2009 Elite League speedway season

2009 Elite League speedway season
League	Sky Sports Elite League
Champions	Wolverhampton Wolves
Knockout Cup	Lakeside Hammers
Elite Shield	Eastbourne Eagles
Individual	Leigh Adams
Pairs	Poole Pirates
Highest average	Freddie Lindgren
Division/s below	2009 Premier League; 2009 National League
	← 2008; 2010 →;

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]

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.^[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

Pos	Club	M	Home				Away					F	A	+/-	Pts
Pos	Club	M	3W	2W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
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

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

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

Semi-finals

Leg 1

21 September 2009

Coventry Bees	45 – 45+8	Swindon Robins
Rory Schlein 11		Leigh Adams 10

Brandon stadium, Brandon

21 September 2009

Wolverhampton Wolves	56+4 - 40	Lakeside Hammers
Ty Proctor 12+4		Jonas Davidsson 15

Monmore Green, Wolverhampton

Leg 2

28 September 2009

Swindon Robins	47 (100) - (88) 43	Coventry Bees
Matej Zagar 12		Chris Harris 14

Abbey Stadium, Swindon

28 September 2009

Lakeside Hammers	44 (84) - (106) 46	Wolverhampton Wolves
Jonas Davidsson 13		Adam Skornicki 12+2

Arena Essex Raceway, Purfleet

Grand final

First leg

4 October 2009

19.30

Wolverhampton Wolves	54 - 38	Swindon Robins
Freddie Lindgren 14+1		Matej Zagar 9+1

Monmore Green, Wolverhampton



	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	3
	7	Ty Proctor	1, F, 1, 2', 1	5+1
Manager: 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	0
	7	Morten Risager	2, 1, 2', 1, 0	6+1
Manager: Alun Rossiter

Second leg

12 October 2009

19.30

Swindon Robins	52 (90) - (95) 41	Wolverhampton Wolves
Leigh Adams 12+1 Matej Zagar 12+1		Freddie Lindgren 16+1

Abbey Stadium, Swindon



	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	2
	7	Morten Risager	3, 0, 2', 1', 1'	7+3
Manager: 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	0
7	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.^[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

First leg

14 October 2009

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 - 36	Coventry Bees Edward Kennett 12 Ben Barker 11 Rory Schlein 5 Josh Auty 4 Oliver Allen 2 Chris Harris 2 Jordan Frampton 0
	^[8]

Arena Essex Raceway

Second leg

23 October 2009

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

Brandon Stadium

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.^[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

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

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