# 2004 Elite League speedway season

The 2004 Elite League speedway season was the 70th 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). Poole Pirates completed the double (league and cup winners) for the second year running. They were the first team to achieve this since Oxford Cheetahs in 1986.

## Season summary

In 2004, the league increased to ten teams, with the Arena Essex Hammers and the Swindon Robins moving up from the Premier League. The title was decided by a play-off between the top five teams. The team that finished top of the table were seeded directly to the final and the next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final.
Poole Pirates dominated the season again and completed the 'double double' meaning winning the league and cup for two consecutive seasons. This had not been achieved since Oxford Cheetahs during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Poole retained the majority of their 2003 squad, five time World Champion Tony Rickardsson, Magnus Zetterström, Antonio Lindbäck and Bjarne Pedersen but Ryan Sullivan was brought in from Peterborough to replace Leigh Adams who moved to Swindon.
Rickardsson topped the league averages but only raced part of the season returning to Sweden to spend more time with his family. Arguably Leigh Adams was the star rider of the season helping new Elite League side Swindon to a respectable mid-table position.

## Final table

| Pos | | M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Bon | Tot |
| 1 | Poole Pirates | 36 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 1721 | 1603 | 48 | 13 | 61 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 36 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 1729 | 1586 | 42 | 16 | 58 |
| 3 | Ipswich Witches | 36 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 1701 | 1626 | 42 | 11 | 53 |
| 4 | Eastbourne Eagles | 36 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 1699 | 1632 | 39 | 11 | 50 |
| 5 | Oxford Silver Machine | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 1679 | 1672 | 38 | 10 | 48 |
| 6 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 1657 | 1667 | 39 | 6 | 45 |
| 7 | Belle Vue Aces | 35 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 1630 | 1597 | 34 | 9 | 43 |
| 8 | Arena Essex Hammers | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 1651 | 1679 | 32 | 8 | 40 |
| 9 | Peterborough Panthers | 35 | 12 | 2 | 21 | 1514 | 1722 | 23 | 3 | 26 |
| 10 | Coventry Bees | 36 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 1565 | 1762 | 18 | 3 | 21 |
$_{*BelleVuevPeterboroughnotheld}$
* = Qualified for Play Off final
* = Qualified for Play Offs

### 'A' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | AE | BV | COV | EAS | IPS | OX | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Arena Essex Hammers | | 51–42 | 62–34 | 47–46 | 48–42 | 53–41 | 47–46 | 43–47 | 45–48 | 51–44 |
| Belle Vue Aces | 49–41 | | 48–45 | 48–45 | 41–49 | 44–46 | 63–32 | 68–25 | 60–30 | 47–46 |
| Coventry Bees | 44–51 | 44–46 | | 45–50 | 45–49 | 42–48 | 61–31 | 40–55 | 52–38 | 44–45 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 53–40 | 57–38 | 55–39 | | 50–40 | 47–43 | 50–40 | 51–44 | 60–32 | 45–46 |
| Ipswich Witches | 57–38 | 52–41 | 54–41 | 47–46 | | 44–46 | 54–40 | 50–43 | 56–40 | 51–39 |
| Oxford Silver Machine | 52–43 | 52–43 | 71–21 | 53–43 | 44–45 | | 54–38 | 65–29 | 53–41 | 40–54 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 47–46 | 42–48 | 51–42 | 50–46 | 53–44 | 47–43 | | 46–46 | 47–46 | 54–41 |
| Poole Pirates | 47–43 | 49–42 | 47–45 | 52–44 | 58–34 | 58–37 | 48–45 | | 56–38 | 53–43 |
| Swindon Robins | 47–42 | 46–47 | 47–46 | 48–42 | 56–37 | 52–44 | 63–31 | 53–39 | | 49–47 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 62–30 | 51–42 | 49–41 | 44–45 | 49–44 | 58–35 | 53–39 | 50–40 | 52–44 | |

