# 2003 Elite League speedway season

The 2003 Elite League speedway season was the 69th season of the top 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

In 2003, the league decreased to eight teams, after the King's Lynn dropped to the Premier League and reverted back to their traditional name of Stars. They also lost the promotion of Nigel Wagstaff who took over at Oxford, which resulted in Oxford Cheetahs taking over the Silver Machine name from King's Lynn. King's Lynn's leading riders Nicki Pedersen and Sebastian Ułamek also switched to Oxford. Freddie Eriksson went to Ipswich. Oxford also brought in former World Champion Greg Hancock from Coventry but lost Leigh Adams and Lukáš Dryml to Poole.
Poole's decision to recruit Adams and Dryml was instrumental because they went on to claim the title. Adams finished top of the league averages and he was backed up by their five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson and the vastly improved form of Magnus Zetterström. Poole went on to complete the double by winning the Knockout Cup.

## Final table

| Pos | | M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Bon | Tot |
| 1 | Poole Pirates | 28 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 1335 | 1182 | 41 | 11 | 52 |
| 2 | Coventry Bees | 28 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 1295 | 1224 | 34 | 9 | 43 |
| 3 | Peterborough Panthers | 28 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 1325 | 1195 | 32 | 8 | 40 |
| 4 | Oxford Silver Machine | 28 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 1295 | 1224 | 32 | 8 | 40 |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 28 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 1248 | 1265 | 29 | 6 | 35 |
| 6 | Eastbourne Eagles | 28 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 1261 | 1250 | 25 | 7 | 32 |
| 7 | Belle Vue Aces | 28 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 1219 | 1298 | 19 | 5 | 24 |
| 8 | Ipswich Witches | 28 | 6 | 0 | 22 | 1088 | 1428 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
* = Qualified for Play Offs

### 'A' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | EAS | IPS | OX | PET | PP | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 43–47 | 41–49 | 56–34 | 44–46 | 42–48 | 45–44 | 49–41 |
| Coventry Bees | 50–40 | | 48–42 | 48–42 | 49–41 | 51–39 | 43–47 | 49–41 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 47–43 | 47–43 | | 50–40 | 47–43 | 55–35 | 43–46 | 47–42 |
| Ipswich Witches | 47–43 | 36–54 | 49–41 | | 39–51 | 42–47 | 40–50 | 47–43 |
| Oxford Silver Machine | 51–39 | 46–44 | 47–43 | 51–38 | | 48–42 | 41–49 | 58–32 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 53–37 | 43–47 | 52–38 | 62–28 | 59–31 | | 47–43 | 53–37 |
| Poole Pirates | 54–36 | 43–47 | 60–30 | 49–40 | 51–39 | 46–44 | | 58–32 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 48–42 | 51–39 | 48–42 | 49–41 | 53–37 | 53–37 | 45–45 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | EAS | IPS | OX | PET | PP | WOL |
| Belle Vue Aces | | 47–43 | 45–45 | 51–37 | 49–41 | 47–43 | 47–43 | 51–39 |
| Coventry Bees | 48–42 | | 51–38 | 54–36 | 47–43 | 52–38 | 43–47 | 49–41 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 56–34 | 44–46 | | 54–36 | 52–38 | 61–29 | 43–47 | 46–38 |
| Ipswich Witches | 46–44 | 46–44 | 47–43 | | 41–49 | 33–57 | 39–51 | 40–50 |
| Oxford Silver Machine | 52–38 | 52–38 | 46–44 | 58–32 | | 46–44 | 62–28 | 62–28 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 53–37 | 48–42 | 56–34 | 62–28 | 54–36 | | 48–42 | 58–32 |
| Poole Pirates | 46–44 | 52–38 | 47–43 | 57–33 | 46–44 | 53–37 | | 47–43 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 47–43 | 49–41 | 53–37 | 60–30 | 54–36 | 53–37 | 46–44 | |

## Play-offs

Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Semi-finals
* Poole Pirates 48-42 Oxford Silver Machine
* Coventry Bees 60-30 Peterborough Panthers

### Final

First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 100-79.

## Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2003 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 65th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition.
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 23/05 | Peterborough | 52-38 | Coventry |
| 09/05 | Oxford | 55-35 | Ipswich |
| 05/05 | Ipswich | 41-49 | Oxford |
| 21/04 | Coventry | 52-38 | Peterborough |
| 21/04 | Wolverhampton | 57-33 | Belle Vue |
| 18/04 | Belle Vue | 49-41 | Wolverhampton |
| 18/04 | Eastbourne | 40-32 | Poole |
| 18/04 | Poole | 56-34 | Eastbourne |
| 10/09 (replay) | Peterborough | 44-46 | Coventry |
| 03/09 (replay) | Coventry | 61-29 | Peterborough |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 11/10 | Coventry | 50-40 | Wolverhampton |
| 10/10 | Oxford | 46-44 | Poole |
| 08/10 | Wolverhampton | 48-41 | Coventry |
| 15/09 | Poole | 56-34 | Oxford |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-88.

