33-517: Hackney Speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium , Waterden Road, London, and operated until 1996. The team raced under various names, known as Hackney Wick Wolves , Hackney Hawks , Hackney Kestrels and London Lions . A turbulent 1935 season for Lea Bridge and Walthamstow Wolves resulted in the relocation of the speedway into Hackney Stadium, with the team riding as the Hackney Wick Wolves . The track measuring 310 metres,
66-553: A Speedway team which operated from 1968 until their closure in 1983. They were based at Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium in Crayford . Speedway meetings in Crayford were first held during 1935 and 1936 but soon ended and the sport would not return for over 30 years. In 1967 a speedway circuit was constructed inside the greyhound track at the Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium and promoter Johnnie Hoskins planned to bring
99-493: A broken skull in a crash at the track after falling whilst in the lead and being struck by another rider's machine. Meanwhile, Dicky Case qualified for the first ever Speedway World Championship final at Wembley in 1936 , but decided to retire at the end of the 1937 season. Crowds were not large enough to support top level speedway so, in 1938, Hackney swapped licences with the Bristol Bulldogs and dropped down to
132-418: A circumference of 472 yards and the greyhounds raced behind an 'Outside Sumner' hare system. Trainers in the 1960s included Annetts, Reg Bosley, Brown, Colebrooke, Cox, Paddy Gordon, Hedley and Lionel Maxen. In the 1970s Mr G.Crookbank the track's chief electrician had invented photoelectric timing gear that would revolutionise the sport. Hand timing would become a thing of the past after Crookbank came up with
165-588: A reverse takeover of Hackney and Hendon Greyhounds Stadium Ltd. This meant his private company bought a public company and the new merger resulted in a new company called Brent Walker . This resulted in the end for the Hendon Greyhound Stadium because it was sold to make way for the UK's first stand-alone shopping centre on the site that would soon be known as the Brent Cross shopping centre. It
198-606: A team nicknamed the Kestrels under the co-promotion of Peter Thorogood and Len Silver . The Kestrels would compete for nine years from 1975 to 1983. The Kestrels won the Four-Team Championship , held at the East of England Arena on 27 July 1980; the team was Paul Woods , Les Rumsey , Steve Naylor, Alan Sage and Laurie Etheridge . However, arguably their most successful season was the third place finish during
231-558: A veterinary surgeon on site. The kennel fees were 17s 6d for each greyhound. In 1948, Stanley Pay became the Racing Manager after Fred Whitehead was promoted to Director of Racing for both Hackney and Hendon. Pay was later replaced by Hendon Racing Manager D G Lewis before Michael Marksbecame Racing Manager for three decades until the day the stadium closed. The stadium offered eight buffet and licensed bars during racing held on Thursday and Saturday nights at 7.45pm. The circuit had
264-567: The British League Knockout Cup . The team also won the London Cup in 1971 and 1973. The remainder of the decade was relatively average with a best finish of 7th in 1976. Riders leading the team during the period included Dag Lövaas , Dave Morton and Zenon Plech . The decade ended tragically after popular rider Vic Harding was killed on 8 June 1979, whilst racing for the team. A Vic Harding Memorial Trophy meeting
297-668: The Hackney Kestrels . During their first season as the Kestrels in the 1984 National League season and led by Barry Thomas and Trevor Banks , the team finished 4th and won the Knockout Cup (div 2) . The Kestrels competed in the highest league for a one-off season in 1987 and signed Simon Wigg but dropped back down again in 1988. The decision proved to be wise as the Kestrels won the Division 2 League Championship , winning twenty-six of their thirty league matches and
330-513: The London Lions . Team manager for that season was former Hackney rider Colin Pratt. The Lions finished the season in ninth place (out of nineteen), At the end of the 1996 season, there was no stadium owner and speedway was never seen at the stadium again. The Hackney Hawks name was revived again during the 2011 National League speedway season (third-tier league), as a joint promotion between
363-594: The Rayleigh Rockets and latterly the Rye House Rockets . The Hawks finished runner-up to Newcastle Diamonds in 1964 before becoming founder members of the new British League in 1965. Swede Bengt Jansson was brought into the club and together with Colin Pratt they nearly won the 1968 league title, only losing out on points difference to Coventry Bees . In 1971, Hackney won their first major honour when they beat Cradley Heath Heathens to win
SECTION 10
