The Rye House Rockets 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 based at

Rye House Stadium Rye House Stadium was a speedway and greyhound racing venue in Rye Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated adjacent to the River Lea Navigation. Origins The name Rye House originates from a collection of medieval building ...

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 ...

, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018.

History

Origins & 1930s

Rye House began life in 1934, hosting open meetings on a circuit that had been converted from a former running track. Under the charge of the Harringay Light Car and Motor Cycle Club, the track soon became known as a training school for riders. The first Rye House team competed in several challenge matches throughout 1936. Whilst at Hackney in September 1937, Dicky Case purchased the lease of the sixty acre estate of Rye House and continued the training school at Rye House Stadium, operating under the name of the Hackney Motor Club. The school operated until 1938, when a Rye House team staged Sunday Dirt-track League matches. In 1939, various challenge matches were held.Jacobs, Norman (2007). ''70 Years of Rye House Speedway''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing

1940s

Rye House stadium continued to operate speedway from 1940 to 1943, despite the disruption caused by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the end of the war the track was re-opened by

Arthur Elvin Sir Arthur Elvin (5 July 1899 Jacobs, N. & Lipscombe, P. (2005). ''Wembley Speedway : The Pre-War Years''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing; – 4 February 1957) was a British businessman who was best known as the owner and operator of Wembley Stadiu ...

(the Wembley Stadium Managing Director) and was once again used as a training school, this time for the Wembly Lions riders. The site remained under the lease ownership of Dicky Case until he returned to his native Australia. It was the foremost venue for aspiring speedway riders throughout the decade.

1950s

The team competed in a league for the first time since 1938, when they joined the 1954 Southern Area League (the third tier of British speedway). Riding as the Rye House Roosters they finished third in a six team league. The team then won two league titles; the 1955 Southern Area League and the 1956 Southern Area League. The team was led by

Mike Broadbank Michael John Broadbank (also known as Broadbanks) (born 23 September 1934 in Hoddesdon) is an English former international motorcycle speedway rider who made 560 appearances for the Swindon Robins, scoring over 4,200 points. Career Broadbank ...

, who also won the Riders' Championship at Rye House on 25 September.

1960s

In 1960, Jack Carter agreed a lease with stadium owner L. H. Lawrence and the speedway track was rebuilt by Mike Broadbank, along with his father Alfred. Broadbank ran the speedway team known as the Red Devils who raced in challenge matches from 1960 until 1966. No public meetings were held in 1967 or 1968, although the training school continued; but public speedway resumed in 1969, with a combination of individual meetings and team challenge matches, and continued until 1973.

1970s

In 1974,

Rayleigh Rockets The Rayleigh Rockets were a Motorcycle speedway, Speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1973 from the Rayleigh Weir Stadium in Rayleigh, Essex, Rayleigh, Essex . History Origins and 1940s In June 1948, the Speedway ...

closed down but the promotion, riders and nickname moved to Rye House. It was the first season of league speedway at Rye House since the 1959 Southern Area League. After struggling for two seasons they progressed to 5th place in 1976 before competing for the title from 1977 to 1979 and winning the 1979 Knockout Cup.

1980s

The consistency and stability of the team paid dividends in 1980, when the Rockets won the 1980 National League. Bobby Garrad, Karl Fiala and Kelvin Mullarkey all averaged over nine for the season. The success could not be repeated for the rest of the decade as the team experienced mediocrity.

1990s

After finishing 8th during the

1993 British League Division Two season The 1993 British League Division Two season was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. Summary oxford Cheetahs and Swindon Robins joined the division but it lost Berwick Bandits and Stoke Potters. The title was ...

the promoters Roger Shute and Peter Redfern left the club leaving Ronnie Russell in sole charge. Russell failed to secure the necessary funding to continue and the Rockets were disbanded. In 1999, the team returned to league action in the Conference League (the 3rd division) but they soon moved up to division 2 in 2002 and formed a junior side called the ''Raiders to compete in the Conference League. The Raiders won the Conference League Four-Team Championship in 2003. After three years of competing in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

from 2002 to 2004, the Rockets re-signed

Edward Kennett Edward David Kennett (born 28 August 1986 in Hastings, England) is a motorcycle speedway rider. He was the British Under-21 Champion in 2005 and has appeared in two Speedway Grand Prix as a wild card. He has recently retired from the sport due ...

and together with

Stuart Robson Stuart Robson may refer to: * Stuart Robson (actor) * Stuart Robson (speedway rider) See also

* Stewart Robson, former professional footballer {{disambiguation ...

, Chris Neath, Brent Werner, they helped secure the Premier League title. Two years later, Robson and Neath were still part of the Rockets team that won another league title. The 2007 team included new signing

Tai Woffinden Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990) is a British speedway rider. He is a three-time World Champion (2013, 2015 and 2018). Early life Woffinden was born in Scunthorpe, the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden. Although born in the Unite ...

. In 2008, the junior team were renamed the Cobras.

2010s

The Rockets continued to compete in the Premier League from 2010 to 2016 before entering the highest tier of British speedway for the first time in their history for the 2017 season. The team competed in the

SGB Premiership The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Premiership (sponsored by Sports Insure) is the top division of speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton Internation ...

and featured riders such as

Chris Harris Chris Harris may refer to: Sportspeople * Chris Harris (basketball) (1933–2022), English basketballer * Chris Harris (cricketer) (born 1969), New Zealand cricketer * Chris Harris (darts player) (born 1977), Welsh darts player * Chris Harris (rowe ...

and

Scott Nicholls Scott Karl Nicholls (born 16 May 1978) is an English motorcycle speedway rider, who has won the British Championship seven times,Speedway Control Bureau The Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), known as the Speedway Control Board between 1948 and 2002, governs the sport of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Auto Cycle Union (ACU). The directors are appointed by the ACU and Br ...

, due to the teams withdrawal due to financial issues. In September 2018, the

Lakeside Hammers The Lakeside Hammers (formerly the Arena-Essex Hammers) were a speedway team who raced in the British league system from 1984 to 2018, most recently racing in the SGB Championship in 2018. The team were nicknamed the Hammers after the West Ham H ...

, a speedway team in the SGB Championship, moved to the Rye House Stadium, following the closure of the

Arena Essex Raceway Arena Essex Raceway was a stock car and speedway racing track located near Purfleet, Essex. It opened in 1978 and closed in 2018. The Lakeside Shopping Centre was built close to the venue. The stadium The Arena-Essex Raceway Complex was the i ...

2020s

In December 2020, the Rye House stadium was demolished.

Riders

Rider of the year

* 2002: David Mason * 2003:

Scott Robson Scott Robson (born 15 August 1971) is a former international speedway rider from England. Speedway career Robson rode in the top tier of British Speedway from 1987 to 2005, riding for various clubs. He started his career at Berwick Bandits ...

* 2004: Tommy Allen * 2005:

Stuart Robson Stuart Robson may refer to: * Stuart Robson (actor) * Stuart Robson (speedway rider) See also

* Stewart Robson, former professional footballer {{disambiguation ...

* 2006: Steve Boxall * 2007:

* 2008: Luke Bowen * 2009: Luke Bowen * 2010: Linus Sundstrom * 2011: Chris Neath * 2012: Jason Garrity * 2013: Tyson Nelson * 2014:

* 2015:

* 2016:

Stuart Robson Stuart Robson may refer to: * Stuart Robson (actor) * Stuart Robson (speedway rider) See also

* Stewart Robson, former professional footballer {{disambiguation ...

* 2017:

Scott Nicholls Scott Karl Nicholls (born 16 May 1978) is an English motorcycle speedway rider, who has won the British Championship seven times,