2009 Elite League speedway season

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.[1]

2009 Elite League speedway season
LeagueSky Sports Elite League
ChampionsWolverhampton Wolves
Knockout CupLakeside Hammers
Elite ShieldEastbourne Eagles
IndividualLeigh Adams
PairsPoole Pirates
Highest averageFreddie Lindgren
Division/s below2009 Premier League
2009 National League

Summary

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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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4]

League table

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Pos Club M Home Away F A +/- Pts
3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Swindon Robins 32 15 0 0 1 5 3 0 5 3 1602 1331 79
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 15 1 0 0 4 2 1 4 5 1580 1361 75
3 Lakeside Hammers 32 9 4 2 1 2 1 1 4 9 1511 1437 54
4 Coventry Bees 32 7 5 2 2 2 2 1 3 8 1451 1456 52
5 Peterborough Panthers 32 10 4 0 2 0 2 0 3 11 1463 1484 47
6 Ipswich Witches 32 9 3 0 4 1 0 1 2 12 1431 1498 41
7 Eastbourne Eagles 32 9 0 1 6 0 1 2 1 12 1393 1527 36
8 Poole Pirates 32 5 3 2 6 1 0 1 3 11 1391 1526 32
9 Belle Vue Aces 32 4 6 0 6 1 1 0 1 13 1373 1575 32
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

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Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 36–53 57–39 45–44 49–44 44–46 45–43 40–50 54–42
Coventry Bees 53–42 55–38 55–36 47–43 44–39 50–43 43–47 45–45
Eastbourne Eagles 54–42 49–41 52–40 55–41 50–43 51–44 50–41 45–47
Ipswich Witches 49–40 44–46 53–37 46–44 48–45 51–41 38–53 51–40
Lakeside Hammers 51–42 48–42 57–36 54–42 54–41 47–46 53–42 47–42
Peterborough Panthers 54–39 59–35 53–40 53–40 43–50 53–38 46–44 41–49
Poole Pirates 46–44 32–63 36–36 59–33 52–41 52–41 49–41 39–54
Swindon Robins 59–34 56–39 49–41 64–28 54–36 53–40 56–39 50–42
Wolverhampton Wolves 59–35 50–40 55–39 53–39 52–41 58–37 58–34 53–41
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

'B' Fixtures

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Home \ Away BV COV EAS IPS LH PET PP SWI WOL
Belle Vue Aces 49–43 49–41 44–52 46–44 45–43 53–42 41–49 37–57
Coventry Bees 50–40 45–45 46–44 54–40 49–41 46–43 41–49 47–43
Eastbourne Eagles 41–49 52–44 45–45 50–43 44–46 41–48 40–50 39–51
Ipswich Witches 56–37 48–42 55–35 39–53 60–36 57–38 42–48 49–41
Lakeside Hammers 60–33 45–45 55–37 51–42 60–33 45–45 48–45 42–48
Peterborough Panthers 58–38 59–34 48–42 54–42 51–39 55–38 47–43 51–45
Poole Pirates 44–46 43–46 44–46 53–40 45–45 49–41 43–47 46–44
Swindon Robins 56–39 54–39 51–41 55–37 43–47 62–30 55–40 51–39
Wolverhampton Wolves 53–39 54–39 50–42 49–41 50–43 56–40 54–38 47–43
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.


Championship play-offs

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Semi-finals

Leg 1

Leg 2

Swindon Robins47 (100) - (88) 43Coventry Bees
Matej Zagar 12 Chris Harris 14

Grand final

First leg

Second leg

Wolverhampton were declared Elite League Champions, on Aggregate 95-90.

Knockout Cup

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The 2009 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 71st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/05 Ipswich 45-48 Belle Vue
20/04 Belle Vue 53-40 Ipswich

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
26/03 Peterborough 43-47 Coventry
27/03 Coventry 53-37 Peterborough
26/03 Swindon 57-36 Wolverhampton
06/04 Wolverhampton 53-40 Swindon
27/03 Lakeside 57-38 Eastbourne
28/03 Eastbourne 50-43 Lakeside
24/06 Poole 44-49 Belle Vue
27/06 Belle Vue 54-41 Poole

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
21/08 Coventry 51-39 Belle Vue
05/10 Belle Vue 48-42 Coventry
12/06 Lakeside 49-41 Swindon
11/06 Swindon 44-46 Lakeside

Final

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First leg

Lakeside Hammers
Adam Shields 15
Lee Richardson 12
Stuart Robson 10
Jonas Davidsson 9
Kauko Nieminen 8
Joonas Kylmäkorpi 4
Tom P. Madsen 1
59 - 36Coventry Bees
Edward Kennett 12
Ben Barker 11
Rory Schlein 5
Josh Auty 4
Oliver Allen 2
Chris Harris 2
Jordan Frampton 0
[8]

Second leg

Coventry Bees
Chris Harris 11
Edward Kennett 9
Ben Barker 9
Josh Auty 6
Ricky Wells 4
Oliver Allen 2
41 - 49Lakeside Hammers
Adam Shields 16
Kauko Nieminen 11
Jonas Davidsson 7
Lee Richardson 6
Stuart Robson 6
Tom P. Madsen 3
[9]

The Lakeside Hammers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 108-77.

Riders' Championship

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Leigh Adams won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 2 October.[10]

Pos. Rider Pts Total SF Final
1   Leigh Adams 3 3 3 0 3 12 2 3
2   Chris Harris 2 3 2 3 3 13 x 2
3   Chris Holder 3 1 3 3 3 13 x 1
4   Freddie Lindgren 2 3 3 2 1 11 3 0
5   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

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The Elite League Pairs Championship was held at the Arlington Stadium on 8 August and was won by Poole Pirates.[11]

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Lakeside 24 Richardson 19, Davidsson 9
2 Poole 22 Andersen 19, Holder 13
3 Coventry 21 Harris 15, Kennett 10
4 Eastbourne 21 Watt 20, Bridger 10
5 Wolves 19 Lindgren 11, Karlsson 8
6 Peterborough 18 Iversen 12 Bjerre 6
7 Ipswich 15 Batchelor 8, Nicholls 7
8 Swindon 11 Adams 9, McGowan 2
9 Belle 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

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Rider Team Average
  Freddie Lindgren Wolverhampton 10.64
  Leigh Adams Swindon 10.33
  Hans Andersen Poole 9.77
  Matej Žagar Swindon 9.57
  Scott Nicholls Ipswich 9.39
  Jarosław Hampel Ipswich 9.30
  Chris Holder Poole 9.19
  Peter Karlsson Wolverhampton 9.19
  Lee Richardson Lakeside 8.86
  Chris Harris Coventry 8.74

Riders & final averages

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Belle Vue

Coventry

Eastbourne

Ipswich

Lakeside

Peterborough

Poole

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "2009 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Knockout Cup Final history". Reader Exacteditions .com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. ^ "2009 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  6. ^ "2009 fixtures & results". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  7. ^ "2009 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. ^ "British Elite League Cup in Lakeside". Speedway results.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  9. ^ "2009-10-23 British Elite League Cup in Coventry". Speedway results.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Elite League Riders' Championship". Speedway History. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  11. ^ "2009 Elite League Pairs". Speedway Updates. Retrieved 20 May 2023.