History
The Premier League was founded in 1995 by the amalgamation of the two divisions of the British League, becoming the single professional tier of speedway in the UK. In 1997, the Elite League was formed as a new top tier, with the Premier League becoming the second tier. Since it became the 2nd tier in the sport, no team has ever won back to back titles. The League took a standard League format from its creation in 1995 until 2005. In 2006 & 2007, the Play-Offs were devised which the top 4 (8 in 2006) finishing teams in the League contested in a Knock-Out competition, with the winner of the Play-Offs crowned the Premier League Champions. From 2008 onwards, the Play-Offs remained however the prize was changed. Instead, the team that finished top in the league would be crowned champions, and then the top 4 finishing teams would qualify for the Play-Offs. The winner of the competition would then go on to race against the bottom Elite League team in the Promotion/Relegation Battle. Since its inception, no Premier League team has been successful in gaining Promotion this way. There is no longer promotion to the Elite league.
The format was revised for the 2011 Season. All teams met each other once home and once away, with the League then splitting into two groups using a pre-set formula based on their relative standings at the cut-off point of 10 home/ten away matches to determine the remaining 12 (6 home/6 away) fixtures for each side. The League fixtures were expanded due to the Premier Trophy being defunct for the 2011 Season.
The Team that finished 1st in the League were crowned Premier League Champions, with the top 4 teams further competing in the Premier League Play-Offs.
In 2012 a pre-league League Cup tournament will be contested, initially on a round robin basis by Northern and Southern mini-leagues, with the top two teams from each going on to contest semi-finals. The top six teams in the Premier League proper will contest the league title via play-offs, while the next six teams at the end of the league matches will contest another trophy via a similar system.
Read more about this topic: Speedway Premier League
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