The 2014 Premier League was the second division of British speedway.
Summary The season took place between March and October 2014. The Somerset Rebels were the defending champions after winning in 2013. This season saw a change to the line-up of teams, with the Peterborough Panthers dropping down from the Elite League and replacing the Leicester Lions who moved up to take Peterborough's place in the Elite League.
Edinburgh Monarchs, led by Craig Cook and Sam Masters won the treble of League, Knockout Cup and League Cup, while going on a 27 match unbeaten run. Masters and Max Fricke also won the Premier Pairs.
Final League table
Pos Club M Home Away F A Pts 3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L1 Edinburgh Monarchs2814 0 0 0 4 42 0 4 1465 1108 742 Somerset Rebels28140004203513391083673Ipswich Witches28110303203613391212574 Berwick Bandits28103014101812821247565 Scunthorpe Scorpions28112012102913101267506 Workington Comets2792121102911911241417 Peterborough Panthers28741210031012281300378 Newcastle Diamonds2891130014912771272369 Plymouth Devils2810103000212122413043410 Redcar Bears28 450510139119413033111 Glasgow Tigers27 6304101111114513143112 Sheffield Tigers28 5405001013116413632513 Rye House Rockets2880060001131164141825
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 & results
'B' Fixtures & results 4 extra random matches per team were held counting towards the league standings
Play Offs Group 1 Pos Team P 3w 2w D L 4w 3w D 1L L F A Pts 1 Edinburgh 4200011000212158132 Workington 410010000217219633 Berwick 41001000021702003 Group 2 Pos Team P 3w 2w D L 4w 3w D 1L L F A Pts 1 Somerset 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 202 166 7 2 Ipswich42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 191 177 63 Scunthorpe 41 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 157 207 5
Final First leg
Second leg
Edinburgh were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 96–95.
Premier League Knockout Cup The 2014 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 47th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Edinburgh Monarchs were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two26/06 Sheffield 45-45 Berwick15/06 Glasgow 53-37 Rye House14/06 Rye House 50-40 Glasgow26/05 Scunthorpe 46-44 Peterborough20/05 Peterborough 46-43 Scunthorpe09/05 Somerset 60-30 Workington08/05 Redcar47-43 Plymouth03/05 Berwick 54-36 Sheffield03/05 Workington 52-38 Somerset25/04 Plymouth 49-41 Redcar Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two28/09 Glasgow35-55 Newcastle15/09 Newcastle 53-37 Glasgow25/07 Edinburgh 67-23 Berwick23/07 Berwick 51-39 Edinburgh03/06 Peterborough 46-44 Plymouth06/06 Plymouth 50-40 Peterborough13/06 Somerset 49-41 Ipswich05/06 Ipswich 65-25 Somerset Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two12/10 Newcastle 44-46 Edinburgh10/10 Edinburgh 62-27 Newcastle26/09 Plymouth 47-43 Ipswich11/09 Ipswich 65-25 Plymouth
Final First leg
Second leg
Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 105–75.
Riders' Championship Simon Stead won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 21 September at Owlerton Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final1 Simon Stead 3 3 3 3 1 13-32 Danny King 3 3 2 3 3 14-23 Ulrich Østergaard 1 1 3 2 310214 Richard Lawson 3 3 1 3 1 11305 Stuart Robson 2 2 2 2 2 1016 Craig Cook 3 1 2 1 3 1007 Lasse Bjerre 1 2 0 2 3 8 8 Kyle Newman 1 2 2 0 2 79 Jason Garrity 2 1 1 1 1 610 Theo Pijper 2 1 1 2 0 6 11 Matěj Kůs 0 2 1 3 0 612 Nick Morris 0 0 3 1 2 6 13 Josh Grajczonek 2 3 0 0 4 14 Steve Worrall 1 0 0 0 2 3 15 Ryan Douglas 0 fx 3 0 316 Morten Risager 0 0 0 1 1 2 17 Nathan Greaves (res)0 018 James Sarjeant (res)0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Oaktree Arena on 11 July. The event was won by Edinburgh Monarchs.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Workington 21 Grajczonek 13, Bach 82Redcar 21 Lawson 13, Summers 83Peterborough 20 Bjerre 13, Ostergaard 74Ipswich17 Tungate 8, Risager 85Newcastle11 Robson 6 Kerr 5
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Somerset 25 Allen 13, Morris 122Edinburgh 20 Masters 11, Fricke 93Sheffield 17 Stead 10, Lanham 74Berwick 15 Bellego 9, Vissing 65Plymouth 13 Newman 10, Jensen 3
Semi finals Somerset bt Workington 7–2 Edinburgh bt Redcar 7–2
Final Edinburgh bt Somerset 5–4
Fours Somerset Rebels won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, held on 3 August 2014, at the East of England Arena.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Somerset 14Allen 5, Morris 4, Aspgren 3, Kurtz B 22 Scunthorpe 13Jorgensen 5, Douglas 4, Howe 2, Birks 23 Peterborough11 Bjerre 3, Ostergaard 3, Blackbird 3, Dryml 24 Newcastle 10King 5, Kerr 2, Robson 2, Lindgren 1
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Edinburgh 14 Masters 5, Sedgmen 5, Cook 4, Worrall S 02 Workington 14 Grajczonek 5, Bach 3, Wells 3, Howarth 2 Campton 13 Redcar 11 Lawson 4, Wilkinson 3, Skidmore 2, Summers 24 Berwick 9 Bellego 3, Kus 3, Doolan 2, Vissing 1, Wethers 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Somerset 24Allen 8, Morris 7, Aspgren 5, Wright 4, Kurtz B 02 Workington 18 Grajczonek 7, Bach 6, Howarth 4, Wells 1 3 Scunthorpe 15 Howe 6, Douglas 4, Birks 3, Jorgensen 24 Edinburgh 15 Worrall S 5, Sedgmen 4, Masters 3, Cook 3,
Final Leading averages Rider Team Average Craig Cook Edinburgh 10.41 Simon Stead Sheffield 9.70 Ben Barker Plymouth 9.48 Danny KingNewcastle 9.34 Richard Lawson Redcar 9.31 Sam Masters Edinburgh 9.12 Lasse Bjerre Peterborough 9.02 Oliver Allen Somerset 8.83 Max Fricke Edinburgh 8.76 Edward Kennett Rye House 8.70
Riders & final averages Berwick
8.11 7.67 7.24 6.83 6.64 6.31 4.94 2.61
Edinburgh
10.41 9.12 8.76 8.67 8.31 5.44 4.00
Glasgow
7.31 6.97 6.53 6.28 5.64 5.21 5.20 5.00 2.53
Ipswich
8.06 8.00 7.98 6.84 6.29 6.14 6.10
Newcastle
9.34 8.59 7.81 7.41 6.98 6.59 5.28 4.90 4.41 4.39
Peterborough
9.02 8.40 8.00 7.90 7.17 5.85 4.71 4.31 4.06 3.80 3.14
Plymouth
9.48 7.18 6.81 6.80 6.41 5.97 5.84 3.73 1.53
Redcar
9.31 8.02 7.23 6.07 5.99 5.41 3.03 2.89
Rye House
8.70 7.10 6.33 5.81 5.33 5.32 5.32 4.25 1.50
Scunthorpe
7.85 7.54 7.49 7.14 7.13 6.71 2.21
Sheffield
9.70 6.28 6.15 5.96 5.60 5.54 4.84 4.28 3.91
Somerset
8.83 8.34 8.19 7.74 7.55 6.79 5.93
Workington
9.04 7.88 7.49 6.79 5.76 5.54 5.54 4.58 3.24
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References