2002 Speedway Conference League

The 2002 Speedway Conference League was the third tier/division of British speedway.^[1]

The title was won by Peterborough Pumas, the junior club belonging to the Peterborough Panthers.^[2]

On 1 May, David Nix was killed after crashing into the fence during the match between Newcastle and King's Lynn at the Norfolk Arena.^[3]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Played	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Bonus	Total
1	Peterborough Pumas	20	16	0	4	1008	786	32	8	40
2	Sheffield Prowlers	20	15	0	5	1008	780	30	9	39
3	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	20	13	0	7	988	799	26	9	35
4	Rye House Raiders	20	12	2	6	1005	789	26	7	33
5	Buxton Hitmen	20	11	0	9	919	875	22	5	27
6	Boston Barracudas	20	9	1	10	874	925	19	5	24
7	Carmarthen Dragons	19	9	0	10	801	902	18	3	21
8	Newcastle Gems	20	7	2	11	851	842	16	3	19
9	King's Lynn Kids	20	6	0	14	778	1014	12	3	15
10	Newport Mavericks	19	5	1	23	737	964	11	1	12
11	Wimbledon Dons	18	2	0	16	709	902	4	0	4

Home \ Away	BOS	BUX	CAR	KL	MIL	NG	NM	PET	RYE	SHE	WIM
Boston Barracudas		49–41	58–32	58–32	42–48	43–47	53–37	38–52	45–45	50–37	54–35
Buxton Hitmen	58–31		43–47	61–29	47–43	50–40	60–30	41–49	47–42	49–41	54–36
Carmarthen Dragons	58–32	44–46		53–35	43–47	50–40	47–43	44–43	50–40	42–46	56–34
King's Lynn Kids	36–54	39–51	61–29		45–44	47–43	55–35	28–62	29–61	38–48	52–38
Mildenhall Fen Tigers	49–41	56–34	62–29	54–36		57–33	63–20	44–45	54–36	49–41	60–30
Newcastle Gems	43–47	46–44	48–42	51–38	38–49		57–33	39–50	45–45	32–56	48–42
Newport Mavericks	42–48	46–44	43–46	52–38	47–43	45–45		48–42	46–44	32–58	n/a
Peterborough Pumas	63–27	50–39	59–31	59–31	51–39	61–30	47–43		60–30	48–42	47–42
Rye House Raiders	61–30	55–35	65–25	65–25	52–38	53–35	65–25	52–38		58–32	58–32
Sheffield Prowlers	60–33	60–29	57–33	53–37	48–42	48–42	55–35	54–36	60–30		64–26
Wimbledon Dons	49–41	42–48	n/a	43–47	41–47	42–49	54–35	44–46	40–48	39–48

Source: ^[4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

The 2002 Conference League Knockout Cup was the fifth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Buxton Hitmen were the winners.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Buxton	Sheffield	61–28, 47–43
Newport	Rye House	40–49, 41–49

First leg

13 October 2002

Buxton William Beveridge 15 Aidan Collins 14 Carl Belfield 12 Chris Collins 8 Lee Derbyshire 4 James Wright 4 Richard Moss 1	58 – 41	Rye House Ed Kennett 9 Scott Courtney 7 Steve Boxall 6 Luke Bowen 3 Simon Wolstenholme 3 Barry Evans 3 Daniel Giffard 2
	^[8]

Second leg

16 October 2002

Rye House Steve Boxall 15 Ed Kennett 13 Scott Courtney 8 Daniel Giffard 7 Barry Evans 4 Luke Bowen 1 Simon Wolstenholme 0	49 – 41	Buxton Aidan Collins 17 Chris Collins 8 James Wright 7 Carl Belfield 5 William Beveridge R/R Richard Moss 3 Lee Derbyshire 2 Alan Brown 0
	^[8]

Buxton were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 99–81.

Home \ Away	BUX	CAR	MIL	SWI	WIM	WOL
Buxton		42–48	46–43	51–37	44–46	70–20
Carmarthen	40–50		50–40	54–38	47–41	51–38
Mildenhall	55–35	45–44		45–44	60–30	67–23
Swindon	49–41	45–46	39–54		52–38	54–36
Wimbledon	28–62	35–55	37–53	53–37		51–35
Wolverhampton	33–56	49–42	27–63	46–43	38–51

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

v t e Speedway in the United Kingdom
Current leagues	SGB Premiership SGB Championship National Development League List of champions
Former leagues	Elite League Premier League National League (1932–1964) Provincial League (1960–1964) British League British League Division Two/National League Conference League National League Division Two National League Division Three English Dirt Track League/Northern League Southern League (1929–1931) Southern League (1952–1953) Provincial League (1936–1937) Southern Area League
Current team competitions	Knockout Cup League Pairs champions League Fours champions
Former team competitions	London Cup Midland Cup Craven and Young Shields Premiership Shield
Current individual competitions	British Speedway Championship League Riders' champions British U-21 British U-19 Scottish Open
Former individual competitions	London Riders' Midland Riders' Northern Riders' Southern Riders' Olympique Internationale
See also	Speedway British Speedway Promoters' Association Speedway Control Bureau

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners

v t e Conference League
Teams	Boston Barracudas Buxton Hitmen Cleveland Bays Oxford Cheetahs Plymouth Devils Rye House Raiders Scunthorpe Scorpions Sittingbourne Crusaders Stoke Spitfires Weymouth Wildcats
Seasons	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Domestic cups	Conference League Riders' Championship Conference League Four-Team Championship

Pos.	Rider	Team	Total
1	James Birkinshaw	Boston	14
2	Edward Kennett	Rye House	13
3	Jamie Robertson	Newcastle	12
4	Wayne Broadhurst	Mildenhall	12
5	Joe Cook	King's Lynn	10
6	Rory Schlein	Sheffield	9
7	Craig Branney	Newcastle	7
8	Chris Mills	King's Lynn	7
9	Steve Braidford (res)	Wolverhampton	6
10	James Wright	Buxton	6
11	Danny King	Peterborough	5
12	James Brundle	Mildenhall	5
13	Stuart McCabe	Peterborough	4
14	Martin Williams	Wimbledon	4
15	Adam Pryor	Peterborough	4
16	Ben Wilson	Sheffield	1
17	Simon Wolstenholme (res)	Rye House	1
18	Barrie Evans (res)	Rye House	0