# 2006 Premier League speedway season

The 2006 Premier League speedway season was the second division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).

## Season summary

The League consisted of 14 teams for the 2005 season after the Reading Racers elected to compete in the Elite League and the closure of the Exeter Falcons and the Hull Vikings. The Mildenhall Fen Tigers elected to enter the Premier League along with the newly founded Redcar Bears.
King's Lynn Stars won the league title.

## Fixtures & results

| Home \ Away | BER | ED | GLA | IOW | KL | MFT | ND | NW | RED | RYE | SHE | SOM | STO | WOR |
| Berwick Bandits | | 58–37 | 51–44 | 44–46 | 46–51 | 50–40 | 51–45 | 47–47 | 50–41 | 54–42 | 43–47 | 55–40 | 49–44 | 41–49 |
| Edinburgh Monarchs | 61–34 | | 45–45 | 56–35 | 45–45 | 44–46 | 51–45 | 53–37 | 53–39 | 42–47 | 52–44 | 57–36 | 52–40 | 44–46 |
| Glasgow Tigers | 53–37 | 49–44 | | 52–38 | 50–46 | 60–36 | 55–40 | 52–38 | 53–42 | 59–35 | 49–44 | 50–40 | 61–32 | 54–41 |
| Isle of Wight Islanders | 53–42 | 55–41 | 49–45 | | 50–40 | 51–42 | 57–35 | 50–40 | 50–40 | 64–29 | 44–46 | 43–41 | 60–32 | 52–42 |
| King's Lynn Stars | 66–27 | 61–33 | 62–28 | 63–31 | | 52–41 | 62–31 | 64–26 | 70–22 | 64–28 | 62–33 | 56–39 | 66–26 | 63–30 |
| Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 42–48 | 52–41 | 49–44 | 49–44 | 45–47 | | 51–41 | 55–39 | 45–45 | 44–48 | 44–46 | 40–50 | 51–44 | 44–46 |
| Newcastle Diamonds | 49–44 | 50–42 | 50–40 | 52–40 | 46–44 | 48–32 | | 53–37 | 49–42 | 47–42 | 47–46 | 45–45 | 49–41 | 53–39 |
| Newport Wasps | 41–49 | 62–31 | 44–46 | 47–43 | 39–54 | 45–44 | 46–44 | | 47–49 | 43–51 | 45–44 | 43–47 | 44–52 | 58–35 |
| Redcar Bears | 64–26 | 56–38 | 59–36 | 51–42 | 44–49 | 57–38 | 49–43 | 39–51 | | 47–43 | 48–42 | 54–39 | 56–40 | 59–36 |
| Rye House Rockets | 65–27 | 55–37 | 54–40 | 50–43 | 44–46 | 53–40 | 69–21 | 64–28 | 54–40 | | 53–40 | 56–38 | 65–27 | 49–41 |
| Sheffield Tigers | 56–39 | 61–31 | 57–39 | 62–29 | 45–45 | 63–27 | 60–32 | 63–30 | 49–41 | 60–35 | | 48–45 | 44–45 | 53–42 |
| Somerset Rebels | 53–39 | 59–34 | 58–36 | 54–42 | 51–39 | 42–48 | 57–37 | 58–35 | 57–41 | 53–41 | 44–49 | | 58–34 | 50–40 |
| Stoke Potters | 56–37 | 47–43 | 38–55 | 53–39 | 47–43 | 63–29 | 47–42 | 50–36 | 42–53 | 43–47 | 46–43 | 46–44 | | 54–41 |
| Workington Comets | 50–43 | 57–39 | 44–46 | 63–30 | 43–49 | 53–42 | 60–35 | 51–39 | 52–42 | 59–31 | 44–46 | 48–45 | 58–38 | |

