cityrebel 2,960 Posted July 23, 2011 jon cook said in last nights lakeside programme that there would be no more hackney meetings staged at arena after this season. jon reckons the hackney name has alienated some fans and i tend to agree with him. will uncle len carry on next year with the hawks team or revert back to the cobras, who knows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dekker 239 Posted July 23, 2011 or he lost loads of dosh Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Losthammer 21 Posted July 23, 2011 or he lost loads of dosh He said that in his programme notes as well, the losses starting to have an effect on the EL team hence the decision. As for the name, they were on a hiding to nothing really. As a Hammers fan I couldn't relate to this team, having not supported the Hackney Hawks. Hackney Hawks supporters have a team in name only really with no connection to the team they supported. Entrance fee, although most likely determined by overheads was too high for most as well, with no facilities such as food available (from what I heard from someone who went). Personally I only thought the Hawks meetings were used as a filler to try and fill the void left by the ridiculous number of EL fixtures this year. If it's costing them money to run it, then it makes sense to shelve it and concentrate on the Hammers team, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryce 349 Posted July 23, 2011 He has stated several times that it was financially unsustainable with the numbers of paying customers they were getting. The last few meetings it's been noticeable how sparse the crowd was. I even joked on my way in that as a paying customer I must be a rarity. The guy taking the cash didn't argue. Apparently anything over 400 was a good night; and I doubt there were that many at the last 3 matches. It's a shame that the Hawks won't run at Lakeside next year, but I don't think people could reasonably expect the club to swallow the large losses they must have been enduring this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryce 349 Posted July 23, 2011 Entrance fee, although most likely determined by overheads was too high for most as well, with no facilities such as food available (from what I heard from someone who went). The main cafe was open last time, but the smaller outlets remained closed. They were not financially viable for the number of customers they served in the previous weeks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucifer sam 3,953 Posted July 23, 2011 I think the Hackney revival was very worthy, and an attempt to recreate the Cradley success. However, not all clubs maintain the same interest over years of inactivity. When I recently interviewed Dave Perks (available in Backtrack Issue 43), I think he hit the nail back on the head, saying how special speedway was to Cradley, since they didn't have a good football team or anything like that, so speedway is therefore the main sporting attraction. I wonder if Lakeside will continue National League speedway, but with the team branded as Rye House / Lakeside in a similar fashion to Scunthorpe / Sheffield. All the best Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted July 23, 2011 jon cook also said that NL racing is a no goer at lakeside in its present format. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
refereerick 253 Posted July 23, 2011 I think the Hackney revival was very worthy, and an attempt to recreate the Cradley success. However, not all clubs maintain the same interest over years of inactivity. When I recently interviewed Dave Perks (available in Backtrack Issue 43), I think he hit the nail back on the head, saying how special speedway was to Cradley, since they didn't have a good football team or anything like that, so speedway is therefore the main sporting attraction. I wonder if Lakeside will continue National League speedway, but with the team branded as Rye House / Lakeside in a similar fashion to Scunthorpe / Sheffield. All the best Rob Not sure that adds up Rob as Lakeside have links with West Ham United so they're in the same boat as Cradley fans Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TMW 533 Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) jon cook said in last nights lakeside programme that there would be no more hackney meetings staged at arena after this season. jon reckons the hackney name has alienated some fans and i tend to agree with him. will uncle len carry on next year with the hawks team or revert back to the cobras, who knows. I think that is quite sad really. These things need to be nurtured. I believe that the Hawks have had 3 meetings at LS according to the fixtures surely that can't be enough to gauge the success of a project. This is one of the problems with NL racing if there is one thing I have learnerd about speedway supporters is that they are creatures of habit a habit needs to be developed habits also need to be broken and this constant 'will we wont we' attitude of the teams is not helping build support. Why would somebody lend their support to a team that may or may not be there next year why would you develop a habit that you are going to have to break in 6 months time and speedway supporters have their hearts broken more than most with the yo yo leagues. abd because of this there is also a culture developing of almost blackmail(not meaning to cause offense to anybody) 'If you don't support the club then we will close it down' not sure that is the best business strategy either. NL clubs need to commit to the cause. I don't say this as an 'armchair promoter' promoters have an intensely difficult job but the first thing surely is committment to the people that support your club. Whoever have supported till now may drift now as the project would appear to be going nowhere. There is such a thing as speculate to