1999 Premier League speedway season

1999 Premier League speedway season
League	Premier League
Champions	Sheffield Tigers
Knockout Cup	Edinburgh Monarchs
Young Shield	Sheffield Tigers
Individual	Sean Wilson
Pairs	Workington Comets
Fours	Sheffield Tigers
Highest average	Sean Wilson
Division/s above	1999 Elite League
Division/s below	1999 Conference League
	← 1998; 2000 →;

The 1999 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

Season summary

The League consisted of 13 teams for the 1999 season with the addition of the Swindon Robins who dropped down from the Elite League and a new team, the Workington Comets who replaced the Hull Vikings and the Peterborough Panthers who moved up to the Elite League.

The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Sheffield Tigers.^[1]

Final table

Pos		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Bon	Tot
1	Sheffield Tigers	24	18	2	4	1229	930	38	12	50
2	Newport Wasps	24	16	1	7	1152	1023	33	9	42
3	Edinburgh Monarchs	24	14	0	10	1151	1024	28	9	37
4	Swindon Robins	24	11	1	12	1110	1061	23	9	32
5	Newcastle Diamonds	24	11	1	12	1103	1066	23	8	31
6	Exeter Falcons	24	13	0	11	1071	1087	26	5	31
7	Berwick Bandits	24	13	1	10	1024	1140	27	4	31
8	Isle of Wight Islanders	24	11	1	12	1085	1078	23	7	30
9	Arena Essex Hammers	24	12	1	11	1081	1081	25	5	30
10	Stoke Potters	24	10	0	14	1026	1138	20	4	24
11	Workington Comets	24	8	1	15	1039	1132	17	3	20
12	Glasgow Tigers	24	9	0	15	999	1160	18	1	19
13	Reading Racers	24	5	1	18	1004	1154	11	2	13

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away	AE	BER	ED	EX	GLA	IOW	ND	NW	RR	SHE	STO	SWI	WOR
Arena Essex Hammers		59–32	45–48	58–32	46–45	46–44	46–43	47–43	48–42	45–45	54–35	51–39	55–35
Berwick Bandits	47–42		53–37	43–49	49–41	52–38	46–44	45–45	39–33	46–44	48–44	49–41	50–40
Edinburgh Monarchs	56–34	58–32		59–31	48–41	63–27	46–50	56–33	49–40	58–32	65–25	62–28	53–37
Exeter Falcons	42–48	52–38	53–37		62–27	50–40	50–40	46–44	55–35	50–40	52–38	45–44	59–31
Glasgow Tigers	46–44	46–43	49–43	46–44		46–43	46–44	42–48	42–48	44–46	48–43	46–44	46–42
Isle of Wight Islanders	54–36	55–35	59–31	44–46	48–42		41–49	48–42	51–38	43–48	53–36	46–43	55–35
Newcastle Diamonds	50–40	42–47	48–42	52–38	57–32	45–45		44–48	54–36	44–46	53–37	46–44	54–38
Newport Wasps	48–42	62–28	54–38	51–39	47–46	42–48	49–41		59–31	52–38	52–38	51–39	54–36
Reading Racers	43–47	43–47	51–39	50–40	53–38	43–47	49–44	42–48		40–49	46–47	45–47	43–47
Sheffield Tigers	62–38	68–22	60–30	57–32	62–28	54–36	56–33	54–36	55–35		56–34	61–29	49–41
Stoke Potters	46–44	59–33	39–52	58–31	50–39	48–45	48–43	43–47	47–37	43–47		47–43	48–42
Swindon Robins	53–37	53–37	49–41	52–38	53–37	58–32	52–38	43–50	56–36	45–45	57–34		54–39
Workington Comets	51–39	45–48	43–46	55–35	53–36	50–43	44–46	49–42	45–45	42–49	51–39	48–44

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

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 1999 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 32nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Edinburgh Monarchs were the winners of the competition.^[3]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
17/05	Reading	53-37	Glasgow
23/05	Glasgow	37-46	Reading
21/05	Edinburgh	53-31	Newcastle
23/05	Newcastle	42-27	Edinburgh
23/05	Newport	47-43	Stoke
22/05	Stoke	46-44	Newport
20/05	Sheffield	52-38	Isle of Wight
18/05	Isle of Wight	42-48	Sheffield
24/05	Exeter	67-23	Workington
12/06	Workington	48-42	Exeter