#1732790295258396-472: The 1933 film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at the stadium. The track introduced the Lead sponsored by William Hill in 1975; at the same time they switched the 1,000 Guineas to a longer distance of 484 metres. 1975-1992 (523 metres) 51°32′49″N 0°1′17″W / 51.54694°N 0.02139°W / 51.54694; -0.02139 Crayford Kestrels The Crayford Kestrels were
429-578: The Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS) being switched to Hendon and Hackney, the racing image of Hackney would change forever as it became the number one BAGS track. Afternoon meetings were introduced and eventually there would be no evening meetings at the track with the Saturday matinee BAGS replacing the Saturday night. In 1970 businessman George Walker , brother of boxing champion Billy Walker arranged
462-610: The Knockout Cup for the second time, beating the Wimbledon Dons on aggregate in the final. Young English riders Mark Loram , Andy Galvin and Chris Louis starred. A 5th-place finish in 1990 and a pairs success by Steve Schofield and Andy Galvin was followed by the team reverting to the Hawks nickname for the 1991 season. Unfortunately promoter Derek Howes withdrew the team from the league mid-season, citing injuries and
495-532: The Lincoln was hosted by Hackney from 1986 and in 1988 Minnies Siren trained by Terry Duggan won the BBC Television Trophy . Brent Walker bought William Hill/Mecca from Grand Metropolitan in 1989 and one year later leading trainer John 'Ginger' McGee Sr. joined the track. During 1991 it transpired that Brent Walker had amassed debts of £1.2 billion, George Walker was removed from the board and
528-450: The banker took control of the company's assets. With the bank controlling matters there were numerous rumours about the future of the track. By 1994 the stadium had been acquired by a company called London Stadium Hackney Ltd who were in turn owned by Fleetfoot Racing formed in 1992 by ex- Lloyds broker and racing journalist Robert Parker. Work began on an ambitious project including a £12 million restaurant, leading trainers were recruited and
561-483: The idea that a greyhound's race time could be recorded electronically. The invention known as 'Automatic Ray Timing' would remain as the timing method until the advent of modern computer timing. The Hackney sales became a major feature of business throughout the year, these sales became a prominent way for buying and selling greyhounds in London. In 1969 Park Royal Stadium and New Cross Stadium both closed resulting in
594-679: The new stadium was finally ready offering first-class facilities and significantly high prize money. However, on the reopening night and despite a capacity crowd the stadium went into receivership the same evening. Investigations began and banker, Stephen Welton, was pursued by LWT reporter Trevor Phillips and questioned for the Board's failure to conduct due diligence on a prospective buyer who turned out to be an undischarged bankrupt. Parker appeared on Roger Cook's ITV's television program The Cook Report and allegations were also made against Stephen Rea. Fleetfoot Racing Ltd had lasted just three years, with
627-705: The project was Hackney Wick Stadium Ltd headed by Managing Director Arthur Gilbert and Racing Manager Fred Whitehead with William Chandler also holding shares in the new company, Chandler would in due course buy the Crooked Billet independent track and turn it into Walthamstow Stadium one year later. After World War II Hackney Wick and Hendon Greyhound Stadium merged to become the Hackney and Hendon Greyhounds Ltd company. The resident kennels featured six ranges with each able to house up to fifty greyhounds, paddocks sat next to each range with cooking facilities and
660-607: The promotions at Lakeside and Rye House with the Hawks home matches being divided between the two parent tracks. Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in Hackney Wick , London, England. The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west side of the Waterden Road. The stadium
693-467: The recession. Hackney Stadium underwent financial turmoil followed by significant development from 1991 to 1994, with a new £14 million scheme to develop the neglected stadium. The new stadium opened in October 1995 but went into receivership the same evening. Under the receivers a new speedway promotion arrived when Ivan Henry and Terry Russell moved their Arena Essex Hammers team to Hackney and rode as
SECTION 20
#1732790295258726-632: The second tier. This meant the big name stars at the Wick went too. However, the Wolves won the 1938 Speedway National League Division Two that season, led by their number 1 rider Frank Hodgson who averaged 10.06. The speedway ceased during 1939 following the suspension of the league due to the outbreak of World War II . Hackney Stadium did not host speedway again until 1963 when the Hackney Hawks were formed by promoters Mike Parker and Reg Fearman ,
