Through the years - 2005 Hammered ! A look back at 25 years of the Hammers

The Hammers lined up for their second season in the Elite League with Ronnie Russell opting to make few changes to his riding squad. There were some natural changes brought about by mid-winter rider movement. Dean Barker, who had disappointed during 2004, returned to his parent club Eastbourne and Pole Greg Walasek moved on.

Russell brought in 1992 World Champion Gary Havelock to bolster the heat leader strength and he was joined by veteran Polish debutant Piotr Swist. Of the riders that had finished 2004, Josh Larsen, Paul Hurry, Leigh Lanham, Roman Povazhny and immense number one Mark Loram returned to the side. Loram was undoubtedly one of the top men in the league, but there were several question marks against how the team would fare against the more fancied Elite League sides, particularly away from home.

Russell was under the cosh early when Speedway Star pundits predicted the Hammers would finish bottom of the pile. The larger than life Hammers supremo laughed it off, claiming their forecasting would inspire his side to greater things.

The team opened with an excellent result against Jon Cook’s Eastbourne in a challenge encounter before defeat the following evening in the return at Arlington. But defeat was not the worrying factor – Loram crushed his fingers between the Eastbourne track and team mate Larsen’s bike when the pair hit the deck to leave Russell with a far greater headache. It was to be the last that Hammers fans would see of Loram for nearly three months.

The Hammers, though, reacted by smashing favourites Poole by nearly thirty points at home the following week before Russell announced a temporary replacement for Loram – legendary Swedish superstar Tony Rickardsson. The then five – and soon to be six – times world champion was signed for a month to bolster the Hammers squad in the absence of Loram and he made an immediate impression, making his debut at Ipswich and then teaming up with Havelock to claim second place behind Swindon in the Elite League Pairs.

The renewed optimism in the camp was swiftly culled when Oxford – not one of the league’s fancied sides – triumphed at Purfleet in wet conditions as Rickardsson debuted. Russell was criticised for putting the meeting on as the track played into the visitor’s hands, but either way the defeat was a bitter blow.

The Hammers quickly redressed the balance by winning the return at Oxford and beat Peterborough and Wolverhampton at home. Rickardsson signed off in the victory at Cowley and had been a credit to himself during his short tenure in the crossed Hammers. He’d later equal Ivan Mauger’s six world championship titles at the end of the season.

Loram was redeclared into the Hammers side but he was still far from fit. The Hammers resorted to scouring the country for guest replacements as Russell lost patience in a frustrating period for both him and the club. A combination of the Hammers’ busy Wednesday race night and the eight day rule played havoc with rider availability and the team continued their fixtures with defeat at Coventry.

The return meeting against the Bees resulted in a hugely disappointing home defeat against another struggling side and Russell admitted that the anticipated home dominance which he’d planned for in building the side was not working.

One of his major problems was in track preparation, where the excellent Gerald Richter had to create surfaces for riders who preferred a slick surface and those who preferred it grippy. As results deteriorated, Russell insisted that his riders looked for excuses in blaming the track surface all too often. The season began to fall apart as the Hammers lost three of their next four home matches and Russell was pressured into making changes. The Hammers boss dropped Swist and replaced him with hard riding Russian Sergey Darkin. In his first meeting Darkin inadvertently knocked off team mate Lanham but did settle down to become a useful, albeit inconsistent, member of the side.

Loram eventually returned to the side in a pressure-free match at Belle Vue. The Hammers had been thumped by thirty points in the ‘A’ fixture at Kirkmanshulme Lane and the Aces were one of the front runners in the race for the Elite League. Amazingly, Loram scored 15 points to inspire the Hammers to victory in a huge shock and it sent waves of renewed optimism through the side.

The run didn’t last, though, and the Hammers struggled on for the rest of the season. Loram battled with his hand injury for the rest of the year and the Hammers began to suffer an ever increasing crisis of injuries with Larsen picking up a whole series of knocks, the most serious of which was nasty shoulder injury that followed an earlier broken ankle and ended his season early. Larsen was replaced by Adam Skornicki, who showed promise on occasion but struggled for points along with Povazhny, who was hugely inconsistent and too often gave away valuable points due to mistakes.

Havelock had a very indifferent season, showing flashes of brilliance on occasion but struggling quite badly at other times. His average had dropped by the end of the season and he moved into the Premier League during the winter.

Of the two home favourites, Hurry suffered with the legacy of his arm injury but was a steady performer and managed an injury-free season for the first time in his 15-year career. Lanham actually increased his starting average, spending the whole season in the top five and finally getting the opportunity to enjoy a very successful testimonial meeting.

The end of the season couldn’t come soon enough for Russell as his team lost a further four home meetings – including a disastrous 24-point home defeat to Wolverhampton - and were overhauled by Oxford at the bottom of the league to be crowned wooden spoonists for the first time in their history. Russell put fans fears at ease by declaring the side would be running the following season – although with what side was anyone’s guess – and surprised many by opting to remain in the Elite League. He headed into the close season with renewed optimism when he announced a mystery backer had stepped forward to sponsor the side in 2006…..

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