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
12/07	Reading	46-44	Sheffield
15/07	Sheffield	55-35	Reading
16/07	Edinburgh	57-33	Newport
04/07	Newport	53-37	Edinburgh
09/07	Arena Essex	55-35	Swindon
29/07	Swindon	53-37	Arena Essex
28/06	Exeter	63-37	Berwick
26/06	Berwick	49-40	Exeter

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
20/08	Edinburgh	56-34	Sheffield
26/08	Sheffield	55-35	Edinburgh
20/08	Arena Essex	50-39	Exeter
23/08	Exeter	46-44	Arena Essex

Final

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/09	Edinburgh	54-36	Arena Essex
16/10	Arena Essex	49-41	Edinburgh

First leg

25 September 1999

Edinburgh Monarchs Peter Carr 14 Blair Scott 13 James Grieves 12 Ross Brady 8 Kevin Little 7 Justin Elkins 0 Brian Turner 0	54 – 36	Arena Essex Hammers Leigh Lanham 10 Gary Corbett 9 Colin White 8 John Wainwright 4 Troy Pratt 3 Roger Lobb 1 Matt Read 1
	^[4]^[5]

Armadale Stadium

Second leg

16 October 1999

Arena Essex Hammers Leigh Lanham 12 Troy Pratt 12 Colin White 10 Gary Corbett 5 Roger Lobb 5 Matt Read 4 John Wainwright 1	49 – 41	Edinburgh Monarchs James Grieves 11 Ross Brady 9 Peter Carr 8 Kevin Little 8 Phil Ambrose 4 Blair Scott 2 Justin Elkins R/R
	^[4]^[5]

Arena Essex Raceway

Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95–85.

Riders' Championship

Sean Wilson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 12 September at Owlerton Stadium.^[6]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total	SF	Final
1	Sean Wilson	3 1 3 3 3	13	-	3
2	Jesper Olsen	2 3 3 3 2	13	3	2
3	Craig Watson	3 2 2 0 3	10	2	1
4	Carl Stonehewer	3 3 3 1 3	13	-	0
5	Michael Coles	3 1 1 3 3	11	1
6	Paul Pickering	2 3 3 2 1	11	0
7	Glenn Cunningham	2 2 2 1 2	9
8	Peter Carr	ex 3 2 2 2	9
9	Les Collins	1 ex 2 2 2	7
10	Anders Henriksson	1 0 1 3 1	6
11	Phil Morris	1 1 1 2 0	5
12	Paul Bentley	1 2 0 1 1	5
13	Leigh Lanham	ex 2 0 1 1	4
14	James Grieves	2 0 0 0 0	2
15	Neville Tatum	0 1 1 0 0	2
16	David Meldrum	0 0 0 0 0	0

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

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Hayley Stadium on 25 July. The event was won by Workington Comets.^[7]^[8]

Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Workington	38	Stonehewer 20, Werner 18
2	Arena Essex	31	Lanham 18, White 13
3	Newport	28	Smart 18, Watson 10
5	Edinburgh	24	Grieves 20, Little 4
u	Sheffield	?	Wilson, Compton
u	Glasgow	?	Collins, Sanchez
u	Newcastle	?	Olsen, Eriksson

Fours

Sheffield Tigers won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 29 August 1999, at the East of England Arena.^[9]

Group A
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	isle of Wight	17	Swain 6, Berge 5, Tatum 4, Carter 2
2	Newport	13	Henriksson 5, Appleton 4, Watson 3, Smart 1
3	Swindon	12	Bishop 5, Collins N 3, Masters 2, Cunningham 2
4	Edinburgh	6	Little 4, Grieves 1, Carr P 1, Brady 0

Group B
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Sheffield	16	Compton 5, Wilson 4, Stead 4, Smith 3
2	Arena Essex	14	Lanham 6, White 4, Lobb 2, Pratt 2
3	Newcastle	11	Olsen 6, Walsh 3, Eriksson 2, Swales 0
4	Glasgow	7	Collins L 4, Bentley 3, Beveridge 0, Felton 0

Final
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Sheffield	28	Smith 8, Compton 7, Stead 6, Wilson 5, Lee 2
2	Newport	24	Watson 9, Smart 8, Henriksson 5, Appleton 2
3	Isle of Wight	10	Lanham 3, White 3, Lobb 3, Pratt 1
4	Arena Essex	10	Tatum 4, Carter 2, Berge 2, Swain 2

