SGB Championship 2017 explained

Competition:	SGB Championship
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Sheffield Tigers
Domesticcup2:	Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Peterborough Panthers
Domesticcup3:	Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:	Nick Morris
Domesticcup4:	Pairs
Domesticcup4 Winners:	Sheffield Tigers
Domesticcup5:	Fours
Domesticcup5 Winners:	Peterborough Panthers
Highestaverage:	Craig Cook
League Above:	SGB Premiership
Leagues Below:	National League
Prevseason:	2016
Nextseason:	2018

The Speedway Great Britain Championship 2017 was the second division of British speedway. It was the first time that it was known as the SGB Championship after changing its name from the Premier League.^[1]

The season ran between March and October 2017 and 10 teams participated.^[2]

The Sheffield Tigers were the champions defeating the Ipswich Witches in the Grand Final.^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

British TV broadcasting rights changed hands before the start of the 2017 SGB Championship season, when Sky withdrew from their negotiated contract with the BSPA. BT then obtained the broadcasting rights for the 2017 season to be shown on their BT Sport channels.^[1]

Final League table

^[7]

Pos.	M	W	D	L	4W	3W	D	1L	L	F	A	Pts
1	36	18	0	0	5	3	0	3	7	1748	1515	86
2	36	17	0	1	3	3	0	5	7	1736	1548	77
3	36	16	1	1	3	2	1	2	10	1691	1585	71
4	36	14	0	4	2	2	2	8	4	1656	1549	68
5	36	13	1	4	3	1	1	3	10	1627	1597	60
6	36	14	1	3	2	2	1	1	12	1582	1653	60
7	36	15	1	2	0	2	2	1	13	1629	1617	57
8	36	11	2	5	0	3	0	3	12	1556	1703	47
9	36	8	0	10	1	1	0	3	13	1535	1699	34
10	36	9	1	8	0	0	0	2	16	1490	1784	30

Results

'B' Fixtures

Play-offs

^[8]

Play-off Final

First leg

Second legSheffield were declared League Champions, winning on aggregate 99–81.

Promotion and relegation play-off

----

Knockout Cup

The 2017 SGB Championship Knockout Cup was the 50th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. It was the first time it would be known as the SGB Championship Knockout Cup. Peterborough Panthers were the winners of the competition.^[9]

First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team One	width=80	Score	width=250	Team Two
22/04	Workington	49-41	Newcastle
13/04	Redcar	44-46	Peterborough
09/04	Peterborough	49-39	Redcar
02/04	Newcastle	49-41	Workington

Quarter Final

Final

First leg

Second legPeterborough were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92–88.

Riders' Championship

Nick Morris won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 13 October at Ashfield Stadium.^[10]

width=25px	Pos.	width=180px	Rider	width=100px	Pts	width=50px	Total	width=50px	SF	width=50px	Final
1		1 2 3 2 2	10	2	3
2		2 2 2 3 3	12	-	2
3		3 3 3 3 3	15	-	1
4		2 3 1 2 3	11	3	0
5		2 3 3 2 2	12	1
6		2 3 1 3 R	9	0
7		1 1 3 1 3	9
8		R 2 2 3 1	8
9		3 2 0 1 2	8
10		1 1 2 1 2	7
11		3 0 1 1 1	6
12		0 FX 1 2 1	4
13		1 1 2 R	4
14		3 - - - -	3
15		0 1 0 0 1	2
16	Ryan MacDonald	F F 0 F 0	0
16	Kevin Whelan (res)	0 0	0

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

Pairs

The SGB Championship Pairs was held at Owlerton Stadium on 8 October. The event was won by Sheffield Tigers.^[11] ^[12]

Group A
width=20	Pos	width=80	Team	width=20	Pts	width=200	Riders
1	Scunthorpe	23	Kerr 12, Auty 11
2	Glasgow	21	Lawson 14, Summers 7
3	Peterborough	21	Ostergaard 13, Harris 8
4	Ipswich	16	King 12, Schlein 4
5	Workington	9	Proctor 6, Campton 3

Group B
width=20	Pos	width=80	Team	width=20	Pts	width=200	Riders
1	Redcar	25	Wright 13, Barker 12
2	Sheffield	21	Howarth 11, Bjerre 10
3	Edinburgh	21	Masters 12, Wells 8
4	Newcastle	13	Robson 8, Lindgren 5
5	Berwick	11	Howe 7, Doolan 4

