Hackney Hawks speedway opened in 1963 at

Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west sid ...

, Waterden Road,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and operated until 1983. The team replaced the

Hackney Wick Wolves Hackney Wick Wolves speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London, and operated until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Many years later the Hackney Hawks and Hackney Kestrels rode at Hackney Wick Stadium. History Th ...

who had raced at the stadium from 1935 to 1939. The Hawks were then themselves replaced by the

Hackney Kestrels The Hackney Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1984, when the Crayford Kestrels transferred the promotion to Hackney, until their closure in 1990. History During their first season in the 1984 National League season the team fi ...

Early days

Originally opened by Mike Parker, the team joined the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

in 1963.Rogers, Martin (1963) "Hackney Hawks Here to Stay?", ''

Speedway Star Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks * Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cour ...

'', 1 June 1963, p. 16 The team finished 10th in their debut season in the

1963 Provincial Speedway League The 1963 Provincial Speedway League was the fourth season of the Provincial League in the United Kingdom. Thirteen speedway teams took part. Season summary Wolverhampton won the league but there was controversy at the end of the year when Wolver ...

. The promotion was then sold to

Len Silver Len Silver (born 2 February 1932, east London, United Kingdom) is a former speedway rider and is former promoter of the Rye House Rockets. Racing career Silver stopped racing in 1957 but returned to the Ipswich Witches in 1960 after a layoff d ...

who was the club's promoter for the next twenty seasons. The riders and track staff marched onto the track to the sound of the theme tune of the film

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...

and that tune inspires more memories for Hackney Hawks fans than anything else. The Hawks were closely linked with sister track the

Rayleigh Rockets The Rayleigh Rockets were a Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex . History The Rockets inaugural league season was in 1949 Speedway National League Division Three, ...

and latterly the

Rye House Rockets The Rye House Rockets were a speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018. History Rye House began life in 1934 hosting open meetings. Whilst at Hackney in ...

. In 1971, Hackney won their only major honour when they beat

Cradley Heath Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

to win the

British League Knockout Cup The British League Knockout Cup was a speedway Knockout Cup competition in the United Kingdom governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA), that was staged between 1965 and 1 ...

. They had previously finished runner-up in the league during the 1968 British League season. The team finished runner-up again durin the 1980 British League season but ceased to operate after the 1983 season. The Hackney Hawks name was revived in 2011 in the National League as a joint promotion between the promotions at Lakeside and Rye House with the Hawks home matches being divided between the two parent tracks.

Vic Harding

In June 1979, popular Hawk Vic Harding was killed whilst racing for the team. A Vic Harding Memorial Trophy meeting was held in his memory every season after his death, and was in fact the final meeting that

ran at Waterden Road in 1983.

Closure

In 1984 the promotion was sold and the promotion from

Crayford Crayford is a town and electoral ward in South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies east of Bexleyheath and north west of Dartford. Crayford was in the historic county of Kent until 1965. The settlement deve ...

moved their Kestrels team into the stadium and became known as the

.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''.

Season summary

Notable Hackney Riders

* * * * * * * * * * * * (ex promoter of

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Souther ...

) * * (ex promoter of

) * * *

References