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This venture will be welcomed by Hammers fans, as it will give us a chance to see our young British assets doing battle on our own track and will give us a break from a the same Elite teams. I am really looking forward to it, to be honest.

 

Who will line-up for the Hackney team?

 

Surely Hammers assets Jerran Hart, Marc Owen and Shane Hazelden. Essex boy Ben Morley would also be included. Who else?

 

Could Rob Mear ride in the NL?

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This venture will be welcomed by Hammers fans, as it will give us a chance to see our young British assets doing battle on our own track and will give us a break from a the same Elite teams. I am really looking forward to it, to be honest.

 

Who will line-up for the Hackney team?

 

Surely Hammers assets Jerran Hart, Marc Owen and Shane Hazelden. Essex boy Ben Morley would also be included. Who else?

There's a kid called Brendan Freemantle who's around 15 years old. I think he comes from Susses and is s'posed to be pretty good.

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This venture will be welcomed by Hammers fans, as it will give us a chance to see our young British assets doing battle on our own track and will give us a break from a the same Elite teams. I am really looking forward to it, to be honest.

 

Who will line-up for the Hackney team?

 

Surely Hammers assets Jerran Hart, Marc Owen and Shane Hazelden. Essex boy Ben Morley would also be included. Who else?

 

Could Rob Mear ride in the NL?

 

Mear isn't eligible to ride NL, neither is Jerran Hart (PL average now over 4 and in a PL side.)

 

I posted this a while back as a potential Cobras side, think it'd be just as good as a Hawks septet.

 

Tommy Allen 8.84

Marc Owen 6.72

Joe Jacobs 6.43

Danny Halsey 5.34

Ben Morley 4.78

Shane Hazelden 4.2

Brandon Freemantle 3.00

Total: 39.31

 

Full of upcoming youngsters, whilst Tommy Allen has been mentioned as looking to get back into the sport, it wasn't that long ago he was threatening to break into the EL as a reserve, having some of the meetings at Lakeside may give him more of a kick to ride NL and impress as he can get back to where he was IMO.

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Tommy Allen 8.84

Marc Owen 6.72

Joe Jacobs 6.43

Danny Halsey 5.34

Ben Morley 4.78

Shane Hazelden 4.2

Brandon Freemantle 3.00

Total: 39.31

Decent shout Ben, although from what I've heard there is a little friction between him and and someone at the club which may cause a problem.

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Decent shout Ben, although from what I've heard there is a little friction between him and and someone at the club which may cause a problem.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see more than one ex Mildenhall (2010 season) rider in the line up.

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I must admit I am surprised by the amount of Hackney hatred shown by some posters. I supported the Hawks from 1963 and the Rockets from 1974 and I knew many supporters at Hackney who supported Rye House as well. I know the KESTRELS gave the Rockets a bit of battering in the late eighties but that's in the past I find it bizzare that some supporters won't support the the riders who represented the Cobras last year just because this year they'll be called the Hawks!!?? Baffling! It's not really a Hackney team it's just a name. And beforeanyone threatens to beat me to a pulp for shouting for the Hawks AND the Rockets. I won't be attending any meetings at Rye next year as I am now exiled in the midlands, Sadly.

 

My thoughts as well. I remember getting the coach from Hackney to go and support Rye every Sunday. Wasn't any hatred from the Hackney side and I can't see why there would be the other way.

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My thoughts as well. I remember getting the coach from Hackney to go and support Rye every Sunday. Wasn't any hatred from the Hackney side and I can't see why there would be the other way.

 

I think the key difference for Rye House was that the relationship with Hackney Hawks was very different to that with Hackney Kestrels, although obviously many people supported both.

 

In the case of the Hawks it really was a family link, with the Hawks the parent club, as they had been right from the Rockets' reopening at Rayleigh in 1968. Obviously Len cross-publicised both tracks and you could get to see the world of speedway outside your own division, later league by 'doubling-up'. Riders moved between both tracks and, apart from the occasional inter-league match-up there was no real rivalry. Many trackstaff worked at both tracks.

 

That relationship changed in 1984 with the sale of Hackney to Terry Russell and the Kestrels moving-in. Crayford and Rye House by contrast were strong rivals and there was an edge between them. Hackney weren't now just rivals in the same league they were still 'budgies' to the Rockets fans. After an initial run of success for Crayford after their reopening in 1975, with a side mainly consisting of former Rayleigh Rockets to add insult to injury the tide had turned significantly with the Rockets building-up a formiddable record at London Road.

 

From '84 onwards the Kestrels had the upper hand and attitudes naturally changed to the former 'parent' track.

 

Mind you, Rye House and Hackney can live in relative peace, as my former Hackney Hawk wife would agree, well hopefully ;-) To her though Hackney died the day the Kestrels moved-in.

