Hackney Hawks

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Hackney Hawks
Hackneyhawks.jpg
Club information
Track address Hackney Wick Stadium
Waterden Road
Hackney
London
CountryEngland
Founded1963
Closed1983
League Provincial League/British League
Website www.hackneyhawks.co.uk
Club facts
ColoursRed & blue quarters
with gold sash/
Yellow Hawk on
Blue and White Check
Track size345 yards (315 m)
Major team honours
KO Cup winners1971
London Cup winners1971, 1973

Hackney Hawks speedway opened in 1963 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London, England, and operated until 1983. The team replaced the Hackney Wick Wolves who had raced at the stadium from 1935 to 1939. The Hawks were then themselves replaced by the Hackney Kestrels. [1]

Contents

Early days

Originally opened by Mike Parker, the team joined the Provincial League in 1963. [2] The team finished 10th in their debut season in the 1963 Provincial Speedway League. [3] The promotion was then sold to Len Silver who was the club's promoter for the next twenty seasons. [4] 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 the Rayleigh Rockets and latterly the Rye House Rockets. [5]

In 1971, Hackney won their only major honour when they beat Cradley Heath Heathens to win the British League Knockout Cup. They had previously finished runner-up in the league during the 1968 British League season. [6] The team finished runner-up again durin the 1980 British League season but ceased to operate after the 1983 season. [7]

The Hackney Hawks name was revived in 2011 in the National League as a joint promotion between the promotions at Lakeside and Rye House with the Hawks home matches being divided between the two parent tracks.

Vic Harding

In June 1979, popular Hawk Vic Harding was killed whilst racing for the team. A Vic Harding Memorial Trophy meeting was held in his memory every season after his death, and was in fact the final meeting that Len Silver ran at Waterden Road in 1983.

Closure

In 1984 the promotion was sold and the promotion from Crayford moved their Kestrels team into the stadium and became known as the Hackney Kestrels. [8]

Season summary

Extended content
Year and leaguePositionNotes
1963 Provincial Speedway League 10th
1964 Provincial Speedway League 2nd
1965 British League season 8th
1966 British League season 14th
1967 British League season 5th
1968 British League season 2nd
1969 British League season 19th
1970 British League season 11th
1971 British League season 7th Knockout Cup winners
1972 British League season 8th
1973 British League season 16th
1974 British League season 9th
1975 British League season 17th
1976 British League season 7th
1977 British League season 16th
1978 British League season 19th
1979 British League season 18th
1980 British League season 2nd
1981 British League season 8th
1982 British League season 7th
1983 British League season 7th
2011 National League speedway season 5thRaced at Lakeside and Rye House only

Notable riders

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackney Wick Stadium</span> Former stadium in Hackney, London

Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in Hackney Wick, London, England.

The Rye House Rockets were a speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Len Silver</span>

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References

  1. "Hackney Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. Rogers, Martin (1963) "Hackney Hawks Here to Stay?", Speedway Star , 1 June 1963, p. 16
  3. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  4. Fenn, C.(2003). Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight. ISBN   0-7524-2737-7
  5. Jacobs, Norman (2001). Speedway in London. ISBN   0-7524-2221-9
  6. "British League Tables - British League Era (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
  8. Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN   0-7524-2210-3