Jump to content
British Speedway Forum
KevH

Lakeside Future In Serious Doubt

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, HertsRacer said:

To be fair the crowds in the last few seasons of the Hammers were pretty poor. As for Romford, they promoted the team as West Ham Bombers which put a lot of people off. Also we knew that we were never going to last the season there, so a lot of the supporters stopped going. 

Understandably, there was a lot of doom and gloom post Lokeren at Custom House. But I was a wee lad at the time, and it was all exciting stuff to me. The sight of Christer Lofqvist in full flight, ensured I became a speedway fan for life.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

Understandably, there was a lot of doom and gloom post Lokeren at Custom House. But I was a wee lad at the time, and it was all exciting stuff to me. The sight of Christer Lofqvist in full flight, ensured I became a speedway fan for life.

I  sure some people who started watching at Ploughing Lane in 1985 or later thought things were exciting,but that doesn’t mean the writing wasn’t on the wall....as a kid you don’t really notice the negative sides and have nothing to compare it to,but dropping down for the first time in their history was a major blow 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Rye house had really good crowds in 2017 but on sat night if them levels come back in the championship to watch lakeside that would be more than enough

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, iris123 said:

I  sure some people who started watching at Ploughing Lane in 1985 or later thought things were exciting,but that doesn’t mean the writing wasn’t on the wall....as a kid you don’t really notice the negative sides and have nothing to compare it to,but dropping down for the first time in their history was a major blow 

As a lifelong Wimbledon fan it was a blow, but far more important that the track survived. The CL era saw speedway return to plough lane, but not as most of us remembered it!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, cityrebel said:

Understandably, there was a lot of doom and gloom post Lokeren at Custom House. But I was a wee lad at the time, and it was all exciting stuff to me. The sight of Christer Lofqvist in full flight, ensured I became a speedway fan for life.

Ah, yes, Christer Loftqvist. Once seen, never forgotten. Not sure how he’d cope with Lakeside, he could hardly get round the bends at West  Ham without scraping the safety fence. Two of the most memorable races  I ever saw were heats 11 and 13 West Ham v Wembley, in the last full year there. Heat 11 was Loftqvist inside and Reidar Eide outside, Heat 13 Eide inside and Loftqvist outside. Christer won then both but they were both passing and re-passing heart stopping races. Anyone who ever saw Christer at West Ham will know what I mean by heart stopping:)

Happy days

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
31 minutes ago, Daytripper said:

Ah, yes, Christer Loftqvist. Once seen, never forgotten. Not sure how he’d cope with Lakeside, he could hardly get round the bends at West  Ham without scraping the safety fence. Two of the most memorable races  I ever saw were heats 11 and 13 West Ham v Wembley, in the last full year there. Heat 11 was Loftqvist inside and Reidar Eide outside, Heat 13 Eide inside and Loftqvist outside. Christer won then both but they were both passing and re-passing heart stopping races. Anyone who ever saw Christer at West Ham will know what I mean by heart stopping:)

Happy days

My first ever meeting at West Ham was Christer's debut v Wimbledon in May 1970. 39 -39 draw, the best birthday treat I've ever had!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Enough reminiscing. My mate Jon Stevens is doing a display of Arena Essex & Lakeside race jackets and memorabilia at the last ever meeting. He is trying to convince me to loan him some stuff from my own collection, to go with his own items. Wether I can let it out of my sight is another matter. It should be an emotional night, if the weather behaves itself.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Your right there Cityrebel, and I don’t think it will really hit home until after the last race and the meeting is over, I foresee a period of reflection myself is likely, this place has been such a huge part of my life, gone through my teens, 20s, 30s and now 40s, a lot of ups a lot of downs and all through it Arena Essex Hammers

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 minutes ago, marko said:

Your right there Cityrebel, and I don’t think it will really hit home until after the last race and the meeting is over, I foresee a period of reflection myself is likely, this place has been such a huge part of my life, gone through my teens, 20s, 30s and now 40s, a lot of ups a lot of downs and all through it Arena Essex Hammers

A few of my memories are, the awful fenceless track of the 1980's, the all conquering team of 1991, the year in the CL, after the promoters had cleared off to Hackney. The return to the top flight in 2003, and the massive crowd for Lee' Richardson's memorial meeting. This season started with such optimism, and will end with sadness and disappointment. RIP Arena Essex, you will be missed by those of us that really knew you, not by those that criticised you at every opportunity.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, cityrebel said:

I suppose until the structure of speedway in 2019 is decided, no one will commiting to anything.

Think there is a very good chance of 2 leagues of about 14 teams, 1 Championship standard, & 1 National league standard. Teams to consist of 6 riders.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, proud panther said:

Think there is a very good chance of 2 leagues of about 14 teams, 1 Championship standard, & 1 National league standard. Teams to consist of 6 riders.

I've heard very similar myself. Let's hope we don't get any more track closures during the winter.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There was supposed to be news on this final meeting today but nothing as yet, I’m hoping that Bob Miller can come out of retirement and be the announcer for one final time at this venue, it would be very poignant.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am absolutely devastated about the close of Arena and the premature end of speedway there this season and I have only been going for 9 years. Absolutely love the place so I can only imagine how you who have been going for many more years than that are feeling. Should be a special and emotional night on the 14th and its an honor to be able to co-announce the final meeting ever, especially as I have only done it for this season and many a great voices of the raceway have come before me. 

Wonder how all of those on this forum that slag off the track week in and week out are feeling now? Hope you are all happy? Bet plenty of you will all show up next Friday calling yourself fans! 

Also, can I just say, I've seen a lot of discussion on a lot of different platforms about what the team should now be called... Simple fact of the matter is its the LAKESIDE HAMMERS and will stay that until we get a new venue and then beyond. As far as Rye House goes, I don't believe there is any intention of merging with Lakeside. Rye House will return next year, potentially in the same league (or a breakaway league as I have heard is being discussed) and race at home. Lakeside will continue to use Rye House short term (Just like Tottenham have used Wembley). Hopefully fans will engage with both teams equally and many will take the opportunity to enjoy potentially double the speedway on a weekly basis! 

As I keep saying on here Keep the faith in the management! after all they could have already bailed on the team long ago. 

  • Like 5

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To be fair matertron some of the slagging off of the track has been completely justified in the past, this was a period though before you started to watch but mud sticks.

from the late 80s to present I have seen a variety of track forms just at Arena alone, my favourite was the track we had in the early 90s, the worst was when it was altered for FIM standard, this might have been 95 but can't recall, needless to say it didn't lend itself to racing, then we had the big Ron years where the track was flat as a pancake but so slick the only way to get around it well was with your front wheel on the white line.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, marko said:

To be fair matertron some of the slagging off of the track has been completely justified in the past, this was a period though before you started to watch but mud sticks.

from the late 80s to present I have seen a variety of track forms just at Arena alone, my favourite was the track we had in the early 90s, the worst was when it was altered for FIM standard, this might have been 95 but can't recall, needless to say it didn't lend itself to racing, then we had the big Ron years where the track was flat as a pancake but so slick the only way to get around it well was with your front wheel on the white line.

The problem is, Arena got a bad reputation for having a fenceless track in the 1980's, that has never gone away.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy