British Speedway

The Elite League is the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom and is governed by theSpeedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA) 

The British League was formed in 1965 as the sole professional speedway league in Britain, expanding in 1968 to incorporate two divisions. In 1995 & 1996 there was a single professional tier known as the  Premier League(an amalgamation of the British League Division One and the British League Division Two), before the Elite League was created as a new top tier in 1997. The Championship was decided on a straight league table basis until 2001. A play-offsystem was introduced in 2002, with the top four in the table taking part in a knockout competition to decide the champions. 

Teams are awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and from 2008 three points for an away win. Each team races every other team in the league home and away, and then races five teams again home and twice away, giving a total of 38 meetings. The first of these home and away fixtures are called the 'A' fixtures, the second are the 'B' fixtures. Placings are determined by points accumulated over all matches. Where two or more teams are tied on league points, the team with the greater difference of race points scored over race points conceded is placed higher. The top four teams qualify for the Championship play-offs. The semi-finals are single matches with the top two league positions having home advantage (1st vs 3rd and 2nd vs 4th). Winners from the semi-finals then meet in a two-legged Grand Final to decide the Elite League Championship winner.

From 2008, promotion and relegation between the Elite League and Premier League was introduced for the first time since 1991 The team finishing last faced the Premier League play-off winner over two legs (one match at each track), with the aggregate winner taking the Elite League spot in the following season, and the losing team racing in the Premier League. There is now no relegation from the Elite League, although teams can apply to move up or down between leagues.

For 2014 it was announced that each Elite League team would field two British riders from lower leagues at reserve. These would be picked from a draft of 23 riders. Riders will be picked in two rounds, with the club finishing bottom of the league in 2013 getting the first pick.