Crayford Kestrels
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Stadium Road
Crayford
Kent
| Crayford Kestrels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Crayford Kestrels Badge | |||
| Club information | |||
| Track address | Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium Stadium Road Crayford Kent | ||
| Country | England | ||
| Founded | 1968 | ||
| Closed | 1983 | ||
| Club facts | |||
| Colours | Red, Black and Gold | ||
| Track size | 242 metres (265 yd) | ||
| Major team honours | |||
| |||
The Crayford Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1968 until their closure in 1983. They were based at Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium in Crayford.[1]
Speedway meetings in Crayford were first held during 1935 and 1936 but soon ended and the sport would not return for over 30 years.[2]
In 1967 a speedway circuit was constructed inside the greyhound track at the Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium and promoter Johnnie Hoskins planned to bring the speedway team from Edinburgh to Crayford because Old Meadowbank had closed.[3] However, the Edinburgh team moved to Coatbridge and Hoskins turned his attention to Canterbury. Bill Bridgett and Mike Parker of the Wolverhampton Wolves stepped in to promote the Crayford speedway[4] Crayford were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968. The first signings were Mick Handley and Dave Parry (Wolves riders on loan)[5] and the team finished in sixth place during its inaugural season.[6]
The team known as the Crayford Highwaymen continued to race throughout the 1969 and 1970 seasons. Geoff Ambrose starred in 1969 when the team finished fourth in the league.[7] However, after the 1970 season the team were disbanded with the promoters citing not being able to afford the new rider pay rates.[8]
Speedway returned to the stadium in 1975 with a team nicknamed the Kestrels under the co-promotion of Peter Thorogood and Len Silver.[9] The Kestrels would compete for nine years from 1975 to 1983.
The Kestrels won the Four-Team Championship, held at the East of England Arena on 27 July 1980; the team was Paul Woods, Les Rumsey, Steve Naylor, Alan Sage and Laurie Etheridge.[10][11] However, arguably their most successful season was the third place finish during the 1983 National League season.[12][13]
The team were forced to relocate for the 1984 season as the stadium was sold for redevelopment[14] and for the 1984 season the team transferred the promotion to Hackney and ran a team called the Hackney Kestrels.[15][16]