1996 Premier League speedway season

Team changes

Cradley Heathens and Stoke Potters merged for the 1996 season and Arena Essex Hammers dropped out of the league with the promotion moving to Hackney Wick Stadium and racing as the London Lions. The Glasgow Tigers and Edinburgh Monarchs effectively merged because the Edinburgh promotion raced at Shawfield Stadium under the name the Scottish Monarchs. Oxford reverted to their traditional name of Cheetahs, after ditching the unpopular Silver Machine and King's Lynn Stars did not participate during 1996.

Summary

Many Glasgow Tigers fans refused to support what they saw as their team of old rivals, and although Monarchs fans initially travelled to Glasgow, crowd numbers soon fell. Cradley & Stoke, despite having the American stars Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock finishing first and second in the averages, could only manage fifth place in the league. Cradley Heath were disbanded after the season following the closure of Dudley Wood Stadium, their home venue. Oxford reverted to their popular name of Cheetahs and

The one league set up only lasted for 1995 and 1996, due to the huge disparity between the teams. Wolverhampton Wolves won the title for the second time in six years, with American Ronnie Correy being the sole survivor of the 1991 winning team. In a strange coincidence a new set of two brothers helped Wolves win the title, back in 1991 it was the Ermolenko brothers but now it was the Swedish Karlsson brothers. Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson both scored heavily and ended the season with averages around the 10 mark.

Final table

Fixtures & results

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 1996 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the 58th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams and the second with the name Premier League Knockout Cup. Wolverhampton Wolves were the winners of the competition. The following season the tier one teams would compete in the Elite League Knockout Cup and the Premier League Knockout Cup would be for tier two teams.

The cup was won by Wolverhampton despite the fact that they had to ride their home fixture at Long Eaton Stadium due to Monmore Green undergoing work to the greyhound track.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Peter Karlsson 14 Mikael Karlsson 12 Ronnie Correy 12 George Štancl 7 Stewart McDonald 7 Jamies Grieves 6 Craig Taylor 0 Jason Crump 13 Ryan Sullivan 10 Marián Jirout 7 Rene Madsen 4 Scott Swain 2 Zdeněk Tesař 2 Anders Nielsen 0

Second leg Brian Andersen (guest) 12 Jason Crump 11 Ryan Sullivan 11 Marián Jirout 6 Rene Madsen 6 Scott Swain 5 Anders Nielsen 3 Mikael Karlsson 16 Peter Karlsson 8 Ronnie Correy 8 George Štancl 4 Stewart McDonald 4 Jamies Grieves 2 Craig Taylor 0

Wolverhampton Wolves were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.

Riders' Championship

Sam Ermolenko won the Premier League Riders Championship, held at Odsal Stadium on 19 October. It was the third time that Ermolenko had won the Riders' Championship trophy but the most fortunate. He had qualified for the semi finals with just 7 points and then won the final when Chris Louis was leading on the final lap before suffering an engine failure.

• ef=engine failure

Fours

Oxford Cheetahs won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 4 August 1996, at the East of England Arena.

Leading final averages

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 9.27
• 8.14
• 7.37
• 7.33
• 6.68
• 6.32
• 3.84
• 3.56
• 3.33
• 2.56
• 0.52

Bradford

• 9.57
• 9.55
• 7.76
• 7.52
• 4.74
• 4.42
• 3.07
• 2.65
• 1.73

Coventry

• 9.46
• 7.29
• 7.11
• 6.83
• 6.35
• 6.24
• 5.33
• 4.20

Cradley & Stoke

• 10.67
• 10.55
• 6.36
• 6.21
• 5.08
• 4.85
• 4.67
• 3.58

Eastbourne

• 10.08
• 8.98
• 7.89
• 7.34
• 5.40
• 5.30
• 3.00
• 2.54
• 0.47

Exeter

• 9.28
• 8.83
• 6.50
• 6.50
• 5.96
• 4.79
• 4.67
• 2.66

Hull

• 8.58
• 8.44
• 8.30
• 7.00
• 6.89
• 6.85
• 6.16
• 5.66
• 2.32
• 1.90

Ipswich

• 10.29
• 7.63
• 7.46
• 7.42
• 5.74
• 5.49
• 3.30

London

• 10.09
• 9.07
• 7.63
• 7.35
• 6.07
• 5.04
• 3.57
• 3.48
• 1.90
• 1.70

Long Eaton

• 8.57
• 8.28
• 6.73
• 6.57
• 6.37
• 6.26
• 6.00
• 5.60
• 4.00
• 3.49

Middlesbrough

• 8.67
• 6.78
• 6.78
• 6.23
• 5.85
• 5.82
• 4.86
• 3.59

Oxford

• 8.58
• 8.32
• 7.76
• 6.88
• 5.27
• 5.16
• (Mark Frost) 3.74
• 3.57
• 1.73

Peterborough

• 10.20
• 9.01
• 8.94
• 6.22
• 5.44
• 4.90
• 4.65
• 4.60
• 4.00

Poole

• 9.38
• 9.13
• 8.05
• 5.96
• 4.53
• 4.38
• 3.11
• 2.07
• 2.01

Reading

• 8.12
• 7.69
• 7.20
• 6.86
• 5.84
• 5.02
• 4.76
• 4.55
• 4.54

Scottish Monarchs

• 8.53
• 6.58
• 6.31
• 6.30
• 6.02
• 5.86
• 5.67
• 5.67

Sheffield

• 9.73
• 6.71
• 6.69
• 6.23
• 6.22
• 5.58
• 3.65
• 3.48
• 2.71
• 2.67

Swindon

• 9.22
• 8.99
• 8.43
• 7.05
• 5.13
• 4.73
• 4.45
• 1.70

Wolverhampton

• 10.14
• 9.71
• 9.62
• 6.12
• 5.11
• 4.74
• 3.41

References

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE".
3. "Heathens at Stoke:End of Another Era". Cradley Speedway.
4. "1996 league tables". Speedway GB.
5. "SPEEDWAY GB – British Speedway Official Website".
6. "1996 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
7. "1996 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
8. (9 October 1996). "It's the big one". Nottingham Evening Post.
9. (10 October 1996). "Speedway". Reading Evening Post.
10. (19 October 1996). "Wolves make it a double". Sports Argus.
11. (21 October 1996). "American ace survives late drama". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
12. (5 August 1996). "Cheetahs race to four team title". Hull Daily Mail.