Worrall (5) Rider Replacement Sam Masters (10) Mark Riss (6) Nathan Greaves (3)	National Speedway Stadium Referee(s): Graham Flint

Elite Shield

27 March	[20]	Wolverhampton Wolves	50–40	Poole Pirates	Monmore Green Referee(s): Margaret Vardy

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29 March	[21]	Poole Pirates	58–32	Wolverhampton Wolves	Poole Stadium Referee(s): Ronnie Allan

Riders' Championship

Freddie Lindgren won the Riders' Championship for the third time. The final was held at National Speedway Stadium on 16 September. ^{[22] [23]}

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total	SF	Final
1	Freddie Lindgren	2,1,3,3,2	11	x	3
2	Max Fricke	3,3,exc,1,2	9	2	2
3	Craig Cook	3,2,2,3,3	13	x	1
4	Jacob Thorssell	3,0,3,0,2	8	3	0
5	Hans Andersen	3,3,2,2,0	10	1
6	Josh Grajczonek	1,2,3,2,1	9	0
7	Scott Nicholls	2,3,1,1,1	8
8	Nick Morris	1,2,2,0,3	8
9	Chris Harris	0,1,1,3,3	8
10	Josh Auty	ret,2,3,2,1	8
11	Brady Kurtz	2,3,0,2,ret	7
12	Jason Doyle	1,0,ret,3,3	7
13	Richard Lawson	1,0,2,1,1	5
14	Kim Nilsson	ret,1,1,1,2	5
15	Danny King	0,1,1,0,0	2
16	Thomas Jørgensen	2,0,0,0,exc	2
17	Rob Shuttleworth (res)	0	0

• f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure t-touched tapes

Pairs Championship

A pairs championship was held for the top tier of speedway the first time since the Elite League Pairs Championship. last held in 2011. Despite its comeback for 2017 it was not held again afterwards. ^[24]

Result

Group A [25] Pos Club Riders Pts 1st Wolverhampton Fredrik Lingdren & Jacob Thorsell 17 2nd Swindon Jason Doyle & Nick Morris 14 3rd Somerset Patrick Hougaard & Rohan Tungate 12 4th Belle Vue Craig Cook & Max Fricke 11

Group B [25] Pos Club Riders Pts 1st King's Lynn Chris Holder & Robert Lambert 21 2nd Rye House Scott Nicholls & Chris Harris 15 3rd Leicester Danny King & Kim Nilsson 11 4th Poole Brady Kurtz & Jack Holder 7

Semi Finals

Team One	Team Two	Score	Result
Wolverhampton	Rye House	7-2	Thorsell, Lindgren, Harris, Nicholls
King's Lynn	Swindon	5-4	Doyle, Lambert, Holder, Morris

Final

Team One	Team Two	Score	Result
King's Lynn	Wolverhampton	7-2	Lambert, Holder, Thorsell, Lindgren

Final leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
Jason Doyle	Swindon	10.26
Fredrik Lindgren	Wolverhampton	9.95
Nick Morris	Swindon	9.42
Jacob Thorssell	Wolverhampton	9.33
Kenneth Bjerre	Belle Vue	8.98
Craig Cook	Belle Vue	8.68
Krzysztof Kasprzak	Rye House	8.64
Rory Schlein	Wolverhampton	8.61
Chris Harris	Rye House	8.47
Brady Kurtz	Poole	8.47

Riders and final averages

Belle Vue Aces

• Kenneth Bjerre (8.98)
• Craig Cook (8.68)
• Max Fricke (8.10)
• Steve Worrall (7.63)
• Rohan Tungate (7.31)
• Justin Sedgmen (6.48)
• Dan Bewley (5.52)
• Jack Smith (2.24)

King's Lynn Stars

• Robert Lambert (8.00)
• Chris Holder (8.00)
• Troy Batchelor (7.87)
• Thomas Jørgensen (6.73)
• Kai Huckenbeck (6.38)
• Lewis Rose (6.19)
• Michael Palm Toft (5.73)
• Nicklas Porsing (5.45)
• Josh Auty (5.33)
• Thomas H. Jonasson (4.91)
• Danny Ayres (4.29)
• Simon Lambert (2.74)
• Josh Bailey (1.33)