### 'B' Fixtures

| Home \ Away | AE | BV | COV | EAS | IPS | OX | PET | PP | SWI | WOL |
| Arena Essex Hammers | | 57–40 | 53–41 | 47–43 | 42–48 | 57–38 | 59–36 | 53–40 | 49–43 | 48–42 |
| Belle Vue Aces | 57–40 | | 50–45 | 44–45 | 50–41 | 57–38 | n/a | 47–43 | 48–42 | 50–42 |
| Coventry Bees | 52–41 | 45–44 | | 49–41 | 45–44 | 58–36 | 53–42 | 46–44 | 43–47 | 41–52 |
| Eastbourne Eagles | 50–43 | 51–39 | 62–29 | | 52–45 | 47–46 | 47–43 | 40–50 | 45–45 | 43–49 |
| Ipswich Witches | 49–41 | 55–39 | 54–41 | 63–31 | | 55–38 | 52–42 | 50–43 | 49–46 | 41–51 |
| Oxford Silver Machine | 53–42 | 48–45 | 53–41 | 51–43 | 450–45 | | 49–41 | 46–47 | 49–44 | 52–43 |
| Peterborough Panthers | 48–45 | 49–41 | 47–43 | 48–48 | 55–40 | 44–46 | | 42–51 | 30–46 | 48–45 |
| Poole Pirates | 52–40 | 54–40 | 55–39 | 46–49 | 48–33 | 54–37 | 53–40 | | 57–38 | 54–40 |
| Swindon Robins | 51–43 | 47–42 | 50–44 | 45–45 | 52–40 | 54–42 | 52–44 | 45–45 | | 48–45 |
| Wolverhampton Wolves | 43–33 | 55–36 | 50–39 | 54–42 | 42–48 | 53–40 | 57–36 | 41–49 | 51–44 | |

## Play-offs

Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Quarter-finals
* Wolverhampton Wolves 61-33 Oxford Silver Machine
* Ipswich Witches 55-39 Eastbourne Eagles
Semi-finals
* Wolverhampton Wolves 45-45 Ipswich Witches (Mikael Max beat Hans Andersen in run-off)

### Final

First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 112-71.

## Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2004 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 66th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Poole Pirates were the winners of the competition. Poole had started the final second leg under protest because of the Ipswich team changes that included a late replacement rider Davey Watt, who Poole considered was ineligible.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 01/04 | Coventry | 42-54 | Belle Vue |
| 06/05 | Swindon | 56-38 | Wolverhampton |
| 22/03 | Wolverhampton | 50-43 | Swindon |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 23/09 | Swindon | 48-42 | Belle Vue |
| 11/09 | Eastbourne | 46-48 | Ipswich |
| 12/05 | Kings Lynn | 56-39 | Isle of Wight |
| 06/05 | Swindon | 56-38 | Wolverhampton |
| 07/04 | Arena Essex | 48-46 | Oxford |
| 02/04 | Peterborough | 44-46 | Poole |
| 01/04 | Coventry | 42-54 | Belle Vue |
| 26/03 | Oxford | 47-46 | Arena Essex |
| 25/03 | Ipswich | 51-42 | Eastbourne |
| 24/03 | Poole | 58-37 | Peterborough |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 06/10 | Arena Essex | 43-46 | Ipswich |
| 06/10 | Poole | 61-30 | Swindon |
| 07/10 | Ipswich | 51-42 | Arena Essex |
| 07/10 | Swindon | 53-40 | Poole |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
The Poole Pirates were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 99-87.

## Riders' Championship

Bjarne Pedersen won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 17 October.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total | SF | Final |
| 1 | Bjarne Pedersen | 3 2 2 2 2 | 11 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Ryan Sullivan | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 | x | 2 |
| 3 | Hans Andersen | 1 3 2 3 3 | 12 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Rory Schlein | 3 3 2 1 3 | 12 | x | 0 |
| 5 | Matej Ferjan | 2 3 3 3 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| 6 | Mikael Max | 2 2 2 3 3 | 12 | 0 | |
| 7 | Leigh Adams | 2 2 3 1 1 | 9 | | |
| 8 | Scott Nicholls | 3 1 1 0 3 | 8 | | |
| 9 | Adam Shields | 2 1 1 2 1 | 7 | | |
| 10 | David Howe | 0 0 3 1 2 | 6 | | |
| 11 | Davey Watt | 1 1 1 2 0 | 5 | | |
| 12 | Gary Havelock | 0 2 0 0 2 | 4 | | |
| 13 | Rafał Dobrucki | 1 0 0 2 0 | 3 | | |
| 14 | Chris Harris | 1 1 0 0 1 | 3 | | |
| 15 | Josh Larsen | 0 0 1 1 1 | 3 | | |
| 16 | Sebastien Trésarrieu | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 | | |

