Romford Bombers
| Romford Bombers | |
|---|---|
| Club information | |
| Track address |
Brooklands Stadium Brooklands Road Mawneys Romford Essex |
| Country | England |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Closed | 1971 |
| Club facts | |
| Colours | Red, White and Blue |
| Track size | 375 yards (343 m) |
The Romford Bombers were a speedway team which operated from 1969 until their closure in 1971.[1] They had originally started the season at Rochester in Kent and entered the league as the Rochester Bombers. However the local council suddenly ruled against planning permission and the clubs promoters Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale were able to use the Brooklands Stadium in Romford, England.
The promotion was quite successful but one vociferous local resident obtained a court order closing the track due to noise pollution.[2] The promotion transferred to the West Ham Stadium and renamed the team the West Ham Bombers for the 1972 season but finished the season after moving again, this time to Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and were renamed the Barrow Bombers.
As the original West Ham team folded in the speedway British League Division One, at the end of the 1971 season, the prospect of racing at the famous Custom House Stadium, albeit with a "nomad" team, delighted the local populace, and attendances at Custom House for the Bombers were very healthy. However, uncertainty dogged the promotion, with always the prospect of the stadium being sold from underneath them at short notice, and after just 6 home meetings (with the Bombers maintaining a healthy league position), the plug was pulled and the last ever speedway meeting at West Ham Stadium was held on the 23rd May 1972, with West Ham .v. Hull. The West Ham Bombers lost the match 38-40, with the last ever league race (heat 13) won by Hull's Tony Childs, to finally complete a long and sad disintegration of the sport at one of the world's most famous venues.