## Final table

| | | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | | | | Bonus | Bonus | |
| Pos | Team | M | W | D | L | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | W | L | Tot |
| 1 | King's Lynn Stars | 26 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1409 | 990 | 40 | 13 | 0 | 53 |
| 2 | Sheffield Tigers | 26 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1291 | 1101 | 33 | 11 | 2 | 44 |
| 3 | Glasgow Tigers | 26 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 1240 | 1173 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 42 |
| 4 | Rye House Rockets | 26 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1250 | 1147 | 32 | 8 | 5 | 40 |
| 5 | Somerset Rebels | 26 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1243 | 1156 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 36 |
| 6 | Redcar Bears | 26 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1220 | 1194 | 27 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| 7 | Workington Comets | 26 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1210 | 1199 | 26 | 7 | 6 | 33 |
| 8 | Isle of Wight Islanders | 26 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1180 | 1210 | 26 | 7 | 6 | 33 |
| 9 | Newcastle Diamonds | 26 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1129 | 1249 | 25 | 5 | 8 | 30 |
| 10 | Stoke Potters | 26 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1127 | 1265 | 24 | 4 | 9 | 28 |
| 11 | Berwick Bandits | 26 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1140 | 1274 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 26 |
| 12 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 26 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1138 | 1270 | 18 | 2 | 11 | 20 |
| 13 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 26 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1116 | 1264 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 19 |
| 14 | Newport Wasps | 26 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1087 | 1288 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 18 |

## Play-offs

Aggregate scores over two legs.
Quarter-finals
* King's Lynn Stars 110-75 Redcar Bears
* Sheffield Tigers 97-86 Workington Comets
* Isle of Wight Islanders 97-91 Glasgow Tigers
* Rye House Rockets 94-88 Somerset Rebels
Semi-finals
* Sheffield Tigers 103-85 Isle of Wight Islanders
* King's Lynn Stars 102-83 Rye House Rockets
Final
* King's Lynn Stars 100-82 Sheffield Tigers

## Premier League Knockout Cup

The 2006 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 39th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 31/05 | King's Lynn | 70-20 | Berwick |
| 20/05 | Berwick | 47-43 | King's Lynn |
| 27/05 | Workington | 54-40 | Newcastle |
| 28/05 | Newcastle | 55-40 | Workington |
| 20/05 | Rye House | 66-36 | Isle of Wight |
| 16/05 | Isle of Wight | 53-41 | Rye House |
| 19/05 | Somerset | 57-38 | Stoke |
| 20/05 | Stoke | 51-41 | Somerset |
| 27/06 | Newport | 55-31 | Edinburgh |
| 19/05 | Edinburgh | 56-40 | Newport |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 21/06 | King's Lynn | 54-41 | Rye House |
| 24/06 | Rye House | 49-44 | King's Lynn |
| 23/06 | Somerset | 52-44 | Mildenhall |
| 25/06 | Mildenhall | 40-53 | Somerset |
| 25/06 | Glasgow | 55-41 | Newcastle |
| 26/06 | Newcastle | 48-42 | Glasgow |
| 06/07 | Sheffield | 59-33 | Newport |
| 09/07 | Newport | 39-51 | Sheffield |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 10/09 | Glasgow | 45-45 | King's Lynn |
| 20/09 | King's Lynn | 67-27 | Glasgow |
| 15/09 | Somerset | 55-40 | Sheffield |
| 28/09 | Sheffield | 55-41 | Somerset |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
King's Lynn were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 107–77.

## Final leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Magnus Zetterström | Somerset | 10.52 |
| Gary Havelock | Redcar | 10.10 |
| Andre Compton | Sheffield | 9.94 |
| Shane Parker | Glasgow | 9.91 |
| Tomáš Topinka | Kings Lynn | 9.80 |
| Kevin Doolan | Kings Lynn | 9.30 |
| Jason Lyons | Mildenhall | 9.24 |
| Danny Bird | Glasgow | 9.10 |
| Daniel Nermark | Kings Lynn | 9.07 |
| Mark Lemon | Stoke | 9.03 |

