2002 Elite League speedway season

The 2002 Elite League speedway season was the 68th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and in 2002 was governed by the Speedway Control Board, in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association. It was the first time that playoffs were introduced to determine the champions.

Season summary

In 2002, the league consisted of nine teams. The title was decided by a play-off between the top five teams. The team that finished top of the table were seeded directly to the final. The next four met in quarter and semi final rounds. The winner of these rounds qualified for the final.
Eastbourne Eagles topped the regular season table but were defeated by Wolverhampton Wolves for the league title when losing the play off final. It was Wolves third title success in 11 years and the Swedish Karlsson brothers, Peter Karlsson and Mikael Karlsson were once again integral to the Wolves team throughout the season. Eastbourne's season was not a total loss because they beat Peterborough in the final of the Knockout Cup thanks to efforts from their English rider contingent of Mark Loram, Joe Screen and Dean Barker.
Tony Rickardsson became World Champion for the fifth time during the season, topped the league averages, won the Elite League Riders' Championship and helped his club Poole win the Craven Shield.

Final table

_{Peterborough v Oxford not held.}

Play-offs

Quarter-final and Semi-final decided over one leg. Grand Final decided by aggregate scores over two legs.
Quarter-finals

Wolverhampton Wolves 50-39 Peterborough Panthers
Coventry Bees 59-31 Poole Pirates

Semi-finals

Wolverhampton Wolves 51-39 Coventry Bees

Final

First leg
Second leg
The Wolverhampton Wolves were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 93-87.

Elite League Knockout Cup

The 2002 Elite League Knockout Cup was the 64th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.
First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
08/04	Wolverhampton	57-33	Poole
03/04	Poole	45-45	Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
27/05	Reading	47-43	Arena Essex
29/04	Wolverhampton	61-29	Oxford
27/04	Coventry	36-35	Kings Lynn
26/04	Oxford	45-45	Wolverhampton
24/04	Kings Lynn	42-48	Coventry
22/04	Belle Vue	51-39	Peterborough
20/04	Eastbourne	54-36	Ipswich
19/04	Peterborough	59-31	Belle Vue
18/04	Ipswich	39-51	Eastbourne

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/07	Wolverhampton	40-49	Eastbourne
29/06	Coventry	49-41	Peterborough
29/06	Eastbourne	52-38	Wolverhampton
28/06	Peterborough	50-40	Coventry

Final

First leg
Second leg
The Eastbourne Eagles were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.

Craven Shield

Anglia

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Ipswich	4	3	0	1	6
2	Peterbrorough	4	2	0	2	4
3	King's Lynn	4	1	0	3	2

Midland

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Coventry	4	3	0	1	6
2	Belle Vue	2	1	0	1	2
3	Wolverhampton	2	0	0	2	0

South

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Poole	4	2	0	2	4
2	Eastbourne	4	2	0	2	4
3	Oxford	4	2	0	2	4

Final

Leg	Team one	Team two	Team three	Score
1	Poole	Coventry	Ipswich	44–32–32
2	Ipswich	Coventry	Poole	45–33–30
3	Coventry	Poole	Ipswich	36–40–32

Riders' Championship

Tony Rickardsson won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held at Wimborne Road on 21 August.

Pos.

Rider

Pts

Total

Final

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

10.44
8.41
6.89
6.38
5.67
4.71
4.57
3.95
2.38
1.24
1.10

Coventry

9.39
8.97
8.72
6.87
5.82
5.81
5.28
1.52

Eastbourne

9.56
8.46
7.81
7.21
7.17
6.54
5.88
4.14

Ipswich

9.76
7.91
7.15
6.51
5.95
5.10
4.95
4.76
4.00
3.52

King's Lynn

8.47
7.26
6.33
5.53
5.23
4.27
4.21
3.58
3.40

Oxford

10.10
6.83
6.29
5.56
5.50
4.92
4.00
2.90
2.67
2.07

Peterborough

10.34
6.98
6.88
6.54
6.47
6.13
5.87
5.00
3.75
3.08

Poole

10.88
6.82
6.70
6.56
6.32
6.20
6.00
5.41
4.43
4.34
3.88

Wolverhampton

9.93
9.23
7.32
7.27
6.80
6.67
5.81
4.08
1.56