SGB Championship 2019

SGB Championship 2019
League	SGB Championship
Champions	Leicester Lions
Knockout Cup	Redcar Bears
Shield	Leicester Lions
Individual	Erik Riss
Pairs	Glasgow Tigers
Fours	Somerset Rebels
Highest average	Sam Masters
Division/s above	SGB Premiership
Division/s below	National Development League
← 2018 2021 →

The SGB Championship 2019 was the second division of British speedway. The season ran between March and October 2019 and consisted of 12 participating teams. The defending league champions were the Workington Comets, who completed an excellent 2018 season winning three major trophies.

Four new teams joined the SGB Championship in 2019 with two of them dropping down from the 2018 SGB Premiership league season. These teams were Leicester Lions and Somerset Rebels with Ipswich Witches and Peterborough Panthers moving in the opposite direction. Two teams from the third tier of British speedway the National League Birmingham Brummies and Eastbourne Eagles moved up into this season's league while the Lakeside Hammers did not compete.^[1]^[2]^[3]

On 14 January 2019, the Workington Comets management announced that they would not be competing in the league in 2019 for financial reasons.^[4]

Regulation changes

At the Speedway AGM in November 2018, a number of changes were made to the rules and regulations for 2019. The biggest change was the lowering of teams' points averages to 38.00 per team; this was done to reduce the running costs of teams. Riders who started out in the National League would receive a 2.5% reduction on their average. New riders who have previously ridden in the professional leagues in either Poland, Sweden or Denmark would automatically be given a 5.00 average and riders who have never ridden in these leagues would be awarded a 4.00 average. There were a number of line-up changes for the 2019 season. The Leicester Lions and Somerset Rebels dropped down from the SGB Premiership after the 2018 season.^[5]

Locations of the 2019 SGB Championship teams

League table

Final Table Up To And Including Friday 4 October

Pos.	Club	M	Home			Away					F	A	Pts	+/−
Pos.	Club	M	W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts	+/−
1	Leicester Lions	20	10	0	0	1	4	0	3	2	961	816	50	+145
2	Glasgow Tigers	20	9	0	1	1	5	0	1	2	945	818	48	+127
3	Redcar Bears	20	8	0	2	1	2	0	2	5	917	858	36	+57
4	Somerset Rebels	20	8	0	2	1	2	0	2	5	912	880	36	+32
5	Berwick Bandits	20	9	0	1	0	0	0	3	6	884	912	30	-28
6	Sheffield Tigers	20	8	0	1	0	0	0	2	6	878	921	30	-43
7	Scunthorpe Scorpions	20	6	1	3	1	1	1	1	6	899	898	29	+1
8	Edinburgh Monarchs	20	9	0	1	0	0	0	1	9	887	890	28	-3
9	Eastbourne Eagles	20	8	0	2	0	1	0	0	8	862	891	27	-29
10	Newcastle Diamonds	20	7	0	3	0	0	0	1	9	852	913	22	-59
11	Birmingham Brummies	20	5	1	4	0	0	1	0	9	782	982	18	-200

Results

Teams face each other two times: once home and once away.

Home \ Away	BER	BRM	EAS	EDB	GLA	LEI	NEW	RED	SCU	SHF	SOM
Berwick Bandits		52–38	58–32	60–30	48–41	50–40	53–34	43–47	49–41	46–44	55–35
Birmingham Brummies	46–44		51–39	48–36	41–49	35–55	49–41	37–53	45–45	46–44	43–47
Eastbourne Eagles	65–25	37–23		54–36	44–45	44–45	59–31	50–40	56–34	46–44	45–44
Edinburgh Monarchs	52–38	60–30	51–27		43–45	45–44	54–36	49–41	53–37	58–32	57–32
Glasgow Tigers	61–29	62–28	56–33	55–35		47–41	36–24	48–42	37–53	51–39	48–42
Leicester Lions	54–36	58–32	53–37	47–42	46–44		53–37	40–32	58–32	53–37	51–39
Newcastle Diamonds	53–37	54–36	43–47	51–39	47–42	44–46		49–40	54–36	52–38	44–46
Redcar Bears	48–42	51–39	53–37	53–37	44–46	48–42	53–37		43–47	53–37	46–38
Scunthorpe Scorpions	56–34	45–45	54–35	56–34	44–46	40–49	52–38	47–43		55–35	40–50
Sheffield Tigers	46–44	55–35	51–39	49–41	53–37	46–44	48–42	42–48	45–44		52–38
Somerset Rebels	49–41	55–35	54–36	55–35	42–48	42–48	49–41	51–39	55–35	49–41

