Thurrock Hammers ??

[Chris 441]

It's a big old site and sounds like no chance for housing if the other lot sold it off. The best that Lakeside can hope for is for the new owners to give them a small piece of land so that they don't have the hassle of a number of objections and the council on their back if they ignore the speedway.

[Goldhawk 76]

Would be just great to see them back at some time in the future. Maybe create a Torun stadium in Essex ?  Well we can all dream I guess : ) Was a sponsor here for many years.  The guys involved in this are doing a great job, a big well done to them.

[old bob at herne bay 828]

I now its Halloween and you all think this is a Treat , but surely its a Trick ?

You really think a Global Infrastructures business has paid £40m  for the site to stick speedway in there  for £2k a week rent on a dozen days a year ????

They will want to build a huge new data centre (after all that's their core business) 

Sorry I don't see that this is any progress at all. Sad to hear that the only permanent structure at the old Arena, the raceway tavern has been demolished.

Thurrock Council are bankrupt and will be only too glad of a big new owner to pay some business rates for the site. 

 

[E I Addio 15,845]

2 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

I now its Halloween and you all think this is a Treat , but surely its a Trick ?

You really think a Global Infrastructures business has paid £40m  for the site to stick speedway in there  for £2k a week rent on a dozen days a year ????

They will want to build a huge new data centre (after all that's their core business) 

Sorry I don't see that this is any progress at all. Sad to hear that the only permanent structure at the old Arena, the raceway tavern has been demolished.

Thurrock Council are bankrupt and will be only too glad of a big new owner to pay some business rates for the site. 

 

I agree . I am the last person that wants to pour cold water on the project, and Mark Sexton is to be applauded for his fantastic efforts to get the project this far. I would like to think it would be a success but realistic it’s now 5 years since the club closed and likely to be at least another 4 or 5 at least, if Swindon is anything to go by , before we see any racing. What state will Speedway be in at that stage and how difficult is it going to be to attract  sufficient new fans from scratch to make it pay ( and it will take a lot of new fans who have never heard of speedway as the old guard are getting less and less).

Then we have the problem of building a new track and spectator facilities. I had affection for the scruffy old stadium, rather like a pair of comfortable old slippers, but the fact of the matter is that people will expect something more sophisticated than they put up with in the 1980’s, and it all costs money. 

The reality is that Stuart Douglas and Jon Cook who were Lakeside won’t be back, with Stuart living abroad and Jon sadly no longer with us.It was Douglas and Cook that picked up the corpse that Ronnie Russel left and made it into a viable club for the next ten years, only for a duplicitous combination of Rob Godfrey and the stadium owners to put the club out of business with debts of £24,000.

I hope I have got wrong and I would love to see the dream to become a reality but there are enormous obstacles to be overcome.

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

1 hour ago, E I Addio said:

I agree . I am the last person that wants to pour cold water on the project, and Mark Sexton is to be applauded for his fantastic efforts to get the project this far. I would like to think it would be a success but realistic it’s now 5 years since the club closed and likely to be at least another 4 or 5 at least, if Swindon is anything to go by , before we see any racing. What state will Speedway be in at that stage and how difficult is it going to be to attract  sufficient new fans from scratch to make it pay ( and it will take a lot of new fans who have never heard of speedway as the old guard are getting less and less).

Then we have the problem of building a new track and spectator facilities. I had affection for the scruffy old stadium, rather like a pair of comfortable old slippers, but the fact of the matter is that people will expect something more sophisticated than they put up with in the 1980’s, and it all costs money. 

The reality is that Stuart Douglas and Jon Cook who were Lakeside won’t be back, with Stuart living abroad and Jon sadly no longer with us.It was Douglas and Cook that picked up the corpse that Ronnie Russel left and made it into a viable club for the next ten years, only for a duplicitous combination of Rob Godfrey and the stadium owners to put the club out of business with debts of £24,000.

I hope I have got wrong and I would love to see the dream to become a reality but there are enormous obstacles to be overcome.

The land used to be a sand pit/quarry. There was/is a 4x4 track there and a fishing lake. It is possible, that part of the area will be used for an industrial site type area, which doesn't need the same regulations/permissions as dwelling homes, for the data centre and a portion of the land for sport/recreation? It would cover all bases! 

[E I Addio 15,845]

10 hours ago, Ray Stadia said:

The land used to be a sand pit/quarry. There was/is a 4x4 track there and a fishing lake. It is possible, that part of the area will be used for an industrial site type area, which doesn't need the same regulations/permissions as dwelling homes, for the data centre and a portion of the land for sport/recreation? It would cover all bases! 

Yes it was a quarry of some kind and my understanding is that as a result it became contaminated which made it unsuitable for housing, and that’s  the reason Chick Woodroffe was able to get the land relatively cheaply and build a stadium in the first place. When. similar parts of land get contaminated the cost of cleaning is usually astronomical and not cost effective so I don’t know how the prospective buyers will get round all that.

However, even if permission for a speedway track were given tomorrow there are still the same problems that I mentioned in my last  post, in particular finding someone to put up the money and a promoter to make a go of it. You only have to look at the problems facing Wolves , Peterborough, and Swindon, and they are all in better positions than a brand new Lakeside would be.

This is only my opinion of course and there may be other things going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about, but it doesn’t look like it at the moment. 

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

5 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Yes it was a quarry of some kind and my understanding is that as a result it became contaminated which made it unsuitable for housing, and that’s  the reason Chick Woodroffe was able to get the land relatively cheaply and build a stadium in the first place. When. similar parts of land get contaminated the cost of cleaning is usually astronomical and not cost effective so I don’t know how the prospective buyers will get round all that.

However, even if permission for a speedway track were given tomorrow there are still the same problems that I mentioned in my last  post, in particular finding someone to put up the money and a promoter to make a go of it. You only have to look at the problems facing Wolves , Peterborough, and Swindon, and they are all in better positions than a brand new Lakeside would be.

This is only my opinion of course and there may be other things going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about, but it doesn’t look like it at the moment. 

For some reason, the like button isn't working for me at the moment, so 

[proud panther 1,505]

6 hours ago, Ray Stadia said:

For some reason, the like button isn't working for me at the moment, so 

I have got the same problem, can anyone advise why ?

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

32 minutes ago, proud panther said:

I have got the same problem, can anyone advise why ?

I have sent a message to Phil, part of the admin team. I will let you know if and when I get an answer. 

PS I have noticed 'The White Knight' has posted a note to Phil on 'Forum Announcements', saying he is having the same issue. Sounds like a general problem.  

Edited November 1, 2023 by Ray Stadia

[Dornier 795]

34 minutes ago, proud panther said:

I have got the same problem, can anyone advise why ?

Mines the same on and off

[Goldhawk 76]

Leaving aside whether this actually trancends into a return of the Hammers and the whys and why nots, if it were to happen with half decent facilities, it has the potential to be a very well supported club and likely far better supported than previously i would think. Why i say this is it will be the only club in the south east . Since closure at Lakeside Rye , Eastbourne and Kent have gone. i know Iwade are operating as Kent but with Lakeside operating in Premier or Championship fans likely to go there instead. When Rye was Saturdays a few years ago in Premier they were getting decent crowds, c 1,500 - 2,000, and the people i spoke to there were coming from far and wide. At that time there were 3 other tracks in the south. I would be very optimistic if they can get Hammers back on track and sensible stadium facilities here or elsewhere in borough. UP THE HAMMERS !  WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE THEM BACK.