Cliv Clav

Over 2,800 signatures so far, which is excellent. Thank you to everyone that has signed so far and please encourage all speedway fans to sign as we present to Thurrock Council shortly. Fingers crossed this campaign encourages them to find us another site. Here is the link: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-the-return-of-lakeside-hammers-speedway Thanks again and a happy new year to all

Over 2,800 signatures so far, which is fantastic and a huge thanks to each and every one of you for signing. The Hammers fans really do appreciate other fans signing the petition to try to bring our favourite hobby and team back to Essex. We would love to get 3,000 signatures so please ask all speedway fans you know to add their names, if they haven't already. We present to Thurrock Council very soon and this petition will make an impact. Let's hope it's a big enough impact to secure a new site for us. Thanks again everyone and a happy new year to you all

A quick update: Thurrock Council have acknowledged our petition and have asked the Hammers to present the details of it and the campaign to get the team a new home in the area to the Thurrock Council's main cabinet in January or February. This will place both the club and the campaign on the council’s agenda such that it is recorded officially in Council minutes and ensure that the club gets an official response. So please get all speedway fans you know to keep signing the petition as it really is going to help us. We need riders, promoters and clubs to post/tweet links to the petition and the Speedway Star to actually put something in print as it is yet to appear in the magazine. Thank you all for signing so far, I wish I could give you all a hug or buy you a beer, whichever is most appropriate lol. Thanks for trying to save our team Here is the link: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-the-return-of-lakeside-hammers-speedway

A quick update: Thurrock Council have acknowledged our petition and have asked the Hammers to present the details of it and the campaign to get the team a new home in the area to the Thurrock Council's main cabinet in January or February. This will place both the club and the campaign on the council’s agenda such that it is recorded officially in Council minutes and ensure that the club gets an official response. So please get all speedway fans you know to keep signing the petition as it really is going to help us. We need riders, promoters and clubs to post/tweet links to the petition and the Speedway Star to actually put something in print as it is yet to appear in the magazine. Thank you all for signing so far, I wish I could give you all a hug or buy you a beer, whichever is most appropriate lol. Thanks for trying to save our team Here is the link: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-the-return-of-lakeside-hammers-speedway

Thank you so very much to all that have signed so far, it will help our cause massively when the council meet to allocate funds to regeneration projects shortly. To those who haven't signed yet, please do. It literally takes 10 seconds.

Thanks so much, it really does mean a lot to us Hammers fans to have the support of other clubs fans too. A quick signature on that petition can make all the difference in the long run. Thanks again

3000 was the attendance for the last meeting at Arena. Not sure where you read 800 mate. Just as a side note, for our free meeting that we held in 2007 against Poole, 7000 turned up and clogged up the surrounding roads leading to Arena Essex.

That's right, it was effectively an away match which we took 200ish fans to. That's good travelling for away fans in speedway today. Obviously, fans would turn up in greater numbers in Thurrock, as that's where Arena Essex was! You do realise Rye is another county and a further hour or so away for many fans right?. That's an extra 2 or more hours travelling for a match.

We are going to try everything to get the Hammers back in Essex. It took 12 years to find the Hammers a new home after West Ham closed, let's hope we are more successful now Arena Essex has been compulsory purchased. There are lots of occasional speedway fans in Essex, as shown by the attendances at the last meeting, free and subsidised meetings and the Lee Richardson Memorial. The way speedway has been run over the last 10 or more years has driven fans away from every track, but as a constant attended since 1990, I can assure you we have enough of a fan base and potential fan base to maintain a team in Essex. It's a shame you couldn't make it to Arena for speedway over the years, as it's always nice to meet other forum members. The management and fans are fighting hard to return the team to the area and surely other fans and teams should be supporting that.

The low crowd you mentioned was at Rye, not Arena.

Thank you so much! Every voice helps and with lots of development in the area over the next 20 years, we may get a chance to return and keep the biggest sports team in the region. Fingers crossed.

