# 1998 Speedway Conference League

The 1998 Speedway Conference League sponsored by Dunlop, was the third tier/division of British speedway.

## Summary

The title was won by St Austell Gulls.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Played | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | St Austell Gulls | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 844 | 562 | 27 |
| 2 | Newport Mavericks | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 742 | 682 | 20 |
| 3 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 704 | 709 | 17 |
| 4 | Norfolk Braves | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 690 | 739 | 12 |
| 5 | Buxton Hitmen | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 573 | 861 | 4 |
| 6 | Skegness Braves+ | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 166 | 191 | 2 |
+ withdrew - Norfolk replaced Skegness and took over fixtures

## Fixtures & results

A Fixtures
| Home \ Away | BUX | MIL | NEW | NOR | SA |
| Buxton Hitmen | | 40–50 | 29–61 | 30–60 | 36–53 |
| Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 63–27 | | 42–47 | 44–46 | 55–35 |
| Newport Mavericks | 62–28 | 54–36 | | 53–36 | 53–33 |
| Norfolk Braves | 54–36 | 51–38 | 56–33 | | 38–51 |
| St Austell Gulls | 61–29 | 51–38 | 57–32 | 57–32 | |
B Fixtures
| Home \ Away | BUX | MIL | NEW | NOR | SA |
| Buxton Hitmen | | 44–46 | 48–41 | 50–40 | 36–53 |
| Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 49–41 | | 51–39 | 45–44 | 45–45 |
| Newport Mavericks | 58–30 | 56–34 | | 51–35 | 35–54 |
| Norfolk Braves | 55–34 | 42–48 | 43–47 | | 39–51 |
| St Austell Gulls | 55–35 | 46–20 | 70–20 | 71–19 | |

## Conference League Knockout Cup

The 1998 Conference league Knockout Cup (sponsored by Dunlop) was the first edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams.
In 1995 there had been an Academy League Knockout Cup and in 1996 a Conference League Knockout Cup but due to a merger of the British Leagues, both the 1995 and 1996 editions acted as the second tier of British speedway at the time.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 21/06 | Skegness | 41-49 | Mildenhall |
| 21/06 | Mildenhall | 48-41 | Skegness |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 30/08 | Buxton | 43-47 | Mildenhall |
| 19/07 | Mildenhall | 49-41 | Buxton |
| 17/07 | Newport | 52-38 | St Austell |
| 14/07 | St Austell | 59-31 | Newport |

### Final

| 22 September | St Austell Gulls Steve Bishop 17 Seemond Stephens 14 Roger Lobb 12 Garry Lobb | 53–36 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers David Mason 13 Ross Brady 8 Geoff Powell 5 Dean Garrod Jamie Barton | Clay Country Moto Parc |
| 3 October | Mildenhall Fen Tigers Geoff Powell 12 Ross Brady 9 | 38–52 | St Austell Gulls Seemond Stephens 15 James Birkinshaw 13 Steve Bishop 10 | Mildenhall Stadium |

## Riders' Championship

Steve Bishop won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 12 July at the Clay Country Moto Parc in St Austell.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Total |
| 1 | Steve Bishop | St. Austell | 15 |
| 2 | Andrew Appleton | Newport | 14 |
| 3 | Seemond Stephens | St. Austell | 12 |
| 4 | Adrian Newman | St. Austell | 11 |
| 5 | Peter Boast | Norfolk | 10 |
| 6 | Wayne Barrett | St. Austell | 10 |
| 7 | Roger Lobb | Newport | 9 |
| 8 | Dean Garrod | Mildenhall | 8 |
| 9 | Jason Prynne | St. Austell | 8 |
| 10 | Chris Neath | Newport | 7 |
| 11 | Paul Lydes Uings | Mildenhall | 4 |
| 12 | Richard Ford | Newport | 4 |
| 13 | Kevin Phillips | St. Austell | 3 |
| 14 | Paul Macklin | Buxton | 3 |
| 15 | Martin Williams | Newport | 1 |
| 16 | Chris Harris | St. Austell | 1 |
| 17 | Vince Purnell (res) | | 0 |