Leicester Lions

• Kim Nilsson (7.60)
• Danny King (7.19)
• Erik Riss (6.53)
• Lasse Bjerre (6.52)
• Josh Bates (6.27)
• Paweł Przedpełski (6.00) (1 match only)
• Kyle Newman (5.78)
• Jason Garrity (5.54)
• Kacper Gomolski (5.00)
• Josh Auty (5.00) (2 matches only)
• Danny Ayres (4.40)

Poole Pirates

• Brady Kurtz (8.47)
• Hans Andersen (8.42)
• Lewis Kerr (7.80)
• Richie Worrall (7.07)
• Jack Holder (6.92)
• Timo Lahti (6.85)
• Paul Starke (6.60)
• Nicolai Klindt (6.48)
• Edward Kennett (6.43)
• Krzysztof Kasprzak (5.83)
• Grzegorz Zengota (5.23) (3 matches only)
• Kyle Newman (4.71)
• James Shanes (3.96)

Rye House Rockets

• Krzysztof Kasprzak (8.64)
• Chris Harris (8.47)
• Scott Nicholls (7.94)
• Ricky Wells (7.31)
• Edward Kennett (7.09)
• Ben Barker (6.93)
• Stuart Robson (6.83)
• Ellis Perks (5.23)
• Robert Branford (3.92)
• Ben Morley (3.29)
• Davey Watt (2.86) (2 matches only)

Somerset Rebels

• Josh Grajczonek (7.53)
• Charles Wright (7.21)
• Richard Lawson (6.79)
• Patrick Hougaard (6.67)
• Cameron Heeps (6.16)
• Lewis Kerr (5.93)
• Jake Allen (5.61)
• Rohan Tungate (5.33)
• Paul Starke (4.59)
• Jan Graversen (4.27)

Swindon Robins

• Jason Doyle (10.26)
• Nick Morris (9.42)
• Tobiasz Musielak (8.32)
• David Bellego (7.90)
• Adam Ellis (6.27)
• Bradley Wilson-Dean (5.05)
• Zach Wajtknecht (5.86)
• Dany Gappmaier (4.40) (2 matches only)
• Emil Grøndal (3.62)

Wolverhampton Wolves

• Fredrik Lindgren (9.95)
• Jacob Thorssell (9.33)
• Rory Schlein (8.61)
• Sam Masters (8.12)
• Kyle Howarth (7.78)
• Mark Riss (6.00)
• Adam Skornicki (3.75)
• Nathan Greaves (3.04)
• Max Clegg (2.25)
• Ellis Perks (1.45)

See also

• The second division of British speedway SGB Championship 2017
• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "British Speedway moves to BT Sport for 2017 season". Sport on the Box. 7 March 2017.
2. "2017 SGB CHAMPIONSHIP DECLARATIONS". Speedway GB.
3. "Recap: Coventry Bees axed from 2017 SGB Premiership: Updates and reaction". Coventry Telegraphy. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
4. "SGB Premiership 2017 Roll of Honour".
5. "BRITISH SPEEDWAY GETS MAJOR REVAMP". Speedway GB. Speedway GB. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
6. "2017 Champions". Swindon Robins.
7. "SPEEDWAY: Swindon Robins crowned champs after brilliant late rally at Wolverhampton". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard.
8. 2017 SGB Premiership League Table Retrieved From Official Speedway GB Website
9. All British Speedway Result Details Are Retrieved From Official Speedway GB Website:
   • March Results
   • April Results
   • May Results
   • June Results
   • July Results
   • August Results
   • September Results
   • October Results
10. "Advantage Swindon - By Two!". 12 September 2017.
11. "Robins Reach The Final". 26 September 2017.
12. "Advantage Wolves?". 26 September 2017.
13. "Wolves Book Grand Final Spot". 30 September 2017.
14. "Robins Won't Give Up". 3 October 2017.
15. "Robins Clinch The Crown". 5 October 2017.
16. "Lions Roar At Owlerton". 10 October 2017.
17. "Lions Survive". 17 October 2017.
18. "Wolves Lead By Ten". 11 October 2017.
19. "Aces Are Cup Kings". 17 October 2017.
20. "Advantage Wolves?". 28 March 2017.
21. "Pirates' Shield Success". 30 March 2017.
22. "Elite League Riders' Championship". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
23. "SGB Premiership Riders' Individual Championship" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
24. "Stars Win Pairs Championship". 31 March 2017.
25. "Premier ship pairs" (PDF). Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 7 October 2021.