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 .[1][2]

Rayleigh Rockets
Club information
Track addressRayleigh Weir Stadium
Southend Arterial Road
Rayleigh
Essex
CountryEngland
Founded1949
Closed1973
Club facts
ColoursBlue and Yellow
Track size365 yards (334 m)
Major team honours
Southern League Champions1952, 1953
Provincial League Champions1960

History

The Rockets inaugural league season was in 1949 Speedway National League Division Three, where they finished in 12th place. The team had been formed by Messrs. Greavey and Rundle.[3][4] After two more seasons in Division Three they joined the Southern League (which was a new name for the third division).

The club became champions of the league in 1952 and 1953.[5]

The Rockets closed in 1958 but re-opened again in 1960 and entered the Provincial League. The Provincial league was the second division of speedway at the time and Rayleigh won their third piece of silverware after winning the 1960 Provincial Speedway League.[6]

In 1964, they entered a regional Metropolitan League but this was the last league racing seen until 1968, when Len Silver took over as promoter.

The Rockets rode at the stadium until 1973 when it was announced that the stadium had been sold to developers and the Rockets would need to find a new home. Len Silver took the Rockets to Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire to start the 1974 season as the Rye House Rockets.[7] The former site of Rayleigh Stadium is now a retail park.

Many of the former Rayleigh fans used to support the former Essex Speedway team, the Lakeside Hammers, who used to race at the Arena Essex Raceway, next to the Lakeside Shopping Centre, up until their closure in 2017.

Season summary
Year and league Position Notes
1949 Speedway National League Division Three12th
1950 Speedway National League Division Three9th
1951 Speedway National League Division Three4th
1952 Speedway Southern League1stchampions
1953 Speedway Southern League1stchampions
1954 Speedway National League Division Two11th
1955 Speedway National League Division Two3rd
1956 Speedway National League Division Two3rd
1957 Speedway National League11th
1960 Provincial Speedway League1stchampions
1961 Provincial Speedway League5th
1968 British League Division Two season5th
1969 British League Division Two season5th
1970 British League Division Two season12th
1971 British League Division Two season5th
1972 British League Division Two season4th
1973 British League Division Two season18th

Notable riders

References
  1. Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
  2. "Rayleigh Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. "League speedway reaches Central Essex". Essex Newsman. 18 March 1949. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  6. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  7. Jacobs, N. Speedway in East Anglia, ISBN 0-7524-1882-3
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