2014 Elite League speedway season
LeagueElite League
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Elite ShieldPoole Pirates
Riders ChampionshipTroy Batchelor
Highest averageNiels Kristian Iversen
Division/s below2014 Premier League
2014 National League

The 2014 Elite League speedway season was the 80th season of the top division of UK speedway and the took place between March and October 2014. The Poole Pirates were the defending champions after winning in 2013.[1]

Summary

This season saw the first team line-up change since 2011, with the Leicester Lions replacing the Peterborough Panthers who dropped down a division. Ahead of the season the BSPA announced a new rule called the "Fast Track Scheme" which means every side has to use two British youngsters at reserve who have passed through the National League - the third tier of British speedway.[2]

Poole Pirates won their second consecutive Elite League title, defeating Coventry Bees 90–71 in the Grand Final.[3] Poole continued their success, their sixth league title in eleven years. Darcy Ward, Maciej Janowski, Przemysław Pawlicki and Josh Grajczonek all returned for Poole and they were backed up by Kyle Newman and Václav Milík Jr.[4]

Final league table

Pos. Club M Home Away F A +/− Pts
3W 2W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Poole Pirates (Q) 32 12 2 0 2 4 1 4 3 4 1542 1333 +209 70
2 King's Lynn Stars (Q) 32 11 4 0 1 3 4 0 5 4 1528 1346 +182 70
3 Coventry Bees (Q) 32 10 3 0 3 5 2 0 2 7 1489 1406 +83 64
4 Swindon Robins (Q) 32 10 3 0 3 3 1 0 4 8 1465 1407 +58 55
5 Eastbourne Eagles 32 12 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 12 1430 1460 −30 47
6 Lakeside Hammers 32 10 3 1 2 0 1 1 3 11 1435 1445 −10 45
7 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 6 4 2 4 0 2 0 3 11 1398 1524 −126 37
8 Belle Vue Aces 32 8 3 1 4 0 0 1 1 14 1372 1524 −152 34
9 Leicester Lions 32 5 3 1 7 0 0 0 3 13 1350 1564 −214 25
Birmingham Brummies Club folded, results expunged

Play-offs

Draw

Semi-finals Grand final
          
3 Coventry Bees 49 50 99
4 Swindon Robins 41 45 86
3 Coventry Bees 34 37 71
1 Poole Pirates 37 53 90
1 Poole Pirates 45 47 92
2 King's Lynn Stars 44 43 87

Semi-finals

29 September 2014 Report Coventry Bees 49–41 Swindon Robins Brandon Stadium
Referee(s):
Chris Durno

29 September 2014 Report King's Lynn Stars 44–45 Poole Pirates King's Lynn Stadium
Referee(s):
Graham Flint

6 October 2014 Report Swindon Robins 45–50 Coventry Bees Abbey Stadium
Referee(s):
Dan Holt

16 October 2014[lower-alpha 1] Report Poole Pirates 47–43 King's Lynn Stars Poole Stadium
Referee(s):
Christina Turnbull

Grand final

17 October 2014[lower-alpha 2] Report Coventry Bees
Howarth 10
Harris 8
Garrity 5
Hansen 5
Andersen 3
Sarjeant 2
Barker 1		 34–37 Poole Pirates
Newman 9
Pawlicki 8
Janowski 6
Batchelor 5
Milik 5
King 4
Williamson 0		 Brandon Stadium
Referee(s):
Peter Clarke

20 October 2014 Report Poole Pirates
Janowski 14
Newman 11
Pawlicki 8
Milik 8
Batchelor 6
Morris 5
Compton 1		 53–37 Coventry Bees
Howarth 9
Harris 7
Garrity 6
Andersen 6
Sarjeant 4
Fricke 3
Hansen 2		 Poole Stadium
Referee(s):
Mick Bates

Knockout Cup

The Knockout Cup was not held during 2014.

Riders' Championship

Troy Batchelor won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at King's Lynn Stadium on 25 September.[5][6]

Pos.RiderPtsTotalSFFinal
1Australia Troy Batchelor2 3 3 1 31233
2Poland Maciej Janowski1 3 2 2 21022
3Australia Jason Doyle3 1 3 3 212x1
4Slovenia Matej Žagar3 T/exc 3 3 312x0
5Denmark Bjarne Pedersen2 3 3 2 1111
6Denmark Hans Andersen3 2 2 2 090
7England Chris Harris2 2 1 1 39
8Denmark Václav Milík Jr.0 2 2 3 19
9Australia Rory Schlein3 2 1 1 18
10England Danny King1 3 0 3 07
11Australia Dakota North0 1 1 2 26
12Sweden Jacob Thorssell1 1 2 1 16
13England Richard Lawson1 1 0 1 25
14Denmark Peter Kildemand2 0 1 ret -3
15England Robert Lambert0 0 0 0 33
16England James Cockle0 11
17Australia Davey Watt0 ret ret - -0
18England Scott Campos (res)0 00
  • f=fell, exc=excluded, ret=retired ef=engine failure t-touched tapes

Final Leading averages

[7]

Rider Team Average
Denmark Niels Kristian IversenKings Lynn9.62
Australia Darcy WardPoole9.24
England Lewis BlackbirdEastbourne8.95
Slovenia Matej ŽagarBelle Vue8.84
Poland Maciej JanowskiPoole8.70
England Chris HarrisCoventry8.69
Australia Jason DoyleLeicester8.67
Denmark Hans AndersenCoventry8.63
Australia Troy BatchelorSwindon8.46
Poland Piotr PawlickiWolverhampton8.36

Riders & averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Eastbourne

Kings Lynn

Lakeside

Leicester

Poole

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Postponed from 6 October 2014 due to a waterlogged track.
  2. ↑ Result stood after 12 heats, due to rain.

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "Sky Sports - Sports News, Transfers, Scores | Watch Live Sport".
  3. ↑ "2014 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ↑ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "Elite League Riders' Championship". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Troy Batchelor claims Elite League Rider crown at King's Lynn". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Greensheet Averages" (PDF). Speedway GB.
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