The London Lions were a motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

 team that operated for one season in 1996 from the Hackney Wick Stadium

Hackney Wick Stadium

Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, in the London Borough of Hackney, was opened in 1932 and was mainly used for greyhound racing and speedway.In 1994, a £12M stand and restaurant was built and the stadium was renamed the London Stadium, Hackney...

, the former home of the Hackney Hawks

Hackney Hawks

Hackney Hawks speedway opened in 1963 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London and operated until 1983.-Early days:Originally opened by Mike Parker, the promotion was then sold to Len Silver who was the club's promoter for the next twenty seasons....

 and the Hackney Kestrels

Hackney Kestrels

The Hackney Kestrels were a Speedway team which operated from 1984 until their closure in 1990 when the Crayford Kestrels transferred the promotion to Hackney.In 1988 the Kestrels won the League Championship, winning twenty-six of their thirty league matches...

..

Management

The promoter and team manger for that season was former Hackney rider Colin Pratt

Colin Pratt

Colin Pratt in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire) is a former motorcycle speedway rider and current promoter of the Coventry Bees who compete in the British Elite League.-Early career and retirement:...

. Fellow promoters were Ivan Henry and Terry Russell who moved their Arena Essex Hammers promotion into Hackney.

League Record

They finished the season in ninth place (out of nineteen) but because the stadium had been newly modernised and the track was not as good as when it was held there previously, crowds were not as high as was hoped for. Speedway had barely returned in 1995 (for the British Grand Prix) when it was announced that the Stadium had passed into the ownership of the receivers. Come the end of the 1996 season there was still no new owner. Racing was never seen at the stadium again. The Greyhounds also vacated the stadium at the end of 1996.