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A look back at 25 years of the Hammers
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The 2003 season began with Ronnie Russell taking over sole ownership of the Club and introducing a string of changes - most noticeably discarding long-serving Colin White and skipper Shaun Tacey.
Only Kelvin Tatum, Leigh Lanham, Lee Herne and Andy Galvin - returning to the saddle once again - were retained and they were joined by exciting Finn Joonas Kylmakorpi (riding in a “doubling down” role with Eastbourne), Danish Under-21 star Henning Bager and promising youngster Jason King.
There were further changes off-track with the circuit drastically altered to a shape that vaguely resembled the raceway of the early Nineties. The universally lauded Air Fence was also retained.
Home form – for so long the achilles heel of years previous – was turned around as Russell’s track changes helped the Hammers to build more confidence. They were to be beaten only once – by eventual champions Edinburgh. Racing too was superb throughout and the younger team was immensely popular among the increased population of the home faithful.
The Hammers won three League matches away from home (at Somerset, Stoke and their final League match of the season at the Isle of Wight and were mighty close at a number of other venues, notably Reading, Newport and King’s Lynn. If they had won those matches they would have been right up there with the likes of Edinburgh, Sheffield and the Isle of Wight but it did not happen and the team eventually finished in seventh place.
The improved home form accounted for the team’s highest bonus point haul for many a year – they managed to win 13 out of a possible 17 bonus points for the aggregate wins, losing out only to Berwick, Edinburgh, Trelawny and Workington.
The Hammers enjoyed a successful cup run and started by beating local rivals Rye House in a replayed opening tie after the original staging finished all-square on aggregate. The Rockets had taken a surprising draw in the first leg at Purfleet on Good Friday to leave the Hammers – who were missing Joonas Kylmakorpi – on the verge of an early exit. But a large travelling contingent saw them pull of a superb draw in the return leg to force a replay, which they triumphed in thanks to home and away victories. They then went on to beat Newcastle but eventually went out to Sheffield in a very close Semi Final.
Kylmakorpi proved to be a stunning signing and the Finn spent the season as the Hammers’ top man and one of the top performers in the Premier League. His exciting racing style soon made him extremely popular not only with the home supporters but also with fans on the away tracks. Most of the tracks he visited for the first time but he still managed to clock up double figure scores in every away meeting, except the Knockout Cup Semi-Final clash at Sheffield where he was suffering with a virus. At home he was sensational, especially when he missed the start and had to find his way through to the front from the back of the field.
The Hammers flying Finn finished the season as top of the Hammers averages by just 0.01 ahead of Leigh Lanham. This placed him the fifth highest average rider in the whole of the Premier League and in second place behind IOW’s Adam Shields as top away average.
The only down side to Kylmakorpi’s doubling down role was that he was forced to miss several fixtures when Eastbourne fixtures clashed and took priority. Young Swedish rider David Ruud, a reserve with EL Poole, appeared in Hammers colours when Kylmakorpi was unavailable but only rode for the Hammers on seven occasions of which five were away from home. His debut was delayed until the 26th June when he rode for the Hammers at Swindon and he impressed everyone with a well taken score of 13 points. His season came to an end for the Club when he was involved in an horrendous crash at Newcastle in the Premier League match in September.
Leigh Lanham spent his sixth season with the Hammers in 2003 and finally had to pass over his top spot to Joonas Kylmakorpi despite increasing his own average during the season. He rode in every one of the Club's 50 meetings recording double figure scores in all bar three. Leigh finished with the highest home average of any rider in the Premier League and scored more points than any rider, a magnificent achievement.
The vastly experienced Kelvin Tatum was awarded the MBE in the 2003 New Years Honours List for his services to the Sport. He was also awarded the captaincy of the Hammers and took the role very seriously, proving to be an ideal person for the job. With his vast racing experience he was able to help his fellow team-mates both on and off the track.
He combined his Premier League racing for the Hammers with his quest to regain his World Longtrack Title and his commentary work with Sky Sports. Kelvin just failed to gain back his World Title as he eventually finished runner-up in the World Longtrack Championship despite winning the final round in New Zealand.
Despite struggling with an old hip injury for most of the season it was a good year for Tatum. He missed only two meetings for the Hammers throughout what was a very busy season for him. He was the only Hammer to record a full maximum away from Purfleet when he scored a 12 points from his four rides at Rye House in the replayed Knockout Cup match in May. He also scored three maximums at home at his Purfleet base.
Henning Bager joined the Hammers from Isle of Wight and it took very little time for the Dane to establish himself as a firm favourite with the Hammers supporters. He rode as a second string but his style of riding made him a sensation around the Purfleet raceway. He regularly clocked the fastest heat time at home meetings and held the Track Record on several occasions - the 2003 season ending with Joonas Kylmakorpi holding the Track Record at 57.4 seconds.
He averaged just under seven points at Purfleet but just failed to record a maximum despite coming close on numerous occasions. Away from home it was more of a struggle for the Dane but he always gave it 100% and deserved a lot more points on his travels than he actually recorded.
He injured his wrist at Ipswich in August and missed three crucial meetings – during his absence the Club lost their only home Premier League match of the season against Edinburgh, lost away at Sheffield by 16 points in the first leg of the Knockout Cup Semi-Final and then only beat Berwick at home by two points, which was insufficient to obtain the bonus point for the aggregate win. Such results highlighted the value of Bager to the Hammers in his key second string role.
Lee Herne returned for his third season with the Club and struggled initially, especially away from home. This was undoubtedly due to him finding himself moved up from reserve into the top five. However, his form slowly improved, assisted by the use of better equipment, and in July he went back down to reserve where he stayed until September. That spell at reserve coincided with probably his best form of the season and that renewed confidence allowed him to start clocking up very respectable scores once he was back in the top five for the final two months of the season.
Jason King had a good season, starting the season at reserve but due to an increase in his average he found himself elevated to a second string by July. He remained there until the last two months of the season when he moved back down to reserve to partner his younger brother Daniel.
Around his home track Jason picked up some notable scalps during the season and recording one paid maximum during the season - against Exeter - and came close to achieving more on several occasions.
The build up to the start of the 2003 season was busy for veteran racer Andy Galvin. He had got married during the winter and on his return from honeymoon he received a telephone call from the Hammers Promoter, Ronnie Russell, offering him a place in the 2003 team. He jumped at the opportunity of riding again for the Hammers especially as he would start in one of the reserve positions.
The first few home meetings the home supporters saw that Andy was very capable of getting amongst the points but he did struggle away from Purfleet. His season came to an early end when he injured a wrist whilst practising at Eastbourne at the beginning of June. He thought that he had got over the injury but he injured it again in the home match against Workington on 20th June and was not to be seen on a bike again during the remainder of the season.
The younger of the two King brothers, Daniel, joined the Hammers mid-season when Andy Galvin was injured. He made his debut for the Club away at Stoke on 20th July but had to wait until 1st August to make his home debut against Newcastle. In all he appeared in the Hammers colours on 19 occasions during the second half of the season during which time there were glimpses of what he could achieve in the Sport. His best performance, however, was away at Peterborough in the British league Cup at the end of October when he scored paid 12 points from his six rides.
The season ended on a high with the crowd buoyant after a season of superb racing on the reshaped circuit. Russell took note of the fact that crowds responded to the continental flavour he installed upon the team and it was this renewed optimism that fuelled a bold announcement in November – he had taken the decision to seek membership of the 2004 Elite League. The Hammers were returning to the top flight……
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