## Riders' Championship

Lee Richardson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Brandon Stadium on 18 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Lee Richardson | 2 3 2 2 2 | 11 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Andreas Jonsson | 3 0 3 3 1 | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Scott Nicholls | 3 0 3 3 2 | 11 | x | 1 |
| 4 | Jason Crump | 2 3 2 3 3 | 13 | x | ret |
| 5 | Billy Janniro | 2 3 2 2 1 | 10 | 1 | |
| 6 | Dean Barker | 3 2 3 3 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 7 | Mark Loram | 3 1 1 0 3 | 8 | | |
| 8 | Todd Wiltshire | 1 2 1 1 2 | 7 | | |
| 9 | Tony Rickardsson | 0 2 3 1 0 | 6 | | |
| 10 | Mikael Max | 1 3 0 2 0 | 6 | | |
| 11 | Leigh Adams | 2 2 1 0 1 | 6 | | |
| 12 | Peter Karlsson | 0 1 0 1 3 | 5 | | |
| 13 | Charlie Gjedde | 0 1 2 2 0 | 5 | | |
| 14 | Joe Screen | 1 1 0 0 2 | 4 | | |
| 15 | Jason Lyons | 1 0 0 1 1 | 3 | | |
| 16 | David Norris | 0 0 1 0 | 1 | | |
| 17 | Chris Harris (res) | 3 | 3 | | |
* r-retired

## Leading final averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Jason Crump | Belle Vue | 10.79 |
| Leigh Adams | Poole | 10.14 |
| Magnus Zetterström | Poole | 10.07 |
| Tony Rickardsson | Poole | 9.64 |
| Scott Nicholls | Ipswich | 9.41 |
| Nicki Pedersen | Oxford | 9.33 |
| Mikael Max | Wolverhampton | 9.28 |
| Greg Hancock | Oxford | 9.28 |
| Ryan Sullivan | Peterborough | 9.23 |
| Billy Hamill | Coventry | 9.23 |

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Jason Crump 10.79
* Joe Screen 8.24
* Jason Lyons 7.93
* Steve Johnston 6.78
* Carl Stonehewer 6.52
* Rory Schlein 6.21
* Craig Watson 5.23
* Neil Collins 5.15
* Chris Manchester 4.79
* Josh Larsen 4.78
* Aleš Dryml Jr. 4.31
* Jesper Olsen 2.67
* James Wright 2.46
Coventry
* Billy Hamill 9.23
* Lee Richardson 8.78
* Andreas Jonsson 8.49
* Billy Janniro7.72
* Stuart Robson 6.84
* Ryan Fisher 5.97
* Jason Bunyan 3.71
* Richard Hall 3.27
* Scott James 2.82
Eastbourne
* Nicki Pedersen 8.48
* Dean Barker 8.08
* Mark Loram 8.05
* David Norris 7.83
* Joe Screen 7.81
* Adam Shields 7.44
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.36
* Garry Stead 5.89
* Ulrich Østergaard 5.70
* Matt Read 5.08
* Glenn Cunningham 4.00
* Joel Parsons 4.00
* Peter Ljung 2.67
Ipswich
* Scott Nicholls 9.41
* Jarosław Hampel 6.53
* Kim Jansson 6.46
* Danny Bird 5.93
* Krzysztof Słaboń 5.93
* Paul Hurry 5.91
* Daniel Nermark 5.60
* Danny King 5.47
* Leigh Lanham 4.83
* Tom P. Madsen 4.70
* Freddie Eriksson 4.07
* Craig Boyce 4.00
Oxford
* Nicki Pedersen 9.33
* Greg Hancock 9.28
* Todd Wiltshire 8.64
* Charlie Gjedde 7.82
* Sebastian Ułamek 7.81
* Jan Stæchmann 6.52
* Andy Smith 6.43
* Travis McGowan 6.37
* Craig Boyce 6.30
* Niklas Klingberg 5.57
* Niels Kristian Iversen 4.84
* Matej Ferjan 4.77
* Kai Laukkanen 4.46
* Jernej Kolenko 2.72
Peterborough
* Ryan Sullivan 9.23
* Piotr Protasiewicz 8.76
* Chris Harris 7.28
* Hans N. Andersen 7.22
* Kenneth Bjerre 6.97
* Gary Havelock 6.93
* Shane Parker 6.23
* Nigel Sadler 5.86
Poole
* Leigh Adams 10.14
* Magnus Zetterström 10.07
* Tony Rickardsson 9.64
* Lukáš Dryml 8.52
* Craig Boyce 7.66
* Antonio Lindback 7.20
* Bjarne Pedersen 7.06
* David Ruud 6.48
* Davey Watt 6.10
* Andre Compton 5.83
* Krzysztof Kasprzak 4.55
* Tony Primmer 4.33
Wolverhampton
* Mikael Karlsson 9.28
* Peter Karlsson 9.10
* Graham Jones 7.45
* David Howe 7.40
* Simon Stead 7.02
* Sam Ermolenko 7.01
* Adam Skórnicki 6.57
* Magnus Karlsson 6.00
* James Grieves 5.80
* Oliver Allen 5.67
* Chris Neath 4.88
* Rob Finlow 2.95