2011 Elite League speedway season

The 2011 Elite League (also known as the Sky Sports Elite League for sponsorship reasons) took place between 26 March and 20 October 2011. The Coventry Bees were the defending champions after winning in 2010.[1][2]

2011 Elite League speedway season
League2011 Sky Sports Elite League
Season2011
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupPoole Pirates
Pairs ChampionshipPoole Pirates
Riders Championship Rory Schlein
Division/s below2011 Premier League
2011 National League

Summary

It was a great season for the Poole Pirates, who won the Elite League, the Pairs Championship and the Knockout Cup. Claiming a clean sweep of honours. Throughout the 2010 season, it was rumoured that the Ipswich Witches would prefer to compete in the Premier League from 2011 onwards. Although they survived the promotion/relegation battle with the Newcastle Diamonds, it was decided that they would swap divisions with the Birmingham Brummies.[3] On 27 November 2010, The BSPA announced that both Coventry Bees and Peterborough Panthers would not be riding in the top flight after they failed to declare their intent to compete in the 2011 competition.[4] This then led to the King's Lynn Stars being promoted from the Premier League due to the Elite League needing a minimum of 8 teams.[5] On 15 March 2011 it was announced that both the Coventry Bees and Peterborough Panthers would be part of the 2011 Elite League after all.[6]

Team Lineups

Belle Vue Aces

Birmingham Brummies

Coventry Bees

Eastbourne Eagles

King's Lynn Stars

Lakeside Hammers

Peterborough Panthers

Poole Pirates

Swindon Robins

Wolverhampton Wolves

League table
PosClubMHomeAwayFA+/-Pts
3W2WDL4W3WD1LL
1 Poole Pirates 28 10 3 0 1 2 3 0 5 4 1343 1212 58
2 Eastbourne Eagles 28 12 1 0 1 0 4 0 2 8 1370 1202 52
3 King's Lynn Stars 28 8 4 0 2 0 3 1 6 4 1305 1266 49
4 Lakeside Hammers 28 8 5 0 1 1 2 0 2 9 1291 1255 46
5 Coventry Bees 28 9 2 1 2 0 2 1 3 8 1262 1267 43
6 Peterborough Panthers 28 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 1284 1271 42
7 Belle Vue Aces 28 5 3 2 4 2 2 0 4 6 1267 1266 41
8 Wolverhampton Wolves 28 5 8 0 1 0 0 1 5 8 1250 1326 38
9 Birmingham Brummies 28 6 4 0 4 1 0 0 5 8 1241 1326 35
10 Swindon Robins 28 2 5 0 7 0 1 0 3 10 1172 1394 22
Key:
Championship 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

Championship play-offs

Leg 1
King's Lynn Stars48 – 45Poole Pirates
Norfolk Arena
Lakeside Hammers47 – 46Eastbourne Eagles
Arena Essex Raceway

Leg 2
Poole Pirates63 – 27King's Lynn Stars
Eastbourne Eagles53 - 39Lakeside Hammers
Arlington Stadium

First leg
Eastbourne Eagles49 - 41Poole Pirates
Arlington Stadium

Second leg
Poole Pirates57 (98) - 36 (85)Eastbourne Eagles

Poole Pirates were declared Elite League Champions, on winning on aggregate 98-85.

Leading averages

[7]

Rider Team Average
Chris HolderPoole9.30
Freddie LindgrenWolverhampton9.21
Kenneth BjerreKings Lynn9.06
Darcy WardPoole8.94
Nicki PedersenPeterborough8.61
Tai WoffindenWolverhampton8.52
Rory SchleinBelle Vue8.43
Troy BatchelorPeterborough8.24
Bjarne PedersenEastbourne8.21
Hans AndersenPeterborough8.15

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2011 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 73rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.[8]

First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
08/08Peterborough47-45Coventry
06/07Coventry42-48Peterborough

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
15/09Peterborough43-47Belle Vue
14/09Belle Vue50-40Peterborough
25/07Wolverhampton45-45Eastbourne
22/06Poole55-41Swindon
18/06Eastbourne50-40Wolverhampton
16/06Swindon28-62Poole
10/06Lakeside63- 29Birmingham
09/06Birmingham36-41Lakeside

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
12/10Belle Vue42-33Lakeside
30/09Lakeside48-45Belle Vue
17/09Eastbourne39-51Poole
14/09Poole46-44Eastbourne

Final
Date Team One Score Team Two
20/10Poole57-39Belle Vue
19/10Belle Vue47-45Poole

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "2011 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. "British Speedway AGM - Key Points". BSPA. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  4. "British Speedway Statement". BSPA. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  5. "Kings Lynn Join The Elite". BSPA. 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  6. "Peterborough and Coventry allowed back in Elite League". BBC Sport. BBC. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  7. "Greensheet Averages" (PDF). Speedway GB.
  8. "2011 Elite League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
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