1996 Speedway Conference League

The 1996 Speedway Conference League was the inaugural season of the Conference League, which was the second tier of British motorcycle speedway.^[1] It was listed as the second tier of British speedway because during 1995 and 1996 the two divisions of the British League had merged into one division only.^[2] The following season it would be a third tier/division competition.

1996 Speedway Conference League

League	Conference League
Season	1996
No. of competitors	13
Champions	Linlithgow Lightning
Knockout Cup	Linlithgow Lightning
Individual	Mike Hampson
Division/s above	1996 Premier League
← 1995 1997 →

Summary

The Conference League was the first to promoted under the name and was an entirely amateur competition contested by thirteen teams (many were junior sides belonging to their parent clubs). The league expanded from the eight that had begun the previous season's 1995 Academy League - Berwick, Buxton, Devon, Linlithgow, Mildenhall, and Sittingbourne all returned from 1995, and were joined by Arena Essex, Eastbourne, Owlerton, Peterborough, Reading, Ryde, and Swindon. Stoke and Cleveland did not return from 1995.^[3]

As not all fixtures were able to be run, the champions were decided by a percentage of total points available. Linlithgow Lightning topped the table to become champions.^[4][5]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts	%
1	Linlithgow Lightning	23	18	0	5	36	78
2	Devon Demons	11	7	1	3	15	68
3	Berwick Bandits	12	8	0	4	16	66
4	Ryde Wight Wizards	19	12	1	6	25	65
5	Swindon Sprockets	12	7	0	5	14	58
6	Arena Essex Hammers	27	14	1	12	29	53
7	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	19	10	0	9	20	52
8	Buxton Hitmen	21	10	2	9	22	52
9	Peterborough Thundercats	13	5	1	7	11	42
10	Owlerton Prowlers	12	5	0	7	10	41
11	Reading Ravens	13	5	0	8	10	38
12	Eastbourne Starlets	16	1	2	13	4	12
13	Sittingbourne Crusaders	18	1	2	15	4	11

PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Match Points; % = Win Rate

Conference League Knockout Cup

The 1996 Conference League Knockout Cup was the 29th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams.^[6]

It was only the tier two competition because the Division 1 & 2 had merged during 1995 & 1996, this meant that the newly formed Conference League was tier two of British speedway at the time. Linlithgow Lightning were the winners of the Cup.

Final

First leg

6 October 1996

Linlithgow	49 – 29	Rye House
	^[7]

Heathersfield Stadium

Second leg

12 October 1996

Mildenhall	39 – 39	Linlithgow
	^[7]

Mildenhall Stadium

Linlithgow were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 88–68.

Riders' Championship

Mike Hampson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 7 September at Long Eaton Stadium.^[8]

Pos.	Rider	Team	Total
1	Mike Hampson	Buxton	12
2	Justin Elkins	Isle of Wight	12
3	Graeme Gordon	Exeter	12
4	David Mason	Sittingbourne	12
5	Paul Lee	Peterborough	10
6	Lee Dicken	Sheffield	9
7	Martin Willis	Isle of Wight	8
8	Barry Campbell	Linlithgow	8
9	Krister Marsh	Swindon	7
10	Dean Garrod	Mildenhall	6
11	Carl Checketts	Reading	6
12	Russell Etherington	Arena Essex	4
13	Roland Pollard	Arena Essex	4
14	Blair Scott	Linlithgow	3
15	Bobby Eldridge	Eastbourne	2
16	Anthony Barlow	Berwick	2
17	Paul Clews (res)	Peterborough	0

Teams and riders

Arena Essex Hammers CMA^[9] Russell Etherington 8.11 Paul Lydes-Udings 7.91 Nathan Morton 6.82 Roland Pollard 6.68 Simon Wolstenholme 6.59 Darren Bolger 6.35 Andy Carfield 5.28 Gavin Pell 5.25 Phil Ranson 4.97 Ben Osborn 4.00 Jamie Barton 0.89

Berwick Bandits CMA David Blackburn 10.19 Glyn Taylor 9.19 Anthony Barlow 8.88 Richard Emson 8.00 William Beveridge 7.76 Peter Johnson 5.96 David McAllan 2.70 Michael Lowrie 8.67 Darren Pearson 2.67 Peter Grimwood 0.00

Buxton Hitmen CMA Mike Hampson 10.00 Jon Armstrong 8.77 Barry Ayres 8.00 Stephen Read 7.16 Dean Felton 7.13 Tony Howe 6.26 David Meldrum 6.10 Mark Harrison 4.38 Paul Macklin 2.18 Tony Atkin 12.00 Andre Compton 12.00 Graeme Gordon 10.67 Craig Taylor 9.75 Michael Lowrie 8.00 Drew Wheeldon 7.00 Elvis Jones 6.00 Jamie Young 6.00 Mark Burrows 4.00 Paul Fudge 4.00 Darren Matthews 2.67 Richard Moss 1.85 Jamie Isherwood 1.71 Geoff Batt 1.33 Neil Painter 1.00 David Nix 0.00 Paul Taylor 0.00