## Pairs

The Elite League Pairs Championship, sponsored by Suzuki, was held at the Abbey Stadium on 11 April and was won by Swindon Robins.
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Swindon | | Adams & Gjedde |
| 2 | Belle Vue | | Crump & Screen |
| 3 | Oxford | 15 | Ulamek 11, McGowan 4 |
| 4 | Coventry | | Jonsson & Janniro |
| 5 | Poole | | Rickardsson & Lyons |
| Pos | Team | Riders |
| 1 | Peterborough | Richardson & Dryml |
| 2 | Eastbourne | Pedersen & Shields |
| ? | Wolves | Max & Howe |
| ? | Ipswich | Nicholls & Andersen |
| ? | Arena Essex | Loram & Barker |
Semi finals
* Swindon beat Eastbourne
* Belle Vue beat Peterborough 7–2
Final
* Swindon beat Belle Vue 5–4

## Leading final averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Tony Rickardsson | Poole | 10.89 |
| Leigh Adams | Swindon | 10.83 |
| Jason Crump | Belle Vue | 10.67 |
| David Norris | Eastbourne | 9.95 |
| Mark Loram | Arena Essex | 9.87 |
| Greg Hancock | Oxford | 9.83 |
| Nicki Pedersen | Eastbourne | 9.48 |
| Mikael Max | Wolverhampton | 9.39 |
| Scott Nicholls | Ipswich | 9.33 |
| Andreas Jonsson | Coventry | 9.07 |

## Rider & final averages

Arena Essex
* Mark Loram 9.87
* Dean Barker 6.67
* Roman Povazhny 6.57
* Kelvin Tatum 6.18
* Josh Larsen 6.06
* Paul Hurry 6.02
* Leigh Lanham 5.82
* Grzegorz Walasek 5.66
* Ronni Pedersen 4.44
Belle Vue
* Jason Crump 10.67
* Joe Screen 7.40
* Andre Compton 7.27
* Kai Laukkanen 7.25
* Kenneth Bjerre 7.13
* Rory Schlein 7.10
* Tomasz Jędrzejak 6.13
* Ronnie Correy 6.03
* Brent Werner 4.91
* Scott Robson 4.73
* Antonín Šváb Jr. 4.51
* Neil Collins 3.68
* Jon Armstrong 2.12
* Jan Jaroš 1.57
* Tobias Johansson 0.47
Coventry
* Andreas Jonsson 9.07
* Billy Janniro 7.11
* Sergei Darkin 6.68
* Stuart Robson 6.49
* John Jørgensen 6.00
* Morten Risager 5.85
* Chris Harris 5.67
* Jason Bunyan 4.76
* Tomasz Piszcz 2.29
* Bryan Yarrow 1.05
Eastbourne
* David Norris 9.95
* Nicki Pedersen 9.48
* Adam Shields 8.18
* Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.02
* Peter Ljung 5.00
* Andrew Moore 4.52
* Edward Kennett 4.20
* Ulrich Østergaard 2.92
* Adrian Miedziński 2.42
* Steen Jensen 2.07
Ipswich
* Scott Nicholls 9.33
* Hans N. Andersen 8.59
* Chris Louis 8.29
* Jesper B. Jensen 7.30
* Danny Bird 6.49
* Kim Jansson 5.96
* Danny King 3.30
* Trevor Harding 1.41
Oxford
* Greg Hancock 9.83
* Sebastian Ułamek 6.74
* Travis McGowan 6.60
* Ryan Fisher 6.25
* Niels Kristian Iversen 6.25
* Rafał Dobrucki 5.96
* Jonas Davidsson 5.20
* Tom P. Madsen 4.91
Peterborough
* Lee Richardson 8.62
* Gary Havelock 7.86
* Lukáš Dryml 6.86
* Aleš Dryml Jr. 6.55
* Henning Bager 5.40
* Ricky Ashworth 4.55
* Tomasz Piszcz 4.00
* Norbert Magosi 2.21
* Dariusz Śledź 2.00
Poole
* Tony Rickardsson 10.89
* Antonio Lindbäck 8.77
* Ryan Sullivan 8.66
* Bjarne Pedersen 8.63
* Matej Ferjan 7.65
* Krzysztof Kasprzak 6.29
* Magnus Zetterström 5.86
* Jason Lyons 5.43
* Davey Watt 4.80
* Daniel Davidsson 4.72
Swindon
* Leigh Adams 10.83
* Charlie Gjedde 7.23
* Steve Johnston 6.98
* Peter Ljung 6.41
* David Ruud 6.05
* Andy Smith 5.79
* Oliver Allen 3.89
* Glenn Cunningham 2.74
Wolverhampton
* Mikael Max 9.39
* Sam Ermolenko 7.48
* David Howe 7.37
* Daniel Nermark 6.86
* Adam Skórnicki 6.52
* Freddie Lindgren 6.43
* Chris Neath 5.59
* Eric Carrillo 2.12