The 2022 SGB Championship season is the 75th season of the second tier of British Speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Championship.
Summary Eleven clubs competed in the Championship in 2022, with Oxford returning to the sport after a 15-year absence. The Eastbourne Eagles and the Kent Kings did not compete in the 2022 edition, with the Kings riding in the National Development League as The Royals, and Eastbourne not riding at all.
Alongside the league and Knockout Cup, a new Summer competition was added in form of a group stage before a three team final at Sheffield. The tournament was called 'The Championship Jubilee League' which was eventually suspended until the 2023 season. However the additional fixtures created an issue due to the suspension of fixtures during the Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II and the heavy rain during October. In retrospect an additional event could have been added after the completion of the league and cup fixtures. Poole Pirates dominated the season again and successfully defended their league and knockout cup double crown.
Newcastle Diamonds withdrew from the Championship and closed their doors on June 21. Their results were expunged from the League and they were withdrawn from the Knockout Cup and Jubilee League.
League
Regular season League Table
Club Home Away 1 Leicester Lions (SF) 18 9 0 0 3 2 0 1 3 875 742 46 +133 2 Glasgow Tigers (SF) 18 8 1 0 2 2 0 1 4 876 744 40 +132 3 Poole Pirates (QF) 18 7 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 866 752 39 +114 4 Plymouth Gladiators (QF) 18 8 0 1 0 1 1 3 4 825 793 32 +32 5 Edinburgh Monarchs (QF) 18 7 0 2 1 1 0 4 3 806 803 32 +3 6 Redcar Bears (QF) 18 7 0 2 1 1 0 2 5 783 829 30 -46 7 Scunthorpe Scorpions 18 8 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 786 832 26 -46 8 Berwick Bandits 18 5 1 3 1 0 0 1 7 810 809 21 +1 9 Oxford Cheetahs 18 4 0 5 0 1 0 2 6 741 878 17 -137 10 Birmingham Brummies 18 4 0 5 0 1 0 1 7 716 902 16 -188
NOTE: Newcastle's results were expunged from the table on 28-06-22 following their withdrawal from the 2022 Championship.
(SF) = Qualification for the League Play-off Semi Finals (QF) = Qualification for the League Play-off Quarter Finals
Fixtures & Results
League Scoring System Home loss by any number of points = 0 Home draw = 1 Home win by any number of points = 3 Away loss by 7 points or more = 0 Away loss by 6 points or less = 1 Away draw = 2 Away win by between 1 and 6 points = 3 Away win by 7 points or more = 4
Play-offs
Home team scores are in bold Overall aggregate scores are in red
Grand Final First Leg
Second Leg
Knockout Cup The 2022 SGB Championship Knockout Cup was the 54th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams and the 5th edition under the SGB Championship Knockout Cup name.
Bracket
Home team scores are in bold Overall aggregate scores are in red
Final First Leg
Second Leg
Jubilee League
The three group winners were supposed to have met in a three-leg final, with each side hosting a leg. However, following the death of the Queen, the competition was initially suspended and then following fixture congestion and weather problems it was decided to hold the final the following season. The decision to hold the final seemed odd because Glasgow had pulled out and Leicester had moved leagues. It was eventually cancelled.
Group stage
Scottish Group
Fixtures
Table
Club Home Away 1 Glasgow Tigers (Q) 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 204 153 9 +51 2 Edinburgh Monarchs 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 184 176 9 +8 3 Berwick Bandits 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 149 208 0 -49
Northern Group
Fixtures
Table
Club Home Away 1 Leicester Lions (Q) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 190 170 7 +20 2 Scunthorpe Scorpions 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 173 187 7 -14 3 Redcar Bears 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 177 183 6 -6
Southern Group
Fixtures
Table
Club Home Away 1 Poole Pirates (Q) 6 3 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 321 219 19 +102 2 Oxford Cheetahs 6 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 288 252 11 +36 3 Birmingham Brummies 6 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 229 310 6 -81 4 Plymouth Gladiators 6 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 241 298 4 -57
Pairs Championship The 2022 edition of the SGB Championship Pairs Championship took place on Friday 12 August, at Oxford Stadium, Oxford.
Result
Group APosClubRidersPts 1st Leicester (Q)Richie Worrall & Nick Morris262nd Glasgow (Q)Benjamin Basso & Danyon Hume213rd Scunthorpe James Wright & Simon Lambert164th Edinburgh Paco Castagna & Kye Thomsen155th Birmingham Justin Sedgman & James Pearson12
Group BPosClubRidersPts 1st Redcar (Q)Charles Wright & Lewis Kerr252nd Poole (Q)Steve Worrall & Danny King223rd Berwick Chris Harris & Jye Etheridge224th Oxford Scott Nicholls & Aaron Summers135th Plymouth Adam Roynon & Ben Morley8
Semi Finals Team One Team Two Score Result Poole Leicester 6-3 S.Worrall, Morris, King, R.Worrall Redcar Glasgow 5-4 Basso, Wright, Kerr, Hume
Final Team One Team Two Score Result Redcar Poole 7-2 Wright, Kerr, King, Worrall (R)
Riders Championship The 2022 edition of the SGB Championship Riders Championship took place on Wednesday 24 August, at Poole Stadium, Poole.
Leading averages Final Averages - SGB Championship, Knockout Cup, Jubilee League and Play-Off Matches only. Rider Team Average1 Sam Masters Edinburgh 10.152 Richard Lawson Poole 9.923 Ryan Douglas Scunthorpe 9.854 Josh Pickering Edinburgh 9.345 Danny King Poole 9.086 Nick Morris Leicester 9.067 Kyle Howarth Leicester 9.02=8 Chris Harris Berwick 8.98=8 Craig Cook Glasgow 8.98=8 Steve Worrall Poole 8.98
Squads & final averages
Berwick Bandits (C) 8.98 7.05 6.76 6.61 6.59 5.52 4.97 2.63 2.22
Birmingham Brummies 8.13 7.34 5.85 5.48 (C) 5.38 5.06 3.76 2.94
Edinburgh Monarchs (C) 10.15 9.34 7.10 6.25 4.42 4.19 3.21
Glasgow Tigers (C) 8.98 8.30 7.42 7.40 6.55 5.93 5.55
Leicester Lions 9.06 (C) 9.02 8.87 6.27 5.63 5.51 5.00 4.68
Oxford Cheetahs (C) 8.62 8.39 7.82 5.60 5.52 5.28 5.26 2.00 0.40
Plymouth Gladiators 8.89 (C) 7.70 7.41 6.59 5.75 4.91 4.81 2.95 2.86 0.86
Poole Pirates 9.92 (C) 9.08 8.98 7.59 7.13 5.96 1.95
Redcar Bears 8.95 (C) 8.73 7.95 6.00 5.72 5.34 4.67 1.80
Scunthorpe Scorpions 9.85 7.20 7.09 6.29 (C) 5.88 5.86 5.47 5.36 4.35 2.62
See also List of United Kingdom speedway league champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References