1994 British League season
The 1994 British League season was the 60th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 30th and final season known as the British League.[1][2]
| League | British League |
|---|---|
| No. of competitors | 11 |
| Champions | Poole Pirates |
| Knockout Cup | Eastbourne Eagles |
| Fours | Poole Pirates |
| Individual | Sam Ermolenko |
| Highest average | Per Jonsson |
| Division/s below | British League (Div 2) British League (Div 3) |
Summary
Poole Pirates dominated the league and won the title finishing 15 points clear of nearest rivals Eastbourne Eagles. The Pirates last top league success had been back in 1969 and it was thanks to solid performances throughout the season from their Australian pair; new signing from Swindon Jason Crump and Craig Boyce. They were backed up by Norwegian Lars Gunnestad and Londoner Steve Schofield.[3]
Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Poole Pirates | 40 | 30 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 77 |
| 2 | Eastbourne Eagles | 40 | 23 | 2 | 15 | 14 | 62 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 40 | 20 | 2 | 18 | 12 | 54 |
| 4 | Coventry Bees | 40 | 19 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 52 |
| 5 | King's Lynn Stars | 40 | 20 | 1 | 19 | 10 | 51 |
| 6 | Ipswich Witches | 40 | 19 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 50 |
| 7 | Bradford Dukes | 40 | 18 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 48 |
| 8 | Arena Essex Hammers | 40 | 19 | 0 | 21 | 8 | 46 |
| 9 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 40 | 16 | 3 | 21 | 7 | 42 |
| 10 | Reading Racers | 40 | 14 | 2 | 24 | 6 | 36 |
| 11 | Belle Vue Aces | 40 | 13 | 1 | 26 | 5 | 32 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
British League Knockout Cup
The 1994 British League Knockout Cup was the 56th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners for a third consecutive year.[4]
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23/04 | Eastbourne | 59-37 | Belle Vue |
| 23/04 | Kings Lynn | 58-38 | Poole |
| 21/04 | Ipswich | 61-33 | Cradley Heath |
| 20/04 | Poole | 56-40 | Kings Lynn |
| 16/04 | Cradley Heath | 70-25 | Ipswich |
| 13/04 | Belle Vue | 47-49 | Eastbourne |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28/06 | Coventry | 58-37 | Reading |
| 15/06 | Kings Lynn | 61-35 | Bradford |
| 14/06 | Bradford | 49-47 | Kings Lynn |
| 28/05 | Eastbourne | 51-45 | Wolverhampton |
| 23/05 | Reading | 52-43 | Coventry |
| 16/05 | Wolverhampton | 50-46 | Eastbourne |
| 14/05 | Cradley Heath | 59-24 | Arena Essex |
| 13/05 | Arena Essex | 52-44 | Cradley Heath |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/07 | Eastbourne | 55-41 | Kings Lynn |
| 30/07 | Kings Lynn | 55-41 | Eastbourne |
| 16/07 | Coventry | 48-47 | Cradley Heath |
| 02/07 | Cradley Heath | 55-41 | Coventry |
| 29/08 | Kings Lynn | 45-51 | Eastbourne |
| 28/08 | Eastbourne | 62-33 | Kings Lynn |
Final
First leg
| Eastbourne Eagles Martin Dugard 14 Dean Barker 12 Stefan Danno 12 Paul Dugard 8 David Norris 7 Stefan Andersson 5 Scott Swain 1 | 59 - 37 | Cradley Heath Greg Hancock 13 Peter Nahlin 9 Billy Hamill 7 Simon Cross 6 Jonathan Forsgren 2 Scott Smith 0 Lance Sealey 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [5] |
Second leg
| Cradley Heath Simon Cross 14 Billy Hamill 14 Peter Nahlin 9 Greg Hancock 7 Jonathan Forsgren 4 Scott Smith 1 Lance Sealey 0 | 49 - 47 | Eastbourne Eagles Martin Dugard 10 Dean Barker 10 Stefan Danno 9 David Norris 8 Stefan Andersson 4 Paul Dugard 3 Scott Swain 3 |
|---|---|---|
| [5] |
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 106-86.
