# 1997 Speedway Conference League

The 1997 Speedway Conference League (also called the Amateur League), was the third tier/division of British speedway. It reverted to being the third tier because during the previous season it was inadvertently the second-tier competition while the British League ran as a single merged division.

## Summary

The title was won by Peterborough Thundercats the junior side belonging to Peterborough Panthers.
The majority of the clubs were the junior sides belonging to their respective senior side or a collaboration ran by their senior sides. The Raven Sprockets were a combination of the Reading Racers and Swindon Robins, the Western Warriors were a combination of the Exeter Falcons and Newport Wasps, the Shuttle Cubs were Wolverhampton Wolves and Long Eaton Speedway and finally the Anglian Angels were the Ipswich Witches and Rye House Rockets.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Played | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| 1 | Peterborough Thundercats | 24 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1064 | 729 | 45 |
| 2 | Berwick Border Raiders | 24 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 999 | 767 | 36 |
| 3 | Ryde Wight Wizards | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 987 | 857 | 31 |
| 4 | Buxton Hitmen | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 948 | 901 | 30 |
| 5 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 24 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 961 | 874 | 28 |
| 6 | St Austell Gulls | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 963 | 871 | 26 |
| 7 | Raven Sprockets+ (Reading and Swindon) | 24 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 820 | 848 | 23 |
| 8 | Western Warriors+ (Exeter and Newport) | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 909 | 946 | 20 |
| 9 | Oxford Cubs | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 901 | 909 | 18 |
| 10 | Shuttle Cubs+ (Wolverhampton and Long Eaton) | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 799 | 969 | 18 |
| 11 | Lathallan Lightning | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 798 | 967 | 14 |
| 12 | Belle Vue Colts | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 819 | 1024 | 14 |
| 13 | Anglian Angels+ (Ipswich and King's Lynn) | 24 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 725 | 1031 | 9 |
+ combined team

## Fixtures & results

| Home \ Away | AA | BV | BER | BUX | LL | MIL | OX | PET | RAV | RWW | SA | SC | WW |
| Anglian Angels | | 37–41 | 22–56 | 40–38 | 34–43 | 21–39 | 36–52 | 34–44 | 22–38 | 37–41 | 34–44 | 40–38 | 42–36 |
| Belle Vue Colts | 39–30 | | 33–38 | 41–37 | 41–36 | 26–46 | 28–25 | 29–45 | 26–46 | 35–42 | 48–29 | 36–40 | 46–32 |
| Berwick Border Raiders | 50–28 | 41–30 | | 47–30 | 50–28 | 39–39 | 52–26 | 37–41 | 38–10 | 49–29 | 54–24 | 50–25 | 54–24 |
| Buxton Hitmen | 45–33 | 53–25 | 38–39 | | 48–28 | 44–33 | 40–36 | 24–52 | 36–42 | 36–41 | 40–32 | 46–31 | 40–37 |
| Lathallan Lightning | 44–33 | 42–36 | 30–48 | 38–39 | | 37–40 | 45–33 | 32–45 | 35–42 | 41–35 | 35–43 | 38–37 | 39–38 |
| Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 53–25 | 40–37 | 30–47 | 40–38 | 41–37 | | 47–30 | 39–39 | 52–26 | 38–40 | 48–30 | 47–31 | 44–34 |
| Oxford Cubs | 51–27 | 52–25 | 42–36 | 38–40 | 48–30 | 37–41 | | 36–40 | 45–33 | 45–32 | 38–39 | 37–41 | 48–30 |
| Peterborough Thundercats | 52–26 | 51–27 | 50–28 | 52–26 | 49–29 | 51–26 | 40–35 | | 48–27 | 43–25 | 44–34 | 57–21 | 45–32 |
| Raven Sprockets | 44–34 | 41–32 | 27–51 | 36–40 | 46–32 | 40–38 | 40–38 | 15–33 | | 34–43 | 38–40 | 52–26 | 44–33 |
| Ryde Wight Wizards | 53–25 | 44–32 | 43–34 | 37–41 | 59–19 | 48–30 | 49–28 | 38–40 | 39–39 | | 43–35 | 44–34 | 49–29 |
| St Austell Gulls | 55–21 | 47–31 | 58–30 | 37–41 | 53–25 | 40–38 | 43–11 | 38–39 | 44–34 | 45–33 | | 53–25 | 34–41 |
| Shuttle Cubs | 45–26 | 26–19 | 34–37 | 36–41 | 39–31 | 38–35 | 39–38 | 26–31 | 43–32 | 28–43 | 50–28 | | 29–48 |
| Western Warriors | 38–40 | 43–35 | 36–42 | 30–47 | 47–25 | 39–37 | 36–42 | 45–33 | 40–38 | 41–37 | 40–38 | 60–18 | |

## Riders' Championship

Jon Armstrong won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 7 September at Long Eaton Stadium.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Total |
| 1 | Jon Armstrong | Buxton | 13 |
| 2 | Bobby Eldridge | Ryde | 13 |
| 3 | David Howe | Peterborough | 12 |
| 4 | Blair Scott | Lathallan | 11 |
| 5 | Roger Lobb | Western Warriors | 10 |
| 6 | David Meldrum | Berwick | 9 |
| 7 | Mark Blackwell | Ryde | 9 |
| 8 | Simon Stead | Peterborough | 8 |
| 9 | Dean Garrod | Mildenhall | 7 |
| 10 | Rob Clarence | Shuttle Cubs | 6 |
| 11 | Mark Thompson | Anglian Angels | 5 |
| 12 | Philip Ambrose | Oxford | 4 |
| 13 | Lee Dixon | Belle Vue | 4 |
| 14 | Paul Lee | Shuttle Cubs | 3 |
| 15 | Ian Clarke | Raven Sprockets | 3 |
| 16 | Stephen Read | Buxton | 1 |
| 17 | Nathan McDonald (res) | Shuttle Cubs | 0 |