 

Rob McCaffery

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Cant say ive ever been a big fan of Hackney, always been one of our rivals as i started watching speedway regular in 89, in those days we had the Spring or Autumn Triangle with the Kestrels and the Rockets and of the three clubs Hackney was always viewed as the strongest or certainly most likely to win in any given season.

 

However the name is but a name and im fully behind this idea, the more track time we can give to the riders of tomorrow the better, we simply must start to devopelope our own talent in this country or face continually being dictated and taken advantage of by others.

You only need to look at the JD situation, all that money paid out to secure his contract and the loyalty shown to him and this is the thanks we get.

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The Hawks have yet to name a number 1 rider and there are not many left..I feel Tommy Allen is unlikely .There is Brundle?? Cant think of to many more..Ah Halsey? surely not likely ,same could be said of Mark Baseby,,Danny Warwick prefers bigger tracks..Lets hope Marc Owen,,Ben Morley and possibly Shane Hazelden all big improvers can step up to the mark this season All will im sure be aiming for the No1 spot .Not sure where Joe Jacobs will be next season could still return ?..While no official announcement has been made the above youngsters may be joined by( my guess possibly ?)..David Mason,?,Lee Strudwick? plus under 15 champion Brandon Freemantle hopefully,, he is stylish and in my opinion would be a cracking good signing ,,which if im correct takes us back to that last rider ?? any ideas ??..None of the above riders has been officially confirmed yet....

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Mind you, Rye House and Hackney can live in relative peace, as my former Hackney Hawk wife would agree, well hopefully ;-) To her though Hackney died the day the Kestrels moved-in.

Rob McCaffery

 

You do, as ever Rob, talk great sense and have summed up the differences between the relationships between RH and the First Division Hawks and later the same division Kestrels.

One thing though I can never understand or tolerate is this notion - I've heard it before expressed on here - that Hackney "died" as soon as the Kestrels decamped from North-west Kent to Waterden Road.

Only one club and track died that awful time in early 1984...: and it most certainly wasn't Hackney.

It's incredibly insensitive to the feelings of Crayford fans who lost our track completely and were to see that fantastic little stadium we so loved, reduced to rubble, for Hackney fans to have cried crocodile tears over their 'misfortune'...

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You do, as ever Rob, talk great sense and have summed up the differences between the relationships between RH and the First Division Hawks and later the same division Kestrels.

One thing though I can never understand or tolerate is this notion - I've heard it before expressed on here - that Hackney "died" as soon as the Kestrels decamped from North-west Kent to Waterden Road.

Only one club and track died that awful time in early 1984...: and it most certainly wasn't Hackney.

It's incredibly insensitive to the feelings of Crayford fans who lost our track completely and were to see that fantastic little stadium we so loved, reduced to rubble, for Hackney fans to have cried crocodile tears over their 'misfortune'...

 

Derek, I of course mourn the closure of any track and Crayford's loss was of course far greater than Hacknety's but there WAS a loss for some at Hackney - they lost their team and found their track invaded by strangers, both in terms of management but also on the terraces. I can assure you that my wife wept no crocodile tears, she simply walked away from the sport and only attends very occasionally now to see old friends.

 

As ever in these situations it's shades of grey, not black and white. In some ways my Rockets did the same thing when they moved into Rye House from Rayleigh and I'm sure there were those at Hoddesdon who mourned the previous amateur days. I miss Rayleigh every time I go to speedway. Every track I visit fails to be 'home', including Rye House, even after 37 years. The only track that comes close in terms of location and atmosphere is Swindon but in some ways that just emphasises the loss.

 

For Hawks supporters like Jay the whole set-up had changed at Waterden Road - team name, colours, riders, management and even the circuit itself and the speedway she knew had closed to her every bit as much as London Road had to Kestrels' fans. I'm sure many others took a different view but I suspect some agreed. I didn't agree with her but I respect her opinion. In any case she's an Upton Park girl and they're not known for gentle persuasion ;-)

 

It's all over a quarter of a century in the past now. Perhaps it's time to move on?

 

If Hackney had survived and the Rockets not been revived in 1999 and Hackney were now launching a Rockets NL team I'd be overjoyed to see my team back, in whatever form. I hope Hackney's fans respond in the same way to the new Hawks and that Rye House and Lakeside fans get behind the team in addition to their own. Hackney hsad its tragic side but my memory will always be of some of the finest racing I've ever seen. I'm delighted to see the name return and if, IF, it starts something rolling, like we did with the Rockets in 99 and we see a new Hackney found a space in the post-Olympic East End then nobody will be more delighted than me.

 

The Hawks were my Rockets' parent - the Kestrels were my Rockets' troublesome brother ;-)

 

 

Rob McCaffery

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If the Hawks follow the same pattern as Lakeside and Rye House I would expect the team to be announced all at once.

 

Also I wonder if they will have their own Website ?

 

There is a Hackney Website below which has not been updated for a while.

 

http://www.hackneyhawks.co.uk/

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