The 2009 Elite League speedway season (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) was the 75th season of the top division of UK speedway and the 13th since its establishment as the Elite League in 1997.
Summary The first fixtures of the season took place on 30 March and the season ended on 12 October. The Poole Pirates were the defending champions from 2008.
Leigh Adams had a stellar season, he once again topped the league averages and became the Australian Champion for the 10th time. He also won the Elite League Riders Championship and nearly led Swindon to a title success, before losing in the play off final to Wolverhampton Wolves. Wolves continued their success of recent years courtesy of heavy scoring throughout the season by Freddie Lindgren, Peter Karlsson and their new signing Tai Woffinden.
Lee Richardson top scored for the Lakeside Hammers during the season and the team claimed their first top tier trophy in their history when winning the Knockout Cup.
League table Pos Club M Home Away F A +/- Pts 3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L1 Swindon Robins 32150015305316021331792 Wolverhampton Wolves 32151004214515801361753 Lakeside Hammers3294212114915111437544 Coventry Bees3275222213814511456525 Peterborough Panthers321040202031114631484476 Ipswich Witches32930410121214311498417 Eastbourne Eagles32901601211213931527368 Poole Pirates32532610131113911526329 Belle Vue Aces3246061101131373157532
Key: Championship play-offs Relegation 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
'A' Fixtures
'B' Fixtures
Championship play-offs
Semi-finals
Leg 1
Leg 2
Grand final
First leg
1 Freddie Lindgren 3, 3, 2', 3, 3 14+1 2 Nicolai Klindt 1, 1, 0, 3 5 3 Adam Skornicki 3, 3, 1', 3 10+1 4 Tai Woffinden F, 2', 2, 3 7+1 5 Peter Karlsson 2, 3, 3, 2', 0 10+1 6 Chris Kerr 3, 0, 0 37 Ty Proctor 1, F, 1, 2', 1 5+1Manager: Peter Adams
1 Leigh Adams 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 8 2 Ryan Fisher 0, 0, 3, 1' 4+1 3 Travis McGowan 1', 1', 0, 0 2+2 4 Simon Stead 2, 2, 1, 4^ 9 5 Matej Zagar 3, 2, 3, 0^, 1' 9+1 6 Paul Hurry 0, 0, 0 07 Morten Risager 2, 1, 2', 1, 0 6+1Manager: Alun Rossiter
Second leg
1 Leigh Adams 2, 3, 3, 2, 2' 12+1 3 Travis McGowan 1', 1, 3, 2' 7+2 2 Ryan Fisher 2, 0, 1', 2 5+1 4 Simon Stead 0, 3, 2, 2 7 5 Matej Zagar 3, 2, 3, 1', 3 12+1 6 Cory Gathercole 1, 0, 1 27 Morten Risager 3, 0, 2', 1', 1' 7+3Manager: Alun Rossiter
1 Freddie Lindgren 3, 2, 2, 3, 0 10 2 Nicolai Klindt 0, 1', 0, 0 1+1 3 Adam Skornicki 1, 1, 1, 6^ 9 4 Tai Woffinden 3, 3, 0, 3, 1 10 5 Peter Karlsson 2, 2, 3, 0 7 6 Chris Kerr 0, 0, 0 07 Ty Proctor 2, 1', 1, 0, 0 4+1
Wolverhampton were declared Elite League Champions, on Aggregate 95-90.
Knockout Cup The 2009 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 71st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams.
First round Date Team one Score Team two29/05 Ipswich 45-48 Belle Vue20/04 Belle Vue 53-40 Ipswich Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two26/03 Peterborough 43-47 Coventry27/03 Coventry 53-37 Peterborough26/03 Swindon 57-36 Wolverhampton06/04 Wolverhampton 53-40 Swindon27/03 Lakeside 57-38 Eastbourne28/03 Eastbourne 50-43 Lakeside24/06 Poole 44-49 Belle Vue27/06 Belle Vue 54-41 Poole Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two21/08 Coventry 51-39 Belle Vue05/10 Belle Vue 48-42 Coventry12/06 Lakeside 49-41 Swindon11/06 Swindon 44-46 Lakeside
Final
First leg
Second leg
The Lakeside Hammers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 108-77.
Riders' Championship Leigh Adams won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 2 October.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Leigh Adams 3 3 3 0 3 12 232 Chris Harris 2 3 2 3 3 13x 23 Chris Holder 3 1 3 3 3 13 x14 Freddie Lindgren 2 3 3 2 1 11 3 05 Edward Kennett 3 3 1 1 2 10 1 6 Scott Nicholls 2 2 3 1 3 11 0 7 Matej Žagar 2 0 2 3 2 9 8 Niels Kristian Iversen 3 2 1 2 1 9 9 Hans Andersen 1 2 2 2 1 8 10 Robert Miśkowiak 1 1 0 3 2 7 11 Adam Skórnicki 1 0 2 2 5 12 Mads Korneliussen 1 2 1 0 0 4 13 Davey Watt 1 0 1 1 0 3 14 Jonas Davidsson 0 0 2 0 0 2 15 James Wright 0 1 0 0 1 16 Josh Auty 0 1 1 17 Joe Haines (res) 0 1 1
Pairs The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Arlington Stadium on 8 August and was won by Poole Pirates.
PosTeamPtsRiders1 Lakeside 24 Richardson 19, Davidsson 92Poole 22 Andersen 19, Holder 133 Coventry 21 Harris 15, Kennett 104 Eastbourne 21 Watt 20, Bridger 105 Wolves 19 Lindgren 11, Karlsson 86 Peterborough 18 Iversen 12 Bjerre 67 Ipswich 15 Batchelor 8, Nicholls 78 Swindon 11Adams 9, McGowan 29Belle Vue 8 Wright J 4, Risager 4
Semi finals Eastbourne 5 Lakeside 4 - Richardson, Watt, Bridger, Davidsson Poole 5 Coventry 4 - Harris, Holder, Andersen, Kennett
Final Poole 5 Eastbourne 4 - Watt, Holder, Andersen, Bridger
Final leading averages Rider Team Average Freddie LindgrenWolverhampton10.64 Leigh Adams Swindon 10.33 Hans AndersenPoole 9.77 Matej Žagar Swindon 9.57 Scott NichollsIpswich9.39 Jarosław HampelIpswich 9.30 Chris Holder Poole 9.19 Peter KarlssonWolverhampton9.19 Lee Richardson Lakeside8.86 Chris Harris Coventry8.74
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
11.48 (5 matches only) 8.67 7.09 6.65 6.41 6.40 6.38 6.12 6.11 4.18 2.95 2.15
Coventry
8.74 8.58 8.28 7.68 7.59 6.65 4.72 4.30 4.24 2.72
Eastbourne
7.63 7.46 6.86 6.64 6.09 5.65 5.08 3.90
Ipswich
9.39 9.30 8.00 8.27 7.40 6.23 6.11 4.86 4.64 4.21 4.16
Lakeside
8.86 8.72 8.46 8.36 6.78 6.26 5.23 4.97 3.78
Peterborough
8.26 8.12 6.88 6.80 5.71 5.50 5.02
Poole
9.77 9.19 8.31 7.07 4.31 4.00 3.85 3.79 3.41 3.15 2.14
Swindon
10.33 9.57 7.38 7.22 7.12 6.88 6.59 6.31 6.00 4.36 4.12
Wolverhampton
10.64 9.19 8.30 7.27 6.03 5.88 2.77 1.88
See also Speedway in the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References