Fours
Poole Pirates won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.[6]
Final
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poole | 28 | Crump 9, Boyce 7, Rossiter 6, Schofield 6 |
| 2 | Cradley | 20 | Nahlin 8, Cross 7, Hamill 3, Hancock 2 |
| 3 | Eastbourne | 15 | Norris 5, Barker 4, Dugard 4, Andersson 2 |
| 4 | Coventry | 9 | Jørgensen 6, Andersen 2, Olsen 1, Tacey 0, Spicer 0 |
Riders' Championship
Sam Ermolenko won the British League Riders' Championship. It was held at Abbey Stadium on 9 October.[7]
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Ermolenko | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Hans Nielsen | 3 3 3 1 3 | 13 |
| 3 | Martin Dugard | 1 3 3 2 2 | 11 |
| 4 | Mark Loram | 2 1 1 3 3 | 10 |
| 5 | David Norris | 1 2 1 3 2 | 9 |
| 6 | Leigh Adams | 0 0 3 3 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Greg Hancock | 3 2 1 1 2 | 9 |
| 8 | Craig Boyce | 2 3 2 1 1 | 9 |
| 9 | Joe Screen | 3 0 2 2 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Gary Havelock | 1 1 2 2 1 | 7 |
| 11 | Peter Karlsson | 2 2 2 0 1 | 7 |
| 12 | Chris Louis | 2 1 1 2 0 | 6 |
| 13 | Jason Crump | 1 2 0 0 2 | 5 |
| 14 | Michael Coles | 0 0 0 1 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Paul Bentley | 0 1 0 0 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Dave Mullett | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
- ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired
Leading averages
| Rider | Team | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Per Jonsson | Reading | 10.41 |
| Tony Rickardsson | Ipswich | 10.00 |
| Hans Nielsen | Coventry | 9.98 |
| Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton | 9.83 |
| Leigh Adams | Arena Essex | 9.79 |
| Joe Screen | Bradford | 9.65 |
| Henrik Gustafsson | Belle Vue | 9.64 |
| Gary Havelock | Bradford | 9.59 |
| Mark Loram | Kings Lynn | 9.46 |
| Martin Dugard | Eastbourne | 9.33 |
| Jason Crump | Poole | 9.30 |
| Greg Hancock | Cradley Heath | 9.29 |
| David Norris | Eastbourne | 9.18 |
| Craig Boyce | Poole | 9.08 |
Riders & final averages
Arena Essex
- Leigh Adams 9.79
- Kelvin Tatum 8.26
- Paul Hurry 6.28
- Christer Rohlén 5.99
- Troy Pratt 4.78
- Mikael Teurnberg 4.71
- Colin White 4.14
- Jan Pedersen 4.00
- Robert Ledwith 2.57
- Nigel Leaver 2.00
Belle Vue
- Henka Gustaffson 9.64
- Niklas Klingberg 7.79
- Jason Lyons 7.14
- Chris Manchester 6.13
- Michael Coles 5.97
- Frede Schött 5.94
- Peter Carr 5.84
- Paul Smith 5.05
- Mark Burrows 3.00
Bradford
- Joe Screen 9.65
- Gary Havelock 9.59
- Paul Thorp 7.32
- Jimmy Nilsen 7.06
- Garry Stead 4.62
- Paul Pickering 3.10
- Mark Thorpe 3.07
- Simon Green 2.68
Coventry
- Hans Nielsen 9.98
- John Jørgensen 8.46
- Brian Andersen 8.10
- Andy Smith 6.45
- Jacob Olsen 5.83
- Shaun Tacey 4.24
- Darren Spicer 3.23
- Justin Elkins 1.57
- Jason Gage 1.57
Cradley Heath
- Greg Hancock 9.29
- Billy Hamill 8.68
- Peter Nahlin 8.64
- Morten Andersen 8.00
- Simon Cross 7.78
- Scott Smith 4.98
- Jonathan Forsgren 4.40
- David Clarke 3.94
- Justin Walker 1.93
- Lance Sealey 1.27
- Anthony Boyd 1.04
Eastbourne
- Martin Dugard 9.33
- David Norris 9.18
- Dean Barker 8.98
- Stefan Dannö 7.41
- Stefan Andersson 6.30
- Paul Dugard 4.42
- Darren Shand 3.18
- Darren Grayling 2.98
Ipswich
- Chris Louis 8.34
- Mitch Shirra 8.08
- Jeremy Doncaster 7.92
- Shane Parker 7.07
- Ben Howe 6.14
- Savalas Clouting 5.49
- Leigh Lanham 4.41
King's Lynn
- Mark Loram 9.46
- Bobby Ott 8.33
- Richard Knight 6.96
- Bohumil Brhel 6.68
- Tomáš Topinka 5.75
- Emmerson Fairweather 4.37
- Jens Rasmussen 4.00
- Robert Ledwith 3.36
Poole
- Jason Crump 9.30
- Craig Boyce 9.08
- Lars Gunnestad 8.77
- Steve Schofield 7.92
- Jorgen Johansson 5.85
- Alun Rossiter 5.71
- Steve Masters 3.44
- Justin Elkins 2.37
Reading
- Per Jonsson 10.41
- Armando Castagna 8.44
- Dave Mullett 7.65
- Shane Bowes 5.83
- Ray Morton 5.15
- Phil Morris 5.08
- Jan Pedersen 4.43
- Matthew Cross 2.61
Wolverhampton
- Sam Ermolenko 9.83
- Peter Karlsson 8.52
- Mikael Karlsson 7.47
- Charles Ermolenko 6.94
- Gordon Kennett 5.28
- Andy Grahame 4.40
- Wayne Carter 4.34
- Tony Atkin 2.82
References
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- "1994 league tables". Speedway GB.
- "1994 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- "Coventry Bees 1988 season". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- "1994 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- "Hans taped by old rival Sam". Heartland Evening News. 10 October 1994. Retrieved 6 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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