Source: ^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Semi-finals				Grand Final

Leicester Lions	41	50	91

Redcar Bears	49	40	89
				Leicester Lions	51	40	91

				Glasgow Tigers	39	50	89
Glasgow Tigers	51	42	93

Somerset Rebels	39	48	87

Home team scores are in bold
Overall aggregate scores are in red

Semi-finals

4 October	^[7]	Redcar Bears	41–49	Leicester Lions	Media Prima Arena Referee(s): Peter Clarke

12 October	^[8]	Leicester Lions	50–40	Redcar Bears	Paul Chapman & Sons Arena Referee(s): Phil Griffin

1 October	^[9]	Glasgow Tigers	51–39	Somerset Rebels	The Peugeot Ashfield Stadium Referee(s): Malcolm Breckon

2 October	^[10]	Somerset Rebels	48–42	Glasgow Tigers	Oak Tree Arena Referee(s): Chris Durno

Grand final

19 October	^[11]	Leicester Lions Richard Lawson (guest) 11 Ellis Perks 9 Ryan Douglas 8 Scott Nicholls 7 Ty Proctor 7 Connor Mountain 7 Joe Lawlor 2	51–39	Glasgow Tigers Rasmus Jensen 15 Claus Vissing 8 Craig Cook 6 Mikkel B Andersen 4 Sam Jensen 4 Connor Bailey 2 Kyle Bickley 0	Paul Chapman & Sons Arena Referee(s): Ronnie Allan

22 October	^[12]	Glasgow Tigers Claus Vissing 14 Craig Cook 14 Kyle Bickley 9 Rasmus Jensen 8 Mikkel B Andersen 2 Sam Jensen 2 Connor Bailey 1	50–40	Leicester Lions Ellis Perks 11 Ty Proctor 7 Scott Nicholls 6 Ryan Douglas 5 Steve Worrall (guest) 4 Joe Lawlor 4 Connor Mountain 3	The Peugeot Ashfield Stadium Referee(s): Stuart Wilson

Leading averages

Rider	Team	Average
Sam Masters	Edinburgh	10.86
Craig Cook	Glasgow	10.72
Charles Wright	Redcar	9.60
Chris Harris	Somerset	9.37
Rory Schlein	Somerset	9.37
Edward Kennett	Eastbourne	9.32
Scott Nicholls	Leicester	9.23
Rasmus Jensen	Glasgow	9.05
Erik Riss	Redcar	9.00
Richard Lawson	Eastbourne	8.83

Knockout Cup

The 2019 SGB Championship Knockout Cup was the 52nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams.