Devon Demons CMA Graeme Gordon 9.90 Paul Fudge 9.05 Roger Lobb 8.08 Greg Daniels 7.72 Kevin Phillips 4.84 Gary Lobb 4.00 Richard Ford 2.55 Mike Bowden 5.00 Andy Wilkinson 3.00 Wayne Holloway 0.00 Dave Ward 0.00 Nick Couch 0.00

Eastbourne Starlets CMA Paul Lydes-Udings 8.59 Brent Collyer 8.13 Bobby Eldridge 7.16 Steven Colvin 3.38 Richard Watts 2.91 Clive Seaby 2.87 Simon Moon 1.50 Dean Standing 12.00 Jason Bunyan 8.00 Tara O'Callaghan 7.82 Paul Taylor 7.56 Dean Chapman 7.44 David Meldrum 6.67 Justin Elkins 6.00 Scott Donovan 5.18 Mark Thompson 3.60 Nigel Roberts 3.50 Ian Clarke 2.80 Darren Grayling 0.00 Paul Bradford 0.00

Linlithgow Lightning CMA Peter Scully 9.81 Barry Campbell 9.43 Blair Scott 8.70 Brian Turner 8.43 Grant McDonald 7.74 Stuart Coleman 6.29 Brian Mercer 6.14 Neil Hewitt 5.76 Ian Milne 0.70 David Stokes 1.43 Mark Thompson 1.33 Andrew Swales 0.00

Mildenhall Fen Tigers CMA Geoff Powell 9.29 Jason Gage 9.00 Peter Boast 7.78 Dean Garrod 7.13 Jonathan Swales 6.71 Tony Kingsbury 5.48 Charlie Whitwam 1.64 Steve Knott 8.22 Mark Thompson 4.00 Dave Smith 4.00 Simon Brown 3.27 Richard Watts 1.33 Malcolm Hogg 0.00 Chris Simpson 0.00 Peter Grimwood 0.00 Colin Thorpe 0.00

Owlerton Prowlers CMA Derrol Keats 9.16 Lee Dicken 7.92 James Birkinshaw 7.37 Mark Blackwell 4.12 Glen Furniss 4.00 Andy Wilkinson 12.00 Charlie Whitwam 8.00 Philip Knowles 6.00 Neil Painter 5.25 Andy Buck 4.89 Paul Wyer 4.57 Phil Pickering 3.50 Aaron Baker 2.29 Simon Cartwright 1.82

Peterborough Thundercats CMA Paul Lee 9.00 Paul Clews 8.56 Jon Underwood 6.53 Gavin Hedge 5.60 Lee Dixon 5.48 Freddie Stephenson 4.42 Jason Newitt 2.10 Tommy Palmer 12.00 David Housley 0.00 Phil Pickering 0.00

Reading Ravens CMA Roger Lobb 9.93 Darren Andrews 8.89 Carl Checketts 7.85 Rob Cooling 4.53 Steve Targett 3.79 Mick Hester 3.25 Bill Haynes 0.60 Lee Richardson 11.64 Jason Gage 11.33 Lance Sealey 7.08 Karl Bainbridge 4.80 Patrice Deloubes 3.33 Steve Woolley 3.00 Mike Bowden 2.67 Damian Aplin 0.67 Steve Aston 0.00

Ryde Wizards CMA Vaclav Verner 11.38 Justin Elkins 11.17 Martin Willis 10.35 Mark Chessell 7.87 Colin Crook 5.25 Mike Bowden 4.88 Chris Simpson 2.86 Paul Oughton 2.85 Geoff Batt 2.71 Barry Bishop 1.26 Buck Blair 10.00 Simon Wolstenholme 6.50 Paul Taylor 6.00 Dean Garton 4.67 Ian Milne 4.00 Malcolm Hogg 3.00 Mark Czyz 2.80 Andrew Swales 2.00

Sittingbourne Crusaders CMA David Mason 11.38 Dean Chapman 5.68 Mark Czyz 5.37 John Curtis 4.17 Karl Armstrong 3.44 Andy Kerrison 3.33 Martyn Smith 2.67 Simon Wolstenholme 8.80 Gary Laker 8.00 Keith Yorke 7.20 Bobby Eldridge 6.25 Ben Osborn 4.67 Malcolm Smith 3.56 Ramon Majsa 3.27 Chris Simpson 2.67 Dean Norton 2.67 Mike Bowden 2.50 David Stokes 2.40 Karl Bainbridge 2.00 Mark Thompson 2.00 Andy Cooper 0.00

Swindon Sprockets CMA Scott Pegler 10.32 Krister Marsh 9.26 Keith Lansley 6.75 Gary Phelps 6.57 Scott Donovan 4.44 Martin Williams 4.11 Simon Paget 3.19 John Jeffries 9.78 Malcolm Holloway 9.33 Alan Spencer 6.00 Wayne Holloway 1.33 Richard Holloway 0.00

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "More variety for the Tigers". Cambridge Daily News. 15 March 1996. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
3. "1996 Tables". Speedway GB.com.
4. "Linlithgow Speedway". Defunct Speedway.
5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
6. "1996 Conference League Knockout Cup Final". Speedway GB.
7. "Rye House 2002" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
8. "Half a team". Cambridge Daily News. 9 September 1996. Retrieved 28 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Total points scored, plus bonus points, divided by total number of races, multiplied by 4