There are a few sites that may come into consideration from what I understand. The problem is that Thurrock have to find over 30,000 new homes in the next 20ish years! Which is crazy. But to put a positive spin on it, that's a lot of people that would need live entertainment in the region and that could well be the Hammers!

Admins: any chance this could be pinned just so everyone sees this? I will post this in each of the 3 leagues as we desperately need help from all speedway fans. If you think this is inappropriate please delete it, but this could be our best chance to be successful and we want to strike whilst the iron is hot. Could I please ask all speedway fans to take 10 seconds to sign the petition to help get a new venue for the sport in the Thurrock area of Essex? Here is the link: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-the-return-of-lakeside-hammers-speedway The council meet shortly to discuss regeneration plans and how to spend monies from the compulsory purchase of the Arena Essex site and they are actually listening to the Hammers case as we have good grounds for some compensation after being left without a home. We currently have over 2500 signatures but we really need as many as possible. Only one signature per email address. You will receive an email saying thanks for signing, but nothing else. Please, please, please help our fight. We have meetings with the council and developers and the petition really does help our cause. The SGB website and the Speedway Star have not included stories about this, so we have had no help there. I know speedway fans love their sport and want as many clubs open as possible, so please sign or if you have already, thank you. For more info on our campaign please visit http://www.lakesidehammers.co/we-are-thurrocks-hammers/ Thanks everyone. Peace!

Admins: any chance this could be pinned just so everyone sees this? I will post this in each of the 3 leagues as we desperately need help from all speedway fans. If you think this is inappropriate please delete it, but this could be our best chance to be successful and we want to strike whilst the iron is hot. Could I please ask all speedway fans to take 10 seconds to sign the petition to help get a new venue for the sport in the Thurrock area of Essex? Here is the link: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-the-return-of-lakeside-hammers-speedway The council meet shortly to discuss regeneration plans and how to spend monies from the compulsory purchase of the Arena Essex site and they are actually listening to the Hammers case, as we have good grounds for some compensation after being left without a home. We currently have over 2500 signatures but we really need as many as possible. Only one signature per email address. You will receive an email saying thanks for signing, but nothing else. Please, please, please help our fight. We have meetings with the council and developers and the petition really does help our cause. The SGB website and the Speedway Star have not included stories about this, so we have had no help there. I know speedway fans love their sport and want as many clubs open as possible, so please sign or if you have already, thank you. For more info on our campaign please visit http://www.lakesidehammers.co/we-are-thurrocks-hammers/ Thanks everyone. Peace!

Hi mate, just a side note that the Jason Doyle that has signed is a work colleague of mine that goes to speedway but isn't a rider. 2100ish homes will be built on Arena Essex, so our signatures out number that! We have had no stories about our campaign on the SGB website or the Speedway Star, as far as I know. So, I will start a thread of its own on here just to make others aware of our fight. Hope the admins are ok with that.

Certainly wasn't impressed by the stadium promotion at Rye. One prominent member of BMR told some Hammers fans to 'go home and not return' after they asked for the season ticket gate to be opened at the same time as the pay turnstiles! This was shouted in front of quite a few supporters too. Talk about bad customer service! One former Rockets fan said he was always like that too.

Calling all Speedway fans! Please take 10 seconds to sign the petition in the link below to help to save Speedway in Essex. The Lakeside Hammers have been left without a track following the recent closure of the Arena-Essex Raceway, so that even more housing can be built in the area. Let's let the local council know how much people want Speedway in the region and what a great, exciting evening out it is for all the family. Many thanks everyone. http://www.lakesidehammers.co/please-sign-the-hammers-petition/

If Eastie are moving up, you would expect Jon Cook to return to run the team and bring in some former Hammers to spear head the team. Lawson, Ellis, Kennett must be possibilities to fill a couple of heat leader spots. Cook knows Jason Edwards very well after years at Arena together and Brennan would be an automatic choice at reserve.

