Rye House Rockets
Club information
Track addressRye House Stadium
Rye Road
Hoddesdon
Hertfordshire
EN11 0EH
CountryEngland
Founded1934
Closed2018[1]
Club facts
ColoursBlack, Chrome and Orange
Track size262 metres (287 yd)
Track record time54.7 seconds
Track record date1 August 2015
Track record holderRobert Lambert
Major team honours
Southern Area League Champions1955, 1956
Southern Area League Cup Winners1956
Premier League Champions2005, 2007
Premier Trophy Winners2005
National League Champions1980
National League KO Cup Winners1979

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.[2]

History

Rye House began life in 1934 hosting open meetings. Whilst at Hackney in 1937, Dicky Case took over the sixty acre estate of Rye House and set up a training school at Rye House Stadium, operating under the name of the Hackney Motor Club.[3] The school operated until 1938 when Rye House entered the Sunday Dirt-track League.[4][5][6]

Their first season competing in a league was in 1954 when as the Rye House Roosters they finished third in the 1954 Southern Area League.[7] The team then won two league titles; the 1955 Southern Area League and the 1956 Southern Area League.[8]

The team competed in the 2nd division of speedway for 20 years, from 1974 to 1993, with their best successes being the 1980 league champions and 1979 Knockout Cup winners.[9][10]

In 1999, the team returned to league action in the Conference League (the 3rd division) but they soon moved up to division 2 and formed a junior side to compete in the Conference League. The team's last major honours were winning the league during the 2005 Premier League speedway season and repeating the feat two years later in 2007, after winning the playoffs.

In September 2018, the Lakeside Hammers, a speedway team in the SGB Championship, moved to the Rye House Stadium.[11] The Rye House Rockets had “been annulled by the Speedway Control Bureau” earlier that year.[12]

In December 2020, the Rye House stadium was demolished.[13]

Junior teams

Rye House ran a junior side called the Rye House Raiders and later the Rye House Cobras. The team competed in the Conference League and then the National League.[14] The Raiders won the Conference League Four-Team Championship in 2003.[15]

Riders

Rider of the year

Notable riders

Season summary

Extended content
Year and league Position Notes
1954 Southern Area League3rdrode as Rye House Roosters
1955 Southern Area League1stChampions
1956 Speedway National League1stChampions
1957 Southern Area League3rd
1959 Southern Area League4th
1974 British League Division Two season16th
1975 New National League season14th
1976 National League season5th
1977 National League season2nd
1978 National League season3rd
1979 National League season2ndKnockout Cup winners
1980 National League season1stChampions
1981 National League season16th
1982 National League season6th
1983 National League season11th
1984 National League season8th
1985 National League season13th
1986 National League season11th
1987 National League season16th
1988 National League season14th
1989 National League season14th
1990 National League season15th
1991 British League Division Two season9th
1992 British League Division Two season5th
1993 British League Division Two season8th
1999 Speedway Conference League4th
2000 Speedway Conference League6th
2001 Speedway Conference League4th
2002 Premier League speedway season13th
2002 Speedway Conference League4thRaiders (junior side)
2003 Premier League speedway season14th
2003 Speedway Conference League2ndRaiders (junior side)
2004 Premier League speedway season6th
2004 Speedway Conference League2ndRaiders (junior side)
2005 Premier League speedway season1stChampions
2005 Speedway Conference League6thRaiders (junior side)
2006 Premier League speedway season4th
2006 Speedway Conference League3rdRaiders (junior side)
2007 Premier League speedway season3rdChampions (play off winners)
2007 Speedway Conference League6thRaiders (junior side)
2008 Premier League speedway season4th
2008 Speedway Conference League7thCobras (junior side)
2009 Premier League speedway season9th
2009 National League speedway season10thCobras (junior side)
2010 Premier League speedway season5th
2010 National League speedway season4thCobras (junior side)
2011 Premier League speedway season8th
2012 Premier League speedway season11th
2013 Premier League speedway season9th
2014 Premier League speedway season13th
2015 Premier League speedway season12th
SGB Premiership 2018N/Arecord annulled

Junior riders

Extended content

2009 team

2008 team

  • New Zealand Andrew Aldridge
  • England Richard Franklin
  • England Nick Laurence
  • England Terry Day
  • England Rob Smith
  • England Danny Betson
  • England Daniel Halsey
  • England Lee Strudwick
  • England Gary Cottham
  • England Daniel Greenwood

2007 team

2006 team

References

  1. ↑ "Statement:Rye House Speedway". speedwaygb.co. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.
  3. ↑ Jacobs, N. (2003) Speedway in the South-East, Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-2725-3
  4. ↑ Jacobs, Norman (2007). 70 Years of Rye House Speedway. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 978-0-7524-4162-7
  5. ↑ "Cinder Star Plans". Daily Mirror. 14 September 1937. Retrieved 23 January 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ Jacobs, N. (2003) Speedway in the South-East, Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-2725-3
  7. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  8. ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  9. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "British League Tables - British League Era (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "LAKESIDE CLUB STATEMENT - British Speedway Official Website". www.speedwaygb.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "STATEMENT: RYE HOUSE SPEEDWAY - British Speedway Official Website". www.speedwaygb.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "Speedway fans devastated by 'huge loss' as iconic Hoddesdon Rye House track is ripped up". Hertforshire Mercury. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Jacobs, Norman (2007). 70 Years of Rye House Speedway. ISBN 978-0-7524-4162-7
  15. ↑ Oakes, P (2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
  16. ↑ "Rye House Speedway Official Website: SCOTT IS MR ROCKET!". ryehouserockets.co. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "KENNETT SKIPPERS ROCKETS". Speedway World Championships. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  18. ↑ "Rye House Speedway Official Website: MASTERS AND BRANFORD WIN ACES!". ryehouserockets.co. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  19. ↑ "Kennett and Garrity set to stay at Rye House Rockets next season Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine", Hertfordshire Mercury, 10 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014
  20. ↑ "Tyson Nelson named Rye House Rockets rider of year", Harlow Star, 6 October 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2014
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