1994 British League season

1994 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors11
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupEastbourne Eagles
FoursPoole Pirates
IndividualSam Ermolenko
Highest averagePer Jonsson
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)
British League (Div 3)

The 1994 British League season was the 60th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 30th and final season known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary

[edit]

Poole Pirates dominated the league and won the title finishing 15 points clear of nearest rivals Eastbourne Eagles. The Pirates last top league success had been back in 1969 and it was thanks to solid performances throughout the season from their Australian pair; new signing from Swindon Jason Crump and Craig Boyce. They were backed up by Norwegian Lars Gunnestad and Londoner Steve Schofield.[3]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Poole Pirates 40 30 1 9 16 77
2 Eastbourne Eagles 40 23 2 15 14 62
3 Wolverhampton Wolves 40 20 2 18 12 54
4 Coventry Bees 40 19 3 18 11 52
5 King's Lynn Stars 40 20 1 19 10 51
6 Ipswich Witches 40 19 2 19 10 50
7 Bradford Dukes 40 18 1 21 11 48
8 Arena Essex Hammers 40 19 0 21 8 46
9 Cradley Heath Heathens 40 16 3 21 7 42
10 Reading Racers 40 14 2 24 6 36
11 Belle Vue Aces 40 13 1 26 5 32

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

British League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1994 British League Knockout Cup was the 56th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners for a third consecutive year.[4]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/04 Eastbourne 59-37 Belle Vue
23/04 Kings Lynn 58-38 Poole
21/04 Ipswich 61-33 Cradley Heath
20/04 Poole 56-40 Kings Lynn
16/04 Cradley Heath 70-25 Ipswich
13/04 Belle Vue 47-49 Eastbourne

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
28/06 Coventry 58-37 Reading
15/06 Kings Lynn 61-35 Bradford
14/06 Bradford 49-47 Kings Lynn
28/05 Eastbourne 51-45 Wolverhampton
23/05 Reading 52-43 Coventry
16/05 Wolverhampton 50-46 Eastbourne
14/05 Cradley Heath 59-24 Arena Essex
13/05 Arena Essex 52-44 Cradley Heath

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
31/07 Eastbourne 55-41 Kings Lynn
30/07 Kings Lynn 55-41 Eastbourne
16/07 Coventry 48-47 Cradley Heath
02/07 Cradley Heath 55-41 Coventry
29/08 Kings Lynn 45-51 Eastbourne
28/08 Eastbourne 62-33 Kings Lynn

Final

[edit]

First leg

Eastbourne Eagles
Martin Dugard 14
Dean Barker 12
Stefan Danno 12
Paul Dugard 8
David Norris 7
Stefan Andersson 5
Scott Swain 1		59 - 37Cradley Heath
Greg Hancock 13
Peter Nahlin 9
Billy Hamill 7
Simon Cross 6
Jonathan Forsgren 2
Scott Smith 0
Lance Sealey 0
[5]

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Simon Cross 14
Billy Hamill 14
Peter Nahlin 9
Greg Hancock 7
Jonathan Forsgren 4
Scott Smith 1
Lance Sealey 0		49 - 47Eastbourne Eagles
Martin Dugard 10
Dean Barker 10
Stefan Danno 9
David Norris 8
Stefan Andersson 4
Paul Dugard 3
Scott Swain 3
[5]

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 106-86.

Fours

[edit]

Poole Pirates won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.[6]

Final

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Poole 28 Crump 9, Boyce 7, Rossiter 6, Schofield 6
2 Cradley 20 Nahlin 8, Cross 7, Hamill 3, Hancock 2
3 Eastbourne 15 Norris 5, Barker 4, Dugard 4, Andersson 2
4 Coventry 9 Jørgensen 6, Andersen 2, Olsen 1, Tacey 0, Spicer 0

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Sam Ermolenko won the British League Riders' Championship. It was held at Abbey Stadium on 9 October.[7]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 United States Sam Ermolenko 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 Denmark Hans Nielsen 3 3 3 1 3 13
3 England Martin Dugard 1 3 3 2 2 11
4 England Mark Loram 2 1 1 3 3 10
5 England David Norris 1 2 1 3 2 9
6 Australia Leigh Adams 0 0 3 3 3 9
7 United States Greg Hancock 3 2 1 1 2 9
8 Australia Craig Boyce 2 3 2 1 1 9
9 England Joe Screen 3 0 2 2 0 7
10 England Gary Havelock 1 1 2 2 1 7
11 Sweden Peter Karlsson 2 2 2 0 1 7
12 England Chris Louis 2 1 1 2 0 6
13 Australia Jason Crump 1 2 0 0 2 5
14 England Michael Coles 0 0 0 1 0 1
15 England Paul Bentley 0 1 0 0 1 2
16 England Dave Mullett 0 0 0 0 0 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Leading averages

[edit]
Rider Team Average
Sweden Per Jonsson Reading 10.41
Sweden Tony Rickardsson Ipswich 10.00
Denmark Hans Nielsen Coventry 9.98
United States Sam Ermolenko Wolverhampton 9.83
Australia Leigh Adams Arena Essex 9.79
England Joe Screen Bradford 9.65
Sweden Henrik Gustafsson Belle Vue 9.64
England Gary Havelock Bradford 9.59
England Mark Loram Kings Lynn 9.46
England Martin Dugard Eastbourne 9.33
Australia Jason Crump Poole 9.30
United States Greg Hancock Cradley Heath 9.29
England David Norris Eastbourne 9.18
Australia Craig Boyce Poole 9.08

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Arena Essex

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Poole

Reading

Wolverhampton

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ^ "1994 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ "1994 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ a b "Coventry Bees 1988 season". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  6. ^ "1994 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Hans taped by old rival Sam". Heartland Evening News. 10 October 1994. Retrieved 6 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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