759-566: The speedway team from Edinburgh to Crayford because Old Meadowbank had closed. However, the Edinburgh team moved to Coatbridge and Hoskins turned his attention to Canterbury. Bill Bridgett and Mike Parker of the Wolverhampton Wolves stepped in to promote the Crayford speedway Crayford were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968. The first signings were Mick Handley and Dave Parry (Wolves riders on loan) and
792-725: The stadium closing on 4 January 1997. The stadium was left derelict for several years until it was bought by the London Development Agency and demolished in 2003. The site was the location of the London Olympics Media Centre , the main media and broadcasting centre for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics . Speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium and operated until 1996. The team raced under various names, known as Hackney Wick Wolves , Hackney Hawks , Hackney Kestrels and London Lions . The speedway scenes from
825-442: The stadium was rebranded 'The London Stadium'. At the end of 1994 Robert Parker left the company as its director to be replaced by Stephen Rea. Beset with construction problems and internal disagreements the original £14 million scheme to develop the neglected stadium had run into serious problems. Extra cash was raised by rights issues with companies including Rothschild, Henderson Venture Managers and Samuel Montagu. In October 1995
858-493: The team finished in sixth place during its inaugural season. The team known as the Crayford Highwaymen continued to race throughout the 1969 and 1970 seasons. Geoff Ambrose starred in 1969 when the team finished fourth in the league. However, after the 1970 season the team were disbanded with the promoters citing not being able to afford the new rider pay rates. Speedway returned to the stadium in 1975 with
891-549: The team joined the Provincial League and finished 10th in their debut season in the 1963 Provincial Speedway League . The promotion was then sold to rider/promoter Len Silver who was the club's promoter for the next twenty seasons. The riders and track staff marched onto the track to the sound of the theme tune of the film The Magnificent Seven and that tune inspires more memories for Hackney Hawks fans than anything else. The Hawks were closely linked with sister track
924-403: The track. The capacity of the track was put between 30,000 and 50,000 and a totalisator had been installed for the first night. A greyhound called Bullseye became the first ever winner at the track. Although the meeting was advertised as the first official meeting there had been a dress rehearsal two days previously on Wednesday 6 April which attracted 12,000 people. The company responsible for
957-537: Was constructed from September 1931 until 1932 and cost £70,000 to build and after completion £18,000 in wages had been paid to the builders. Hackney opened On Friday 8 April 1932 under the affiliation of the British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS) the rival to the larger National Greyhound Racing Club . Thirteen thousand people attended the first night and witnessed Marjorie Graves , MP for South Hackney officially open
990-623: Was granted a licence by the Speedway Control Board. The first meeting was held on 26 April 1935, although the first official meeting was a week later on 3 May, when Hackney lost to the New Cross Lambs in the National League . Australian Dicky Case starred for the team that finished 5th in the league. The following season was overshadowed by the death of Hackney rider Dusty Haigh on 15 May 1936, he died from
1023-617: Was held in his memory in the seasons following his death. The team finished runner-up again during the 1980 British League season with Danish duo Bo Petersen and Finn Thomsen adding valuable support to Plech. At the completion of the 1983 British League season there was major disruption after Oxford Cheetahs bought Len Silver's division 1 licence. This led to the Crayford Kestrels promotion transferring their licence to race at Hackney because their home at Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium had closed. The team became known as
Hackney Speedway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-507: Was not until the closure of sister track Hendon that Hackney Wick hosted a competition of note. The Guineas long associated with Park Royal had switched to Hendon in 1969 which in turn now found its way to Hackney. Three years later 'The Lead' was introduced and would also become a valuable addition to the calendar. In 1976 local hound Westmead Champ trained by Pam Heasman reached the final of the English Greyhound Derby and
1089-518: Was voted Greyhound of the Year . Hackney fell out with the NGRC in 1987 when the governing body announced that they would charge £300 to a track staging a BAGS meeting covered by Satellite Information Services (S.I.S) plus ten per cent of the tracks BAGS fees. Hackney refused and Ladbrokes took legal advice over the situation but all BAGS tracks would eventually pay a fee to the NGRC. Another race called
#257742