Final leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
Sean Wilson	Sheffield	10.56
Carl Stonehewer	Workington	9.92
Paul Bentley	Glasgow	9.76
Jesper Olsen	Newcastle	9.68
Peter Carr	Edinburgh	9.59
Craig Watson	Newport	9.59
Petri Kokko	Reading	9.42
Michael Coles	Exeter	9.36
Les Collins	Glasgow	9.23
Leigh Lanham	Arena Essex	9.10

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

Leigh Lanham 9.10
Colin White 8.76
Troy Pratt 7.19
Gary Corbett 5.99
Matt Read 5.37
Roger Lobb 5.33
John Wainwright 3.59

Berwick

Scott Lamb 8.65
Mick Powell 8.63
Alan Mogridge 7.05
Claus Kristensen 6.20
David Meldrum 6.09
Tom P. Madsen 6.04
Wesley Waite 4.33
Dean Felton 4.04
Freddie Stephenson 3.35
Phil Pickering 2.27

Edinburgh

Peter Carr 9.59
James Grieves 9.02
Kevn Little 7.84
Ross Brady 6.99
Blair Scott 5.67
Stewart McDonald 5.32
David McAllan 4.06
Jonathan Swales 2.88
James Birkinshaw 2.52
Justin Elkins 1.91

Exeter

Michael Coles 9.36
Mark Simmonds 8.03
Graeme Gordon 7.75
Lee Dicken 6.46
Wayne Barrett 5.39
Chris Harris 4.86
Gary Lobb 4.03
Chris Courage 2.24

Glasgow

Paul Bentley 9.76
Les Collins 9.23
Mick Powell 8.16
Emiliano Sanchez 7.14
Will Beveridge 6.28
Sean Courtney 4.48
Brian Turner 3.59
Stuart Coleman 2.25
Jitendra Duffill 1.36
Scott Courtney 1.14

Isle of Wight

Neville Tatum 8.54
Scott Swain 8.02
Philippe Bergé 7.46
Danny Bird 6.39
Wayne Carter 5.74
Tommy Palmer 5.70
Nick Simmons 4.45
Jeremy Barraud 2.67
Glen Phillips 1.47

Newcastle

Jesper Olsen 9.68
Robert Eriksson 8.93
David Walsh 8.82
Stuart Swales 7.67
Derrol Keats 5.75
Paul Gould 5.60
Jonathan Swales 3.89
Anthony Barlow 3.55
Steven Jones 3.51

Newport

Craig Watson 9.59
Anders Henriksson 9.02
Emil Lindqvist 8.86
Frank Smart 8.51
Scott Pegler 6.61
Bjorn Gustafsson 5.58
Chris Neath 5.50
Andrew Appleton 5.47
Bobby Eldridge 3.75

Reading

Petri Kokko 9.42
Dave Mullett 9.04
Per Wester 9.00
Phil Morris 7.49
Paul Clews 5.70
Justin Elkins 5.59
Jarno Kosonen 4.51
Marc Norris 3.83
Shane Colvin 2.35
Peter Collyer 1.81

Sheffield

Sean Wilson 10.56
Andre Compton 9.00
Scott Smith 8.05
Simon Stead 7.76
Paul Lee 5.96
Simon Cartwright 5.54
Peter Boast 3.69
Adam Allott 3.00

Stoke

Paul Pickering 9.03
Mark Burrows 6.55
Paul Fry 6.47
Tony Atkin 6.21
Jon Armstrong 5.92
Joachim Kugelmann 5.44
Rene Aas 5.01
Rob Clarence 3.51
Wayne Broadhurst 3.41

Swindon

Glenn Cunningham 8.81
Neil Collins 8.13
Steve Masters 7.96
Oliver Allen 5.67
Seemond Stephens 5.45
Steve Bishop 5.16
Krister Marsh 4.92

Workington

Carl Stonehewer 9.92
Brent Werner 7.70
Peter Ingvar Karlsson 6.36
Grant MacDonald 6.00
Barry Campbell 5.12
Peter Scully 5.00
Geoff Powell 4.44
Darren Groves 4.34
Wayne Broadhurst 3.07
James Birkinshaw 2.74
Mark Blackwell 2.21

References

^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
^ "1999 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
^ "1999 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^ ^a ^b "1999 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Edinburgh fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
^ "Wilson on top". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 13 September 1999. Retrieved 25 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "1999 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
^ "Speedway". Reading Evening Post. 26 July 1999. Retrieved 27 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Wasps speed wat to Premier Fours runners-up spot". South Wales Echo. 30 August 1999. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.