accumulate. I know it is quite easy ti sit and type the words when you are not loosing shed loads of money but isnt that the first rule of business?. Edited July 23, 2011 by TMW Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Parsloes 1928 nearly 495 Posted July 23, 2011 There was in any case - I believe - only one more due: Scunny, who (again as I understand it...) were being difficult because they didn't want to come on a Friday.. Low crowds..? Well, there were actually only three 'stand-alone' Hawks fixtures at AE.. The first was Dudley, so - fair play as ever to the superb Heathens hordes! - that was well attended. The IoW match was blighted by one of the worst nights for traffic in East London/west Essex for years and then there was Buxton... As an experiment it does appear to have been abandoned but I'd personally NOT call it a failure... The voices of doom and gloom on here will doubtless say they were right; but frankly if you're pessimistic and down-beat about things you will often end up being right... It's those who take a leap of faith as Cookie did for a bit here, who make things actually happen so fair play to all who tried... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryce 349 Posted July 23, 2011 I agree that in many ways the Hawks experiment at Lakeside was not a failure, not least in terms of the invaluable experience afforded to the younger riders. Brandon Freemantle, the Bens, et al can only have benefited from the opportunity. As a fan, I was happy to pay a little over the odds for the product to help develop these boys careers. Unfortunately, not enough people felt the same, and I can totally understand the clubs point of view in terms of the financial situation going forward. I applaud Jon Cook and co for at least trying to make it work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alan_boon 1 Posted July 23, 2011 Perhaps the answer is an Arena Essex team? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shadders 4,135 Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) Apparently anything over 400 was a good night That's over double what the Hawks are pulling in at Rye House!!... Personally I'm of the opinion that the Hackney experiment hasn't really worked... It must be nice for ex Hackney fans to see their race jacket back again, but it's really a Rye House side masquarading as Hawks, lety's be honest!.. If this was a stand alone team at then it would probably attract more people through the gates, but as there are bigger and better teams to watch at The Arena Essex Raceway and Rye House Stadium then they are always gonna struggle to pull in the crowds, especially in this economic climate... Even the Rockets are struggling to pull in 500 this season, so what chance have the Hawks got? Edited July 23, 2011 by Shadders Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Islander15 1,065 Posted July 23, 2011 I think that is quite sad really. These things need to be nurtured. I believe that the Hawks have had 3 meetings at LS according to the fixtures surely that can't be enough to gauge the success of a project. This is one of the problems with NL racing if there is one thing I have learnerd about speedway supporters is that they are creatures of habit a habit needs to be developed habits also need to be broken and this constant 'will we wont we' attitude of the teams is not helping build support. Why would somebody lend their support to a team that may or may not be there next year why would you develop a habit that you are going to have to break in 6 months time and speedway supporters have their hearts broken more than most with the yo yo leagues. abd because of this there is also a culture developing of almost blackmail(not meaning to cause offense to anybody) 'If you don't support the club then we will close it down' not sure that is the best business strategy either. NL clubs need to commit to the cause. I don't say this as an 'armchair promoter' promoters have an intensely difficult job but the first thing surely is committment to the people that support your club. Whoever have supported till now may drift now as the project would appear to be going nowhere. There is such a thing as speculate to accumulate. I know it is quite easy ti sit and type the words when you are not loosing shed loads of money but isnt that the first rule of business?. I totally agree 100% with what you've just said, as I seem to most of your posts. At least there are some rational people on this site. I think the main issue with Hackney has been that the riders are basically Rye House riders. If I used to be a Hackney fan, and now see my team name again and want to go to support it, I would have to ask: am I supporting Hackney or a Rye House select? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TMW 533 Posted July 23, 2011 I totally agree 100% with what you've just said, as I seem to most of your posts. At least there are some rational people on this site. I think the main issue with Hackney has been that the riders are basically Rye House riders. If I used to be a Hackney fan, and now see my team name again and want to go to support it, I would have to ask: am I supporting Hackney or a Rye House select? Thank you for that nice when people agree...It not so much the riders as they all move round anyway. I don't know much about the Hawks but would Hackney fans see Rye House as a Home would there have been a element of Hackney support which may not have bothered because they couldnt conceivably consider Rye House as a home track or vice verse and if you can only bring yourself to support half of the home meetings then whats the point. It will be interesting to see what the result of the Scunthorpe/Sheffield experiment brings but these are possibly not like for like as Sheffield are running double headers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
