2003 Elite League speedway season

The 2003 Elite League speedway season was the 69th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).[1][2][3]

2003 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupPoole Pirates
Riders ChampionshipLee Richardson
Highest averageJason Crump
Division/s belowPremier League
Conference League

Season summary

In 2003, the league decreased to eight teams, after the King's Lynn dropped to the Premier League and reverted back to their traditional name of Stars. They also lost the promotion of Nigel Wagstaff who took over at Oxford, which resulted in Oxford Cheetahs taking over the Silver Machine name from King's Lynn. King's Lynn's leading riders Nicki Pedersen and Sebastian Ułamek also switched to Oxford. Freddie Eriksson went to Ipswich. Oxford also brought in former World Champion Greg Hancock from Coventry but lost Leigh Adams and Lukáš Dryml to Poole.[4]

Poole's decision to recruit Adams and Dryml was instrumental because they went on to claim the title. Adams finished top of the league averages and he was backed up by their five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson and the vastly improved form of Magnus Zetterström. Poole went on to complete the double by winning the Knockout Cup.[5]

[6]

Final table
Pos M W D L F A Pts Bon Tot
1 Poole Pirates 28 20 1 7 1335 1182 41 11 52
2 Coventry Bees 28 17 0 11 1295 1224 34 9 43
3 Peterborough Panthers 28 16 0 12 1325 1195 32 8 40
4 Oxford Silver Machine 28 16 0 12 1295 1224 32 8 40
5 Wolverhampton Wolves 28 14 1 13 1248 1265 29 6 35
6 Eastbourne Eagles 28 12 1 15 1261 1250 25 7 32
7 Belle Vue Aces 28 9 1 18 1219 1298 19 5 24
8 Ipswich Witches 28 6 0 22 1088 1428 12 0 12
= Qualified for Play Offs

Play-offs

Semi-Final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.

Semi-finals

First leg
Coventry Bees
Andreas Jonsson 15
Lee Richardson 7
Jason Bunyan 7
Billy Hamill 6
Billy Janniro 4
Robson 4
Ryan Fisher 1		44 - 45Poole Pirates
Tony Rickardsson 11
Todd Wiltshire 9
Leigh Adams 7
Bjarne Pedersen 6
Dryml 4
Davey Watt 4
Antonio Lindbäck 4

Second leg
Poole Pirates
Dryml 14
Tony Rickardsson 13
Leigh Adams 11
Mark Loram 8
Bjarne Pedersen 5
Antonio Lindbäck 4
Davey Watt 0		55 - 35Coventry Bees
Andreas Jonsson 13
Ryan Fisher 6
Billy Janniro 6
Lee Richardson 4
Joe Screen 3
Robson 2
Jason Bunyan 1

The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 100-79.

Leading averages
Rider Team Average
Jason CrumpBelle Vue10.79
Leigh AdamsPoole10.14
Magnus ZetterströmPoole10.07
Tony RickardssonPoole9.64
Scott NichollsIpswich9.41
Nicki PedersenOxford9.33
Mikael MaxWolverhampton9.28
Greg HancockOxford9.28
Ryan SullivanPeterborough9.23
Billy HamillCoventry9.23

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2003 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 65th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.[7]

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
23/05Peterborough52-38Coventry
09/05Oxford55-35Ipswich
05/05Ipswich41-49Oxford
21/04Coventry52-38Peterborough
21/04Wolverhampton57-33Belle Vue
18/04Belle Vue49-41Wolverhampton
18/04Eastbourne40-32Poole
18/04Poole56-34Eastbourne
10/09
(replay)		Peterborough44-46Coventry
03/09
(replay)		Coventry61-29Peterborough

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
11/10Coventry50-40Wolverhampton
10/10Oxford46-44Poole
08/10Wolverhampton48-41Coventry
15/09Poole56-34Oxford

First leg
Poole Pirates
Tony Rickardsson 13
Leigh Adams 12
Mark Loram 8
Dryml 5
Bjarne Pedersen 3
Garry Stead 3
Antonio Lindbäck 2		46 - 42Coventry Bees
Billy Janniro 14
Lee Richardson 10
Ryan Fisher 8
Andreas Jonsson 7
Jason Bunyan 2
Robson 1
R/R

Second leg
Coventry Bees
Andreas Jonsson 12
Ryan Fisher 10
Lee Richardson 7
Mikael Max 7
Billy Janniro 7
Jason Bunyan 2
Robson 1		46 - 44Poole Pirates
Leigh Adams 12
Tony Rickardsson 12
Bjarne Pedersen 8
Mark Loram 6
Garry Stead 3
Dryml 2
Antonio Lindbäck 1

The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-88.

Teams

Belle Vue Aces

Coventry Bees

Eastbourne Eagles

Ipswich Witches

Oxford Silver Machine

Peterborough Panthers

Poole Pirates

Wolverhampton Wolves

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "2003 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 175–177. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. Bamford, Robert (2005). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2005. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-3396-2.
  7. "2003 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
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