KO Cup stages

Preliminary rounds				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final




				Edinburgh Monarchs	41	67	108

				Scunthorpe Scorpions	49	23	72



								Edinburgh Monarchs	52	34	86

								Newcastle Diamonds	38	56	94



				Newcastle Diamonds	42	57	99

				Berwick Bandits	48	33	81



												Newcastle Diamonds	39	47	86

												Redcar Bears	51	43	94



				Leicester Lions	33	55	88

				Eastbourne Eagles	57	35	92
Eastbourne Eagles	57	40	97

Birmingham Brummies	32	50	82
								Eastbourne Eagles	40	48	88

								Redcar Bears	50	42	92
Sheffield Tigers	45	36	81

Glasgow Tigers	45	54	99
				Glasgow Tigers	39	46	85

				Redcar Bears	51	44	95
Redcar Bears	53	44	97

Somerset Rebels	36	46	82

Home team scores are in bold
Overall aggregate scores are in red

Round 1

19 April	^[13]	Eastbourne Eagles	57–32	Birmingham Brummies	Arlington Stadium Referee(s): Paul Carrington

29 May	^[14]	Birmingham Brummies	50–40	Eastbourne Eagles	Perry Barr Stadium Referee(s): Christina Turnball

10 May	^[15]	Redcar Bears	53–36	Somerset Rebels	Media Prima Arena Referee(s): Craig Ackroyd

15 May	^[16]	Somerset Rebels	46–44	Redcar Bears	Oak Tree Arena Referee(s): Ronnie Allan

12 May	^[17]	Sheffield Tigers	45–45	Glasgow Tigers	Owlerton Stadium Referee(s): Jim McGregor

28 May	^[18]	Glasgow Tigers	54–36	Sheffield Tigers	The Peugeot Ashfield Stadium Referee(s): Jim McGregor

Quarter-finals

14 April	^[19]	Scunthorpe Scorpions	49–41	Edinburgh Monarchs	Eddie Wright Raceway Referee(s): Peter Griffin

11 May	^[20]	Edinburgh Monarchs	67–23	Scunthorpe Scorpions	Lothian Arena Referee(s): Willie Dishington

1 June	^[21]	Berwick Bandits	48–42	Newcastle Diamonds	Sheffield Park Referee(s): Willie Dishington

2 June	^[22]	Newcastle Diamonds	57–33	Berwick Bandits	Newcastle Greyhound Stadium Referee(s): Graeme Hunter

30 June	^[23]	Eastbourne Eagles	57–33	Leicester Lions	Arlington Stadium Referee(s): Ronnie Allen

5 July	^[24]	Leicester Lions	55–35	Eastbourne Eagles	Paul Chapman & Sons Arena Referee(s): Darren Hartley

2 July	^[25]	Redcar Bears	51–39	Glasgow Tigers	Media Prima Arena Referee(s): Peter Clarke

5 July	^[26]	Glasgow Tigers	46–44	Redcar Bears	The Peugeot Ashfield Stadium Referee(s): Craig Ackroyd

Semi-finals

12 July	^[27]	Edinburgh Monarchs	52–38	Newcastle Diamonds	Lothian Arena Referee(s): Darren Hartley

14 July	^[28]	Newcastle Diamonds	56–34	Edinburgh Monarchs	Newcastle Greyhound Stadium Referee(s): Richard Breckon

6 September	^[29]	Redcar Bears	50–40	Eastbourne Eagles	Media Prima Arena Referee(s): Phil Griffin

7 September	^[30]	Eastbourne Eagles	48–42	Redcar Bears	Arlington Stadium Referee(s): Christina Turnball

Grand final

11 October	^[31]^[32]	Redcar Bears Erik Riss 13 Charles Wright 12 Jake Allen 10 Jordan Stewart 6 Kasper Andersen 5 Nathan Greaves 5 Tom Woolley 0	51–39	Newcastle Diamonds Lasse Bjerre 9 Ulrich Østergaard 9 Steve Worrall 8 Matthew Wethers 8 Danny Phillips 3 Max Clegg 2 Thomas Jørgensen R/R	Media Prima Arena Referee(s): Stuart Wilson

27 October	^[33]^[34]	Newcastle Diamonds Max Clegg 14 Ulrich Østergaard 10 Steve Worrall 9 Matthew Wethers 8 James Sarjeant 6 Danny Phillips 0 Thomas Jørgensen R/R	47–43	Redcar Bears Erik Riss 14 Jordan Stewart 9 Charles Wright 7 Kasper Andersen 5 Ben Barker 4 Nathan Greaves 3 Tom Woolley 1	Newcastle Greyhound Stadium Referee(s): Willie Dishington

Championship Shield

Extended content

Borders Group

Home \ Away	BER	EDB	GLA	NEW
Berwick Bandits		54–36	52–38	52–38
Edinburgh Monarchs	45–44		43–47	51–39
Glasgow Tigers	56–34	53–37		51–39
Newcastle Diamonds	39–51	50–40	44–46