## Riders' Championship

Magnus Zetterström won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 24 September at Owlerton Stadium.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Magnus Zetterström | 3 3 2 3 3 | 14 | - | 3 |
| 2 | Jason Lyons | 3 2 2 3 3 | 13 | - | 2 |
| 3 | Gary Havelock | 2 2 3 2 3 | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Tomáš Topinka | 0 3 3 2 3 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Chris Holder | 2 3 1 3 1 | 10 | 1 |
| 6 | Danny Bird | 1 2 3 3 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 7 | Andre Compton | 1 3 3 - - | 7 |
| 8 | Josef Franc | 3 1 2 0 1 | 7 |
| 9 | James Wright | 2 0 1 2 2 | 7 |
| 10 | Mark Lemon | 0 0 2 2 2 | 6 |
| 11 | Chris Neath | 2 2 0 0 2 | 6 |
| 12 | Shane Parker | 3 1 0 1 1 | 6 |
| 13 | Michal Makovský | 1 1 1 1 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Kevin Doolan | 1 0 0 1 2 | 4 |
| 15 | William Lawson | 0 1 1 0 r | 2 |
| 16 | Carl Wilkinson | ex 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Tai Woffinden (res) | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | David Speight (res) | 0 0 | 0 |
* f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

## Pairs

The Premier League Pairs Championship was held at Ashfield Stadium on 8 October (originally abandoned on 18 June). The event was won by Glasgow for the second consecutive season.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Newcastle | 25 | Franc 14, Stancl 11 |
| 2 | Sheffield | 21 | Wilson 13, Ashworth 8 |
| 3 | King's Lynn | 21 | Nermark 13, Doolan 8 |
| 4 | Edinburgh | 12 | Lawson 9, Sneddon 3 |
| 5 | Glasgow B | 11 | McAllan 6, Ksiezak 5 |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Somerset | 26 | Zetterstrom 13, Kramer 13 |
| 2 | Glasgow | 20 | Bird 12, Parker 8 |
| 3 | Workington | 17 | Wright 12, Piszcz 5 |
| 4 | Stoke | 15 | Lemon 8, Thorp 7 |
| 5 | Mildenhall | 12 | Lyons 12, Armstrong 0 |
Semi finals
* Glasgow bt Newcastle 5–4
* Sheffield bt Somerset 6–3
Final
* Glasgow bt Sheffield 6–3

## Fours

Workington Comets won the Premier League Four-Team Championship for the third time. The event was held at Derwent Park on 7 October, after originally being postponed from 19 August.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Sheffield | 20 | Legault 6, Ashworth 6, Wilson 5, Compton 3 |
| 2 | King's Lynn | 11 | Hardin 4, Doolan 3, Nermark 2, Mills 2 |
| 3 | Rye House | 9 | Robson 3, Kennett 3, Allen 2, Boxall 1 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 8 | Henry 3, Franc 3, Stancl 2, Robertson 0 |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Workington | 19 | Stead 5, Wright 5, Piszcz 5, Harrison 1 |
| 2 | Somerset | 12 | Zetterstrom 6, Kramer 4, Cunningham 1, Katt 1 |
| 3 | Glasgow | 10 | Bird 4, Partker 3, McAllan 2, Dicken 1 |
| 4 | Mildenhall | 7 | Werner 5, King 2, Lyons 1, Armstrong 0 |
Final :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Workington | 22 | Wright 7, Stead 5, Piszcz 4, Harrison 4 |
| 2 | Somerset | 21 | Zetterstrom 9, Kramer 5, Cunningham 4, Katt 3 |
| 3 | Sheffield | 16 | Compton 5, Legault 4, Wilson 4, Ashworth 3 |
| 4 | King's Lynn | 12 | Doolan 6, Nermark 4, Milsl 2, Harding 0 |

