Blackpool Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound track in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, Lancashire. It is not to be confused with the Blackpool Squires Gate Greyhound Stadium, a short-lived track that was nearby to the south.

Origins and opening

Blackpool had emerged as a holiday destination by the turn of the 20th century and between the two world wars established itself as one of the leading seaside resorts in England. The subsequent growth of the town resulted in endless forms of entertainment being created for over eight million visitors per year. Greyhound racing was introduced to Britain in 1926 and the newly formed company the British Greyhounds Sports Club (Blackpool) Ltd purchased land on the east side of St Annes Road, south of Highfield Road in order to construct a new greyhound stadium. In addition the Blackpool

Trotting Track The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is somet ...

and Highfield Road Sports Club was built by Charles Smith who had also purchased land south of the Highfield Road and it would sit next door on the northeast side of the greyhound track. The stadium opened on the Saturday afternoon of 30 July in front of the 5,000 spectators. The six race card included one hurdle race with all races over the 500 yards distance, the first race was won by Carrow Boy at 3-1 odds in a time of 31.25 secs. The local press mistakenly advertised the meeting being at the Squires Gate racecourse instead of St Annes Road. The racing was initially held under National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) rules.

History

The track switched to independent status (unaffiliated to a governing body) in 1929 after the company changed to the Blackpool Greyhound Racing and Sports Company Ltd. The

Blackpool Borough Blackpool Borough was a rugby league club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, that played in the Rugby Football League from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to Wigan in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to Chorley in 1988 and was ...

Rugby league team played their fixtures at St Annes but

Motorcycle Speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

never found its way here but did take place at the short lived Trotting Track at Highfield Road. The Blackpool owners who also controlled Hanley Greyhound Stadium in Stoke-in-Trent branched out by taking greyhound racing to Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness but the project only lasted the two summers of 1933 and 1934. After the war St Annes was once again licensed under the jurisdiction of the NGRC. The Director of Racing was H.H.Carver and the Racing Manager was H.S.Long. Despite the greyhound business boom of 1946 profits dropped the following year and with the growing population of Blackpool the greyhound stadium area was considered an ideal site for housing. Housing was constructed on Lostock Gardens that came right up to the back straight terracing and to the south, Ivy Avenue housing came right up to the back of the home straight and main stand.

Closure

Racing ended on 30 October 1964 with the site becoming housing called Stadium Avenue after it was sold to builders for £80,000. The town was to experience greyhound racing again from 1967 until 1988 on the flapping track at Borough Park.

References

{{English greyhound tracks Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct rugby league venues in England Sport in Blackpool Sports venues in Blackpool Defunct sports venues in Lancashire Sports venues completed in 1927 1927 establishments in England 1964 disestablishments in England