Elite League (speedway)
| Sport | Speedway |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Ceased | 2016 |
| Administrator | Speedway Control Bureau |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Last champion(s) |
Wolverhampton Wolves |
| Most titles | Poole Pirates (7) |
| Official website | www |
The Elite League was the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It was sponsored by Sky Sports until the end of the 2013 season. In 2016, the Elite League featured 8 teams, unlike 10 in 2014, during a season which ran between March and October. Each team had a designated race day on which they normally staged their home fixtures, and they regularly had home and away fixtures scheduled in the same week.
The Elite League operated for 20 years until British speedway was restructured with the formation of the SGB Premiership and SGB Championship.
The British League was formed in 1965 as the sole professional speedway league in Britain, expanding in 1968 to incorporate two divisions. In 1995 & 1996 there was a single professional tier known as the Premier League (an amalgamation of the British League Division One and the British League Division Two), before the Elite League was created as a new top tier in 1997. The Championship was decided on a straight league table basis until 2001. A play-off system was introduced in 2002, with the top four in the table taking part in a knockout competition to decide the champions.
Each team raced every other team in the league home and away, and then raced five teams again home and twice away, giving a total of 38 meetings. The first of these home and away fixtures are called the 'A' fixtures, the second are the 'B' fixtures.
Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and from 2008 three points for an away win. Placings were determined by points accumulated over all matches. Where two or more teams were tied on league points, the team with the greater difference of race points scored over race points conceded was placed higher.
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