Semi finals

Sheffield bt Scunthorpe 7-2
Redcar bt Glasgow 6-3

Final

Sheffield bt Redcar 5-4

Fours

Peterborough Panthers won the SGB Championship Fours, held on 6 August 2017, at the East of England Arena.^[13]

Group A
width=20	Pos	width=90	Team	width=20	Pts	width=350	Riders
1	Sheffield	16	Grajczonek 5, Howarth 4, Kurtz 4, Bates 3
2	Peterborough	14	Harris 6, Ostergaard 5, Starke 2, Lambert 1
3	Workington	11	Jorgensen 5, Campton 4, Proctor 1, Cook 1
4	Scunthorpe	10	Allen 5, Kerr 3, Auty 2, Douglas 0, Palm Toft 0
5	Edinburgh	9	Riss 5, Wells 2, Pjiper 1, Pickering 1, Clegg 0

Group B
width=20	Pos	width=90	Team	width=20	Pts	width=350	Riders
1	Ipswich	18	Schlein 6, Sedgemen 5, Heeps 4, King 3
2	Redcar	13	Wright 5, Andersen 3, Barker 3, Garrity 1, Perks 1
3	Newcastle	12	Worrall 6, Robson 3, Lindgren 3, Morris 0
4	Glasgow	9	Lawson 3, Summers 3, Lunna 3, Bewley 0
5	Berwick	8	Doolan 5, Howe 2, Etheridge 1, Gappmaier 0, Ruddick 0

Final
width=20	Pos	width=90	Team	width=20	Pts	width=450	Riders
1	Peterborough	28	Harris 9, Ostergaard 9, Starke 5, Lambert 5
2	Redcar	18	Wright 7, Garrity 6, Barker 3, Andersen 2
3	Sheffield	16	Howarth 6, Grajczonek 5, Kurtz 3, Bates 2
4	Ipswich	10	King 6, Schlein 2, Sedgemen 1, Heeps 1

Final leading averages

width=200	Rider	width=200	Team	width=40	Average
	Workington	10.30
	Sheffield	9.77
	Newcastle	9.74
	Newcastle	9.44
	Peterborough	9.22
	Ipswich	9.29
	Edinburgh	9.24
	Berwick	9.07
	Glasgow	9.03
	Sheffield	9.00

Teams and final averages

Berwick Bandits

9.07
6.98
6.81
6.50
6.26
5.91
5.89
4.73
4.34
2.78
2.47

Edinburgh Monarchs

9.24
8.93
8.32
6.39
5.42
5.14
5.03
3.82

Glasgow Tigers

9.03
8.93
8.40
7.17
6.62
4.50
3.16

Ipswich Witches

9.29
8.99
8.38
7.81
7.35
6.83
5.30
5.03
4.36
4.80

Newcastle Diamonds

9.74
9.44
8.00
7.87
7.53
5.76
4.75
2.92
2.79
2.33 (3 matches only)
0.80

Peterborough Panthers

9.22
8.99
7.83
7.06
6.49
6.44
5.57
3.50
2.97
2.57

Redcar Bears

8.78
8.06
7.62
7.23
6.13
5.95
5.64
4.96
3.32

Scunthorpe Scorpions

8.36
7.48
7.44
7.23
6.91
6.18
5.83
5.51
3.39
3.76

Sheffield Tigers

9.77
9.00
8.75
7.53
6.11
6.04
4.70
3.13
2.85
0.36

Workington Comets

10.30
7.47
7.39
6.61
5.63
5.20
3.90
2.40

Notes and References

Web site: British Speedway moves to BT Sport for 2017 season. Sport on the Box.
Web site: 2017 SGB CHAMPIONSHIP DECLARATIONS. Speedway GB.
Web site: Sheffield Tigers are crowned 2017 speedway champions. ITV Sport.
Web site: ROLL OF HONOUR. Sheffield Speedway.
Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
Web site: 2017 results. Speedway Researcher. 3 October 2021.
Web site: Championship Standings. Speedway GB.
Web site: 2017 PLAY-OFF FIXTURES & RESULTS. Speedway GB.
Web site: 2017 SGB Championship Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
Web site: Speedway – Morris is champion . Edinburgh Reporter . 27 June 2023.
Web site: 2017 fixtures . Speedway Researcher . 30 May 2023.
Web site: Sheffield Tigers win Pairs title ahead of first leg of promotion showdown . The Star . 30 May 2023.
Web site: 2017 Fours final . British Speedway . 8 July 2023.