Source: ^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Borders Group Table
Final Table Up To And Including Friday 24 May

Pos.	Club	M	Home			Away					F	A	Pts	+/−
Pos.	Club	M	W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts	+/−
1	Glasgow Tigers	6	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	291	249	15	+42
2	Berwick Bandits	6	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	287	252	14	+35
3	Edinburgh Monarchs	6	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	252	287	6	-35
4	Newcastle Diamonds	6	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	249	291	3	-42

Northern Group

Home \ Away	LEI	RED	SCU	SHF
Leicester Lions		57–33	62–28	47–41
Redcar Bears	41–49		52–38	49–39
Scunthorpe Scorpions	48–42	49–41		50–40
Sheffield Tigers	43–47	56–34	49–41

Source: ^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Northern Group Table
Final Table Up To And Including Friday 3 May

Pos.	Club	M	Home			Away					F	A	Pts	+/−
Pos.	Club	M	W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts	+/−
1	Leicester Lions	6	3	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	304	234	17	+70
2	Scunthorpe Scorpions	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	254	296	9	-32
3	Sheffield Tigers	6	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	268	268	7	=
4	Redcar Bears	6	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	250	288	6	-38

Southern Group

Home \ Away	BRM	EAG	SOM
Birmingham Brummies		37–53	44–46
Eastbourne Eagles	52–38		63–27
Somerset Rebels	52–38	52–38

Source: ^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Southern Group Table
Final Table Up To And Including Wednesday 1 May

Pos.	Club	M	Home			Away					F	A	Pts	+/−
Pos.	Club	M	W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts	+/−
1	Eastbourne Eagles	4	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	206	154	10	+52
2	Somerset Rebels	4	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	177	183	6	-6
3	Birmingham Brummies	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	157	203	0	-46

Play-offs

Semi-finals				Grand Final

Berwick Bandits	36	42	78

Leicester Lions	54	48	102
				Leicester Lions	48	55	103

				Eastbourne Eagles	42	34	76
Glasgow Tigers	47	34	81

Eastbourne Eagles	43	55	98

Home team scores are in bold
Overall aggregate scores are in red
The best second place team from the three qualifying group stage also qualified for the semi-finals.

Semi-finals

16 June	^[35]	Leicester Lions	54–36	Berwick Bandits	Paul Chapman & Sons Arena Referee(s): Tony Steele

22 June	^[36]	Berwick Bandits	42–48	Leicester Lions	Sheffield Park Referee(s): Jim McGregor

23 July	^[37]	Glasgow Tigers	47–43	Eastbourne Eagles	The Peugeot Ashfield Stadium Referee(s): Willie Dishington

3 August	^[38]	Eastbourne Eagles	55–34	Glasgow Tigers	Arlington Stadium Referee(s): Seth Perkin

Grand final

14 September	^[39]	Eastbourne Eagles	42–48	Leicester Lions	Arlington Stadium Referee(s): Paul Carrington

15 September	^[40]	Leicester Lions	55–34	Eastbourne Eagles	Paul Chapman & Sons Arena Referee(s): Michael Breckon

Riders Championship

Extended content

Erik Riss won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 1 September at Owlerton Stadium.^[41]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total	SF	Final
1	Erik Riss	3 1 3 3 2	12	3	3
2	Danny King	1 2 3 1 3	10	2	2
3	Ryan Douglas	3 2 3 3 1	12	-	1
4	Sam Masters	3 3 1 3 2	12	-	0
5	Jake Allen	2 2 1 2 3	10	1
6	Adam Ellis	3 1 2 3 0	9	0
7	Richard Lawson	2 3 2 1 1	9
8	Chris Harris	2 3 2 2 0	9
9	Rasmus Jensen	0 0 3 2 3	8
10	Todd Kurtz	1 0 1 1 3	6
11	Nick Morris	1 3 FX 2 R	6
12	Zaine Kennedy	0 1 2 1 1	5
13	Steve Worrall	1 1 1 R 2	5
14	Jye Etheridge	0 2 0 0 2	4
15	Josh Auty	2 FX 0 NS NS	2
16	Joe Lawlor (res)	0 1	1
17	Craig Cook	R R R NS NS	0
18	Tom Woolley (res)	0 0	0

f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

The following did not partake in the meeting even though they had qualified
Edward Kennett (Eastbourne Eagles), Scott Nicholls (Leicester Lions), Charles Wright (Redcar Bears)

