1997 Elite League speedway season

1997 Elite League speedway season
League	Sky Sports Elite League
Champions	Bradford Dukes
Knockout Cup	Eastbourne Eagles
Craven Shield	Coventry Bees
Individual	Greg Hancock
Fours	Peterborough Panthers
Highest average	Tony Rickardsson
Division/s below	1997 Premier League; 1997 Conference League
	← 1996; 1998 →;

The 1997 Elite League speedway season was the 63rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. It was the first season of a new league known as the Elite League^[1] and was governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).^[2]^[3]

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Home \ Away	BV	BD	COV	EAS	IPS	KL	PET	PP	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue Aces		48–42	42–47	54–36	51–38	63–27	51–39	61–29	53–37	52–38
Bradford Dukes	51–39		50–40	55–35	58–32	52–38	42–48	44–45	46–44	55–35
Coventry Bees	48–42	44–46		48–42	50–40	42–48	39–51	50–40	41–49	51–39
Eastbourne Eagles	48–42	58–32	56–34		63–27	53–37	56–33	59–31	48–42	42–46
Ipswich Witches	44–45	51–39	56–34	60–30		50–40	49–41	51–39	55–37	57–33
King's Lynn Knights	47–43	41–49	48–42	56–34	50–40		50–40	50–40	51–39	50–40
Peterborough Panthers	53–37	40–50	50–40	46–44	41–49	44–46		43–47	41–49	42–47
Poole Pirates	39–51	37–53	48–42	44–46	50–40	52–38	44–46		45–45	47–43
Swindon Robins	51–39	47–43	50–40	54–36	52–38	46–44	47–43	55–35		56–34
Wolverhampton Wolves	51–39	49–41	46–43	59–31	53–37	53–36	51–39	56–33	48–42

Home \ Away	BV	BD	COV	EAS	IPS	KL	PET	PP	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue Aces		44–46	52–38	57–33	55–33	56–34	47–43	50–40	54–36	48–42
Bradford Dukes	53–37		45–45	59–31	60–30	57–33	54–36	36–54	52–38	58–32
Coventry Bees	53–36	52–28		53–37	52–38	40–49	47–43	58–32	54–36	60–30
Eastbourne Eagles	51–39	56–34	54–36		49–41	61–29	66–24	55–35	55–35	52–37
Ipswich Witches	58–32	39–51	57–32	59–31		45–45	44–45	52–38	47–43	57–32
King's Lynn Knights	49–41	48–42	46–44	48–42	45–45		53–37	52–38	42–48	58–32
Peterborough Panthers	57–33	41–49	50–40	53–36	41–49	50–40		48–41	49–41	51–39
Poole Pirates	53–36	35–55	65–25	44–46	48–42	45–45	58–32		48–42	61–28
Swindon Robins	54–36	49–41	43–47	47–43	59–31	53–37	49–41	57–33		54–36
Wolverhampton Wolves	49–41	35–55	59–31	40–50	52–38	47–42	55–35	52–38	54–36

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
15/03	Coventry	51-40	Swindon
16/03	Swindon	41-49	Coventry
21/03	Belle Vue	48-42	Coventry
22/03	Coventry	45-45	Wolverhampton
22/03	Bradford	56-34	Swindon
23/03	Swindon	47-42	Bradford
24/03	Wolverhampton	52-38	Swindon
28/03	Belle Vue	56-33	Wolverhampton
29/03	Swindon	56-34	Belle Vue
29/03	Bradford	58-32	Wolverhampton
31/03	Coventry	49-41	Bradford
31/03	Wolverhampton	52-38	Belle Vue
04/04	Belle Vue	46-44	Bradford
05/04	Bradford	52-38	Coventry
05/04	Swindon	65-25	Wolverhampton
11/04	Belle Vue	52-40	Swindon
12/04	Coventry	51-41	Belle Vue
14/04	Wolverhampton	50-40	Coventry
19/04	Bradford	57-33	Belle Vue
28/04	Wolverhampton	44-46	Bradford

Season summary

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
20/03	Ipswich	47-43	Peterborough
21/03	Peterborough	41-49	Kings Lynn
23/03	Eastbourne	53-37	Ipswich
28/03	Ipswich	50-40	Kings Lynn
28/03	Peterborough	62-27	Eastbourne
30/03	Eastbourne	54-36	Poole
02/04	Poole	53-37	Kings Lynn
03/04	Ipswich	44-46	Eastbourne
06/04	Eastbourne	55-35	Kings Lynn
09/04	Kings Lynn	46-44	Eastbourne
09/04	Poole	52-38	Peterborough
10/04	Ipswich	41-49	Poole
11/04	Peterborough	38-52	Poole
12/04	Kings Lynn	37-52	Poole
16/04	Kings Lynn	47-43	Peterborough
16/04	Poole	57-33	Ipswich
18/04	Peterborough	48-42	Ipswich
19/04	Eastbourne	52-37	Peterborough
23/04	Poole	73-17	Eastbourne
30/04	Kings Lynn	41-49	Ipswich

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
02/07	Poole	53-37	Coventry
15/06	Coventry	48-42	Poole
15/07	Bradford	56-34	Eastbourne
13/04	Eastbourne	58-32	Bradford

Team one	Team two	Score
Coventry	Swindon	50–40, 49–41
King's Lynn	Eastbourne	53–36, 37–52

Pos.	Rider	Total	Total	SF	Final
1	Greg Hancock	2 1 3 3 3	12	x	3
2	Tony Rickardsson	2 3 2 3 3	13	x	2
3	Chris Louis	3 3 1 2 2	11	2	1
4	Simon Wigg	1 0 3 2 3	9	3	0
5	Mark Loram	1 2 3 1 2	9	1
6	Billy Hamill	3 TX 0 3 3	9	0
7	Sam Ermolenko	3 1 2 0 2	8
8	Craig Boyce	1 1 3 2 1	8
9	Joe Screen	2 3 1 1 1	8
10	Jason Crump	0 2 2 3 0	7
11	Martin Dugard	2 3 0 0 1	6
12	Brian Andersen	0 2 1 2 1	6
13	Peter Karlsson	0 1 2 1 2	6
14	Mikael Karlsson	3 0 1 TX 0	4
15	Garry Stead (res)	2 0	2
16	Leigh Adams	1 0 0 0 0	1
17	Steve Johnston	0 0 0 1 0	1