The Crayford Kestrels were a

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

team which operated from 1968 until their closure in 1983. They were based at

Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium was a greyhound racing and motorcycle speedway stadium in the London Borough of Bexley. Origins and Opening In 1930 the Bexleyheath and District Motorcycle Club started making plans for a grass speedway track ...

Crayford Crayford is a town and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South London, 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 countie ...

History

Speedway meetings in Crayford were first held during 1935 and 1936 but soon ended and the sport would not return for over 30 years. In 1967 a speedway circuit was constructed inside the greyhound track at the Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium and promoter

Johnnie Hoskins Jack Stark Hoskins MBE (16 April 1892 Waitara, New Zealand – 5 April 1987 Kent, England) was the most significant promoter of speedway and stock car racing in the United Kingdom. He is considered by some to have invented motorcycle speedway. ...

planned to bring the speedway team from Edinburgh to Crayford because

Old Meadowbank Old Meadowbank was a multi-purpose sports facility located in the Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was mainly used as a football stadium by Leith Athletic between the 1930s and 1950s and as a motorcycle speedway track. The stadium was ...

had closed. However, the Edinburgh team moved to Coatbridge and Hoskins turned his attention to Canterbury. Bill Bridgett and Mike Parker of the

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

stepped in to promote the Crayford speedway Crayford were founder members of

British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of motorcycle speedway, speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the Na ...

in 1968. The first signings were Mick Handley and Dave Parry (Wolves riders on loan) and the team finished in sixth place during its inaugural season. The team known as the Crayford Highwaymen continued to race throughout the 1969 and 1970 seasons. Geoff Ambrose starred in 1969 when the team finished fourth in the league. However, after the 1970 season the team were disbanded with the promoters citing not being able to afford the new rider pay rates. Speedway returned to the stadium in 1975 with a team nicknamed the Kestrels under the co-promotion of Peter Thorogood and

Len Silver Leonard George Silver (2 February 1932 – 13 October 2024) was an English motorcycle speedway rider and promoter. He has also served as the Team Manager for the England and Great Britain national speedway team during two separate spells in 197 ...

. The Kestrels would compete for nine years from 1975 to 1983. The Kestrels won the Four-Team Championship, held at the

East of England Arena The East of England Showground is a large showground area (667,731sqm) located on East of England Way near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Showground is owned by Bellway as of around 2019 and the site currently includes the East of E ...

on 27 July 1980; the team was Paul Woods,

Les Rumsey Leslie John Rumsey (born 27 July 1955) is a former speedway rider from England. Speedway career Rumsey rode in the top two tiers of British Speedway from 1972 to 1983, riding for various clubs. Rumsey signed for Canterbury Crusaders in 1972 ...

, Steve Naylor, Alan Sage and Laurie Etheridge. However, arguably their most successful season was the third place finish during the 1983 National League season. The team were forced to relocate for the 1984 season as the stadium was sold for redevelopment and for the 1984 season the team transferred the promotion to Hackney and ran a team called the

Hackney Kestrels Hackney Speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London, and operated until 1996. The team raced under various names, known as Hackney Wick Wolves, Hackney Hawks, Hackney Kestrels and London Lions. History Origins & 1 ...

Notable riders

* Geoff Ambrose * Mick Handley *

* Barry Thomas * Paul Woods

Season summary

References

{{Reflist Defunct speedway teams in the United Kingdom Sport in Kent Crayford

History

Notable riders

Season summary

See also

References