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1998 Premier League speedway season

British motorcycle speedway season

Field	Value
competition	Premier League
domesticcup1	Champions
domesticcup1 winners	Peterborough Panthers
domesticcup2	Knockout Cup
domesticcup2 winners	Reading Racers
domesticcup3	Young Shield
domesticcup3 winners	Isle of Wight Islanders
domesticcup4	Individual
domesticcup4 winners	Glenn Cunningham
domesticcup5	Pairs
domesticcup5 winners	Peterborough Panthers
domesticcup6	Fours
domesticcup6 winners	Peterborough Panthers
highest average	Nicki Pedersen
league above	1998 Elite League
leagues below	1998 Conference League
prevseason	1997
nextseason	1999

The 1998 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

Season summary

The League consisted of 13 teams for the 1998 season with the following the closure of the Long Eaton Invaders and the decision of the Oxford Cheetahs to compete in the Elite League. The addition of the Peterborough Panthers who dropped down from the Elite League limited the reduction in numbers.

The League was run on a standard format with no play-offs and was won by Peterborough.{{cite web |url=https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/history/leaguetables1991-present|title= BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)|website=Official British Speedway website|access-date=11 September 2021}}

League

Final table

13	Stoke Potters	24	3	0	21	956	1198	6	1	7

Fixtures and results

Premier League Knockout Cup

The 1998 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Reading Racers were the winners of the competition.

Northern Group

Pos	Team	Played	W	D	L	Pts
1	Berwick Bandits	11	7	1	3	15
2	Sheffield Tigers	12	7	1	4	15
3	Glasgow Tigers	12	7	1	4	15
4	Edinburgh Monarchs	11	5	1	5	11
5	Newcastle Diamonds	9	3	2	4	8
6	Hull Vikings	12	4	0	8	8
7	Stoke Potters	8	3	0	6	6

Southern Group

Pos	Team	Played	W	D	L	Pts
1	Peterborough Panthers	10	7	0	3	14
2	Reading Racers	10	5	1	4	11
3	Arena Essex Hammers	10	5	0	5	10
4	Exeter Falcons	10	4	2	4	10
5	Isle of Wight Islanders	10	3	3	4	9
6	Newport Wasps	10	2	0	8	4

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
20/07	Reading	56-34	Sheffield
16/07	Sheffield	45-45	Reading
14/08	Peterborough	56-34	Berwick
22/08	Berwick	42-48	Peterborough

Final

First leg Philippe Bergé 10 Simon Stead 9 David Howe 8 Glenn Cunningham 5 Nigel Sadler 5 Brett Woodifield 4 Oliver Allen 3 Lee Richardson 14 Petri Kokko 12 Paul Clews 7 Dave Mullett 5 Jusin Elkins 5 Phil Morris 2 Krister Marsh 1 Second leg Lee Richardson 18 Dave Mullett 10 Petri Kokko 10 Krister Marsh 8 Paul Clews 7 Jusin Elkins 4 Phil Morris R/R Leigh Lanham (guest) 11 Brett Woodifield 9 Philippe Bergé 5 Nigel Sadler 5 Ross Brady 3 Oliver Allen 0 David Howe 0 Reading were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 103–77.

Young Shield

End of season competition for the top eight league teams

First Round

Team one	Team two	Score
Exeter	Isle of Wight	45–36, 22–49
Glasgow	Reading	49–41, 42–47
Hull	Sheffield	42–48, 45–45
Peterborough	Newport	48–40, 42–47

Semi-final

Team one	Team two	Score
Sheffield	Peterborough	51–39, 33–57
Glasgow	Isle of Wight	51–39, 31–58

Final

Team one	Team two	Score
Peterborough	Isle of Wight	50–40, 37–53

Riders' Championship

Glenn Cunningham won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 13 September at Owlerton Stadium.

Pos.		width=180px	Rider		width=100px	Pts		width=50px	Total		width=50px	SF		width=50px	Final
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5
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f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Hayley Stadium on 26 July. The event was won by Peterborough Panthers.

Group A	Pos	Team
Exeter	18	Coles 11, Smart 7
Reading	17	Mullett 9, Kokko 8
Arena Essex	12	Pedersen 10, Lanham 2
Edinburgh	7	Carr P 4, McKinna 3

Group B	Pos	Team
Peterborough	21	Cunningham 12, Woodifield 9
Newcastle	16	Pedersen 12, Olsen 4
Newport	12	Watson 9, Fry 3
Hull	7	Bentley 7, Lobb 0

Semi finals

Peterborough bt Reading 5–4
Exeter bt Newcastle 6–3

Final

Peterborough bt Exeter 5–4

Fours

Peterborough Panthers won the Premier League Four-Team Championship, which was held on 30 August 1998, at the East of England Arena.