Referee's Official Group Stage Result Score Sheet ^[42]

Pairs

Extended content

The SGB Championship Pairs was held at Oaktree Arena on 20 September. The event was won by Glasgow Tigers.^[43]^[44]^[45]

Qualifying
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Glasgow	25	Jensen 13, Cook 12
2	Birmingham	22	Ellis 13, Aarnio 9
3	Leicester	21	Douglas 12, Nicholls 9
4	Sheffield	20	King 14, Howarth 6
5	Scunthorpe	20	Allen 13, Barker 7
6	Redcar	19	Stewart 13, Riss 6

Qualifying
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
7	Eastbourne	18	Lawson 12, Kerr 6
8	Newcastle	15	Worrall S 12, Bjerre 3
9	Somerset	15	Morris 8, Schlein 7
10	Edinburgh	13	Wells 8, Heeps 5
11	Berwick	10	Jonassen 10, Etheridge 0

Semi finals

Glasgow bt Sheffield 7–2
Leicester bt Birmingham 5–4

Final

Glasgow bt Leicester 6–3

Fours

Extended content

Somerset Rebels won the SGB Championship Fours, held on 23 June 2019, at the East of England Arena.^[46]^[47]^[48]^[49]^[50]

Qualifying
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Eastbourne	15	Kennett 6, Kerr 6, Lawson 2, Newman 1
2	Glasgow	15	Jensen 6, Starke 5, Cook 3, Vissing 1
3	Sheffield	15	Proctor 6, King 4, Howarth 3, Kemp 1, Nicol 1
4	Somerset	14	Harris 6, Covatti 4, Schlein 3, Kurtz 1
5	Edinburgh	13	Andersson5, Heeps 5, Palovaara 2, Wells 1
6	Leicester	12	Worrall 4, Douglas 4, Nicholls 2, Bates 2

Qualifying (cont)
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
7	Newcastle	11	Worrall 5, Jorgensen 4, Wethers 2, Bjerre 0
8	Redcar	10	Wright 5, Palm Toft 4, Stewart 1, Greaves 0, Bacon 0
9	Scunthorpe	10	Ayres 3, Auty 3, Allen 2, Nielsen 2
10	Berwick	9	Doolan 3, Summers 2, Jakobsen 2, Garcia 2, Etheridge 0
11	Birmingham	8	Aarnio 4, Ellis 3, Coles 1, Lawlor 0

Final
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Somerset	22	Covatti 8, Harris 7, Schlein 6, Kurtz 1
2	Glasgow	19	Cook 9, Jensen 5, Starke 4, Vissing 1
3	Sheffield	19	King 7, Proctor 4, Nicol 4, Howarth 4, Kemp 0
4	Eastbourne	12	Lawson 6, Kennett 4, Kerr 2, Newman 0

King beat Cook (who fell) in a run off for second place.

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 SGB Championship
2024 Teams	Berwick Bandits Edinburgh Monarchs Glasgow Tigers Oxford Cheetahs Plymouth Gladiators Poole Pirates Redcar Bears Scunthorpe Scorpions Workington Comets
Former Teams	Birmingham Brummies Eastbourne Eagles Ipswich Witches Kent Kings Lakeside Hammers Leicester Lions Newcastle Diamonds Peterborough Panthers Sheffield Tigers Somerset Rebels
Seasons	2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Domestic cups	Knockout Cup Pairs Fours Riders' Individual Championship

SGB Championship 2019

Regulation changes

League table

Results

Play-offs

Semi-finals

Grand final

Leading averages

Knockout Cup

KO Cup stages

Grand final

Championship Shield

Riders Championship

Pairs

Fours

Teams and final averages

See also

References

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