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A look back at 25 years of the Hammers
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The 1985/86 close season saw many changes at Arena Essex. Co-promoter Wally Mawdsley departed to concentrate on his Canterbury interests leaving Chick Woodroffe in sole control - with Peter Thorogood stepping up to be advisory non-executive co-promoter.
On the team front, Hammers fans saw a series of departures – Bob Humphreys retired at the end of the 1985 season, skipper Alan Sage requested a transfer after a disappointing season which had seen him slip from heat leader to reserve, and David Cheshire left the club to join National League rivals Birmingham. Cheshire’s move was a particular annoyance for the Arena management, having agreed to release him in the belief he would be returning home permanently to Australia or step up to British League racing.
The loss of these three popular riders was rapidly forgotten, however, when it was announced that Arena had signed the hottest prospect in National League speedway - 19-year-old Rye House rider Andrew Silver.
With Len Silver selling his Rye House promotion to Ronnie Russell at the end of 1985, son Andrew had been widely expected to move on, with most pundits expecting a top-flight British League move for him. More of a shock was the reported £9,000 fee, which was considered to be a “steal” for such a proven talent, especially when Edinburgh had allegedly spent £20,000 to lure Les Collins from Sheffield.
So the Hammers septet for 1986 was built around a strong heat leader trio – new skipper Neil Middleditch, ever-improving Martin Goodwin and Andrew Silver. Second-string backup came from David Smart and Gary Chessell, two developing youngsters who could be expected to raise their averages and give solid support. The weak link was at reserve where, because of Silver’s high average, the Hammers were forced to track their junior resources.
The season opened with the Essex Championship sponsored by Essex Radio, who continued their third year of sponsorship of the Hammers team. As had become traditional, an Arena rider could not win a home-based individual meeting, and Malcolm Simmons, Hackney’s new signing (from BL Swindon) dominating the meeting with a 15 point maximum despite wet track conditions. Neil Middleditch was runner-up for the second successive year but many Hammers fans were disturbed to see Andrew Silver struggling to get to grips with the circuit and scoring only 8 points, including a fall whilst leading his fourth race.
In early-season matches, Hammers were without David Smart and gave team places to youngsters Sean Barker, Paul Muchene and Russell Paine. This exposed the weakness of the tail and, as had happened in the first home NL match of 1985, Arena suffered a home defeat to Middlesbrough.
To bolster the team, the Hammers made a bid for up-and-coming Neville Tatum from Canterbury but Wimbledon beat them to his signature. Instead, Hammers picked up Ipswich youngster Lawrie Bloomfield. With Smart back in the team and Bloomfield and Barker coping well at reserve, the Hammers’ season started to blossom.
By the end of May, however, the injury jinx which was to blight the 1986 season for the Hammers had struck Gary Chessell. Then, in early-June, Neil Middleditch crashed at Birmingham and was out of action until mid-July. To cover for Chessell, the Hammers brought in former Boston rider Andy Fisher on loan but his race-rustiness showed and he was dropped after three disappointing matches. Another loanee, Pete Chapman, came in his place and showed good form until he was recalled by Peterborough after five matches when they saw what they were missing!
In September, with title and cup hopes still alive, the Hammers lost David Smart when he was on his best form of the season, and critical away matches were not won as expected. Despite his reputation for a hair-raising riding style, Martin Goodwin was the only Hammer to avoid injury in 1986! To add to the injuries, Andrew Silver was absent from time-to-time on international duty, in the process making Speedway history as the first lower division rider ever to get a full England team place.
In the KO Cup, the Hammers looked like they would sweep into the final as they strung together 5 straight wins before losing the sixth match, the critical semi-final second leg at Mildenhall, and going out. It was a case of “nearly” in the National League Four Team Tournament also, as they were overhauled by Middlesbrough in the last heat of the final, having led the field up to that stage.
One “duck” was broken in 1986, however, as Martin Goodwin became the first Hammer to win a home individual event as he lifted the Essex Championship trophy in June. He added the Supernational Marathon trophy to his collection later in the season as Andrew Silver also brought honour to the Hammers with his surprise qualification for the British Final.
The Hammers finally finished in fourth place in the league, a commendable effort after only three seasons of existence, but many felt that they should have done better. Martin Goodwin, David Smart and Gary Chessell all improved their average considerably and with the high-scoring consistency of Silver and Middleditch at the top end, the Hammers were a powerful outfit.
The weakness at reserve was a telling factor and, although partly covered by Bloomfield’s sterling efforts, it was the lack of back-up for the succession of injuries cost the Hammers dear.
After the season closed, Hammers fans were concerned to hear that Neil Middleditch had retired and Andrew Silver and David Smart wanted to move away from Purfleet. There were also some doubts about Martin Goodwin, leading fans to wonder what 1987 had in store.
The season ended with co-promoter Wally Mawdsley leaving the club in the sole hands of Chick Woodroffe. Although crowd levels had been lower than in the opening season, 1985 was the year in which Arena Essex shook off the tag of struggling new boys and arrived as an established NL club.
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