Group A	Pos	Team	Pts
1	Peterborough	17	Berge 6, Cunningham 4, Woodifield 4 Sadler 5
2	Hull	14	Grahame 5, Bentley 3, Dicken 3, Thorp 3
3	Newport	11	Fry 3, Henriksson 3, Watson 3, Pegler 2
4	Newcastle	6	Werner 4, Birkenshaw 1, Olsen 1, Swales 0

Group B	Pos	Team	Pts
1	Reading	16	Richardson 6, Kokko 5, Clews 4, Mullett 1
2	Edinburgh	12	McKinna K 6
3	Arena Essex	11	Lanham 5
4	Exeter	9	Coles 4 Smart 2

Final	Pos	Team	Pts
1	Peterborough	24	Cunningham 8, Berge 6 Woodifield 5 Sadler 5
2	Hull	19	Thorp 7, Grahame 5, Bentley 4, Dicken 3,
3	Edinburgh	19	Carr P 8, McKinna 6, Little 4, Andersson 1
4	Reading	10	Richardson 4, Kokko 4, Clews 2, Elkins 0, Mullett 0

Leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
DEN Nicki Pedersen	Newcastle	9.97
ENG Carl Stonehewer	Sheffield	9.93
ENG Lee Richardson	Reading	9.60
ENG Paul Thorp	Hull	9.56
ENG Glenn Cunningham	Peterborough	9.55
ENG Dave Mullett	Reading	9.48
FIN Petri Kokko	Reading	9.36
AUS Mick Powell	Glasgow	9.32
DEN Jan Andersen	Peterborough	9.29
ENG Peter Carr	Edinburgh	9.26

Riders & final averages

**Arena Essex **

Leigh Lanham 9.03
Jan Pedersen 8.71
Colin White 7.90
Troy Pratt 6.96
David Mason 4.69
Matt Read 4.00
Paul Lydes-Uings 2.60
Nathan Morton 2.52
Anthony Barlow 2.27
Oliver Allen 2.26
Gavin Hedge 2.07

Berwick

Rene Madsen 8.45
Scott Lamb 8.22
James Grieves 8.00
David Walsh 7.47
Peter Scully 6.77
Jörg Pingel 6.46
Scott Robson 6.45
Martin Dixon 6.31
David Meldrum 5.25
Craig Taylor 4.68
David McAllan 2.99
Wesley Waite 2.74

Edinburgh

Peter Carr 9.26
Kenny McKinna 8.66
Kevin Little 7.95
Marcus Andersson 5.63
Robert Larsen 5.49
Barry Campbell 5.33
Paul Gould 4.76
Blair Scott 4.37

Exeter

Frank Smart 9.03
Michael Coles 8.38
Peter Jeffery 7.90
Mark Simmonds 7.71
Graeme Gordon 6.54
Roger Lobb 4.83
Gary Lobb 4.31
Paul Oughton 4.26
Chris Courage 2.43

Glasgow

Mick Powell 9.32
Kaj Laukkanen 8.93
David Steen 7.53
Grant MacDonald 6.67
Daniel Andersson 6.17
Sean Courtney 5.68
Will Beveridge 5.56
Brian Turner 4.81

Hull

Paul Thorp 9.56
Paul Bentley 8.93
Alan Grahame 6.67
Lee Dicken 6.54
Paul Lee 5.28
John Wilson 4.69
Simon Cartwright 2.92

Isle of Wight

Ray Morton 8.40
Philippe Berge 8.29
Steve Masters 8.21
Jason Bunyan 7.21
Neville Tatum 7.15
Scott Swain 7.14
Wayne Carter 6.59
Danny Bird 3.60
Anthony Barlow 3.59

Newcastle

Nicki Pedersen 9.97
Brent Werner 8.26
Jesper Olsen 8.17
Stuart Swales 6.96
James Birkinshaw 3.77
Jonathan Swales 3.13
David McAllan 2.84
Malcolm Hogg 0.95

Newport

Craig Watson 8.36
Paul Fry 8.00
Anders Henriksson 7.52
Scott Pegler 5.82
Martin Willis 4.93
David Mason 4.60
Jon Armstrong 3.40
Chris Neath 3.29

Peterborough

Glenn Cunningham 9.55
Jan Andersen 9.29
Nigel Sadler 8.20
Philippe Bergé 7.83
David Howe 7.79
Brett Woodifield 7.01
Simon Stead 5.46
Paul Clews 4.84
Oliver Allen 4.04
Ross Brady 1.90

Reading

Lee Richardson 9.60
Dave Mullett 9.48
Petri Kokko 9.36
Phil Morris 5.15
Krister Marsh 4.67
Justin Elkins 4.61
Paul Clews 4.04
Lee Driver 2.70

Sheffield

Carl Stonehewer 9.93
Scott Smith 7.23
Rene Aas 6.65
Andre Compton 6.44
Steve Knott 5.58
Tommy Palmer 5.13
Derrol Keats 5.10

Stoke

Paul Pickering 9.00
Neil Collins 7.37
Mark Burrows 5.78
Craig Taylor 5.03
Stewart McDonald 4.63
Dean Felton 4.39
Rob Clarence 2.07

References

"1998 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
"1998 Premier League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
(21 September 1998). "Racers on verge of cup triumph". Reading Evening Post.
(22 September 1998). "Super Racers are the KO Cup Winners". Reading Evening Post.
"1998 KO cup final".
(14 September 1998). "Stonehewer second best". Nottingham Evening Post.
"1998 fixtures".
(27 July 1998). "Speedway". Birmingham Daily Post.
(31 August 1998). "Last heat fury". Hull Daily Mail.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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