The crowd sizes for events at Arena have absolutely nothing to do with the stadium closure. The event organisers paid the rent to a private company regardless of attendance. This is completely down to acquiring land for even more housing in South Essex. The Government had earmarked the land for a Compulsory Purchase Order years ago. Some Hammers riders back in 2008 told me that Stuart & Jon had been looking for a site for a potential new stadium in areas like Basildon as the Thames Gateway housing plan was going to claim the large Arena Essex plot of land sooner or later. I did hear some rumours that the ground couldn't be used for housing due to issues from it's former quarry days, but that seems untrue or to have been overcome. Let's just hope we all see an Essex Hammers team in a new stadium very soon!

Lots of different lines at Arena meant lots of passing opportunities on a very wide track. Get some DVDs and count the number of passes after the first corner against the number of passes you see at Rye. Arena wins hands down. At Rye you have to get to the outside line coming off turn 2 to win. Example from Friday night at Rye House: Gate 4 won the first 7 heats! Gate 3 won 5 of the next 7 heats!! Only 2 wins off gate 1 or 2 all night!!! And they were Morris and Lawson who were the best riders on show anyway.

Crowds were inflated due to the Hammers running in the NL and the novelty factor of being in the top flight. The top flight being poorly run certainly drives away a lot of fans though, which doesn't help. My 'plan' is to go to events I find entertaining, whilst supporting my local team. That's it. People can voice their concerns and grievances, and no-one I have spoken to at the Rye meetings has enjoyed the racing. Even members of the Hammers staff. I, of course, haven't spoken to everyone there, but many on here seem to have thought the same. So, if we make our feelings known, there is a chance the track could be changed for next year. Which would benefit all involved.

The riders interviewed have all said that there is only 1 line at Rye, and it is all down to the starts there. Hammers fans have been used to seeing riders being able to come from behind from all over their wide home track and use inside and outside lines to produce good racing, even if they miss the starts. This is just not possible at Rye. Rockets fans have been slagging off the racing, stadium, etc at Rye for long enough and voting with feet. Hammers fans are just finding out how bad it really is there. If the product is not entertaining and not an enjoyable enough experience to inspire people to pay the admission and travel all the way from Essex for, many will stop going. The locals stopped going in the 90's and have stopped again in this decade. We are trying to support the team and keep them alive until we get a new home. Let's hope Cook can persuade the stadium owners to rip the track out over the winter and lay a new one.

Well said, we are both clubs that need some good fortune at this time. The hardcore fans and promoters of our teams deserve some smooth sailing for a change, especially when they are true fans of the sport themselves Only Thurrock Council or Essex Council can give us the news we really need...... a new home for the Essex Hammers! Always find out for yourself Liam, never go by others opinions. Go along on Sunday and decide what you think. After all, you never know when it will be your last opportunity to see a Hammers team in action. Even if we aren't at home!

At Arena with a full strength Workington team, the result was 56-32 to the Hammers! At Dry House against an under strength Workington team, it was 44-46 to the Comets...... enough said! You can thank the BSPA for losing us trophies though, as we were told we were NOT allowed to hold the finals at Arena if we made it through. The BSPA said 'you move or you stay', and as we couldn't get enough dates at Arena for all the fixtures, we had to hold everything at Rye. Had we been allowed to hold the final(s) at Arena we would have won at least one and would have been a great send off to the track. Still, I am glad we are losing to Workington rather than some other teams, as they were screwed over regarding fixtures this year too. The club needs a shot in the arm and let's hope this helps increase their support at home.

Atrocious racing at Rye will always put people off going there. Only 2 passes after the first lap last night, no passing until heat 8 in the first Peterborough match last time! The track has one line and the Hammers riders are not fans of the place at all, it's like riding every meeting at an away track, which 9 times out of 10 favours the outside gates. Every meeting I try to count the number of people wearing Rockets gear at the track. The last two matches I counted 3 and 4. Obviously I didn't see everyone, but the few Rye fans attending show that they don't enjoy the product on that track. Viewing at the circuit is far from ideal too.