The Rayleigh Rockets were a Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the

Rayleigh Weir Stadium Rayleigh Weir Stadium was a speedway, greyhound racing and stock car stadium in Weir between Rayleigh and Thundersley in England. It is not to be confused with the Rayleigh Greyhound Sports Stadium that existed in O’Tooles Meadow on Down H ...

Rayleigh Rayleigh may refer to: Science *Rayleigh scattering *Rayleigh–Jeans law *Rayleigh waves *Rayleigh (unit), a unit of photon flux named after the 4th Baron Rayleigh *Rayl, rayl or Rayleigh, two units of specific acoustic impedance and characte ...

, Essex .

History

The Rockets inaugural league season was in 1949 Speedway National League Division Three, where they finished in 12th place. After two more seasons in Division Three they joined the Southern League (which was a new name for the third division). The became champions of the league in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...

and 1953. 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. 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 Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon i ...

in Hertfordshire to start the 1974 season as 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 ...

.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in East Anglia'', 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 The Lakeside Hammers were a speedway team who most recently raced in the SGB Championship in 2018. They were founded (as the Arena-Essex Hammers) by promoter Wally Mawdsley and stock car promoter Chick Woodroffe. The team were nicknamed the Ham ...

, who used to race at the Arena Essex Raceway, next to the Lakeside Shopping Centre, up until their closure in 2017.

Season summary

References

{{Reflist Speedway teams in Essex Defunct British speedway teams Rayleigh, Essex 1949 establishments in England Sports clubs established in 1949 1973 disestablishments in England Sports clubs disestablished in 1973