Hammarby Speedway
The speedway track in 2016 in the process of being replaced
Club information
Track addressHammarby IP and Gubbängens IP
Stockholm, Sweden
CountrySweden
Founded2004
Closed2016
Club facts
Track size376 metres
Track record time65.2 seconds
Track record date6 September 2011
Track record holderMagnus Zetterstrom
Major team honours
Elitserien Bronze2007
Allsvenskan Gold2010

Hammarby IF Speedway was a Swedish motorcycle speedway team based in Stockholm, Sweden. The club has not been competing in the domestic leagues since 2016, after their home ground Gubbängens IP was demolished. Their biggest success was winning the bronze medal in Elitserien in 2007.[1]

Season summary

History

SMK Stockholm and Monarkerna

SMK Stockholm were one of the seven inaugural members of the Swedish speedway league, which started during the 1948 Swedish speedway season.[2][3] They raced at Hammarby IP, a ground based in Södermalm, an area Hammarby IF considers its heartland.[4] In 1950, SMK Stockholm became Monarkerna (the Monarchs)[5][6] and the team won the Swedish Speedway Team Championship in 1955 and 1956, with riders such as Olle Nygren and Ulf Ericsson.[7][8] Monarkerna competed until the end of the 1963 Swedish speedway season.[9][10]

Hammarby IF

In 2004, Hammarby IF Speedway was established, as a section under multi-sports club Hammarby IF. Gary Selan was the driving force behind the project and became the first team president. Racing at Gubbängens IP, in a suburban district in the southern part of Stockholm. The club (colloquially known as Bajen Speedway) went on to compete in the second tier Allsvenskan during their inaugural season, which was the 2004 Swedish speedway season.[11] In 2005, Hammarby won the Allsvenskan in superior style and secured a promotion to Elitserien.[4]

In 2006, Hammarby signed former World Champion Nicki Pedersen, who was a leading rider in the Elitserien in his debut season.[12] The club's biggest success came in 2007, when they finished second in the table in the regular season before winning the bronze medal in the playoffs.[4]

After a promising start to the 2008 Elitserien season, Hammarby dropped off in the table in the second half, and ultimately finished in eight place. At the end of the year, the club chose to withdraw from he league due to financial difficulties.[4][13] They competed in Allsvenskan in 2009 and 2010, before returning to Elitserien in 2011 with World Champion Tomasz Gollob as one of their riders.[14][15]

Hammarby competed in Elitserien for the last time in 2013, before getting relegated to Allsvenskan.[16] The club was, however, expelled from the second division at the end of 2014 due to financial problems.[17]

At the end of 2016, the club was effectively dissolved, after not being able to find a track to race on in the Stockholm area. After competing in Division 1, the domestic third tier, for several seasons, it had been announced that Hammarby's home ground Gubbängens IP would be demolished.[18][19] At its peak, Hammarby drew regular attendances of some 2,000 people.[4]

Season summary

Notable riders

References

  1. ↑ "HISTORICAL RESULTS 1948–2015". Speedway History. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Swedish speedway season by season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Speedway riders, history and results - 1948 Swedish League table". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lucka 16: Gubbängens IP". Hammarby Fotboll. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "1950". Speedway.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  6. ↑ "Vargarna 1950". formula2.se. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "Swedish Bauhaus Elite League". Speedway Fan Site. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "HISTORICAL RESULTS 1948-2015". Speedway History. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Vargarna 1963". formula2.se. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "1963 season". Speedway.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "Swedish Bauhaus Elite League". Speedway Fan Site. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Superstjärnan i stort lönebråck" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  13. ↑ "Hammarby drar sig ur Elitserien". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 31 October 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Världsmästaren Gollob ska lyfta Hammarby" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  15. ↑ "Hammarby erbjuds plats i Elitserien 2011" (in Swedish). Svenska Motorcykel- och Snöskoterförbundet. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  16. ↑ "Hammarby Speedway 2014" (in Swedish). Svenska Motorcykel- och Snöskoterförbundet. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  17. ↑ "Allsvenskan 2015 utan Hammarby Speedway" (in Swedish). Svenska Motorcykel- och Snöskoterförbundet. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  18. ↑ "Hammarby speedway slutar köra" (in Swedish). Mitt i. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  19. ↑ "TV: Farväl till en epok i Gubbängen" (in Swedish). Mitt i. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
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