## Riders & final averages

Berwick
* Michal Makovský 8.06
* Jacek Rempala 7.66
* Adrian Rymel 7.14
* Stanisław Burza 7.11
* Lee Smethills 6.86
* Andreas Bergström 6.65
* Craig Branney 5.94
* David Meldrum 4.28
* Danny Warwick 3.36
Edinburgh
* Theo Pijper 8.22
* Matthew Wethers 7.56
* William Lawson 7.42
* Rusty Harrison 7.41
* Henrik Møller 6.57
* Derek Sneddon 6.19
* Daniele Tessari 4.00
* Sean Stoddart 2.90
Glasgow
* Shane Parker 9.91
* Danny Bird 9.10
* Kauko Nieminen 7.96
* Robert Ksiezak 5.72
* James Cockle 4.82
* David McAllan 4.56
* Lee Dicken 3.91
Isle of Wight
* Chris Holder 8.80
* Jason Doyle 7.57
* Krzysztof Stojanowski 7.20
* Jason Bunyan 6.92
* Ray Morton 6.60
* Krister Marsh 5.15
* Chris Johnson 5.03
* Nick Simmons 3.50
King's Lynn
* Tomáš Topinka 9.80
* Kevin Doolan 9.30
* Daniel Nermark 9.07
* Troy Batchelor 8.34
* Trevor Harding 6.40
* Chris Mills 6.07
* John Oliver 5.56
* Simon Lambert 4.91
Mildenhall
* Jason Lyons 9.24
* Danny King 8.40
* Jon Armstrong 6.78
* Brent Werner 6.15
* Shaun Tacey 5.91
* Jason King 5.68
* James Brundle 4.50
* Jordan Frampton 3.48
* Barry Burchatt 2.47
Newcastle
* Josef Franc 8.34
* George Štancl 8.21
* James Grieves 7.76
* Christian Henry 7.37
* Jamie Robertson 4.93
* Manuel Hauzinger 4.73
* Adam McKinna 1.91
Newport
* Craig Watson 8.44
* Carl Wilkinson 6.99
* Neil Collins 6.88
* Chris Schramm 6.29
* Tony Atkin 6.08
* Joel Parsons 5.59
* Billy Legg 1.57
* Sam Hurst 0.83
Redcar
* Gary Havelock 10.10
* Mathieu Trésarrieu 7.57
* Tomáš Suchánek 6.35
* Kevin Little 6.34
* Daniel Giffard 6.03
* Chris Kerr 5.20
* Richard Juul 4.76
* Jack Hargreaves 4.00
Rye House
* Steve Boxall 8.80
* Edward Kennett 8.73
* Chris Neath 8.38
* Tommy Allen 6.35
* Luke Bowen 5.53
* Ross Brady 5.40
* Ben Powell 5.18
* Lee Smethills 5.06
* Adam Roynon 4.78
* Jamie Courtney 4.31
* Danny Betson 3.69
Sheffield
* Andre Compton 9.94
* Ricky Ashworth 8.59
* Ben Wilson 8.11
* Emiliano Sanchez 7.71
* Kyle Legault 7.62
* Paul Cooper 4.39
* Benji Compton 3.61
Somerset
* Magnus Zetterström 10.52
* Emil Kramer 7.73
* Glenn Cunningham 7.33
* Paul Fry 7.20
* Stephan Katt 6.67
* Ben Barker 5.19
* Glen Phillips 5.19
* Simon Walker 5.03
Stoke
* Mark Lemon 9.03
* Paul Thorp 8.07
* Robbie Kessler 7.80
* Paul Clews 6.45
* Alan Mogridge 6.21
* Trent Leverington 5.08
* Barrie Evans 4.58
* Luke Priest 3.82
Workington
* James Wright 8.58
* Garry Stead 8.47
* Rusty Harrison 8.07
* Paul Thorp 7.60
* Ritchie Hawkins 7.44
* Tomasz Piszcz 7.37
* Alan Mogridge 6.75
* Aidan Collins 5.57
* Lee Derbyshire 2.05
* John Branney 1.85