Hyde Park Greyhound Stadium was a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

stadium on Manor Oaks Road in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England.

Origins

A track was constructed in 1933 on St Johns Road, north of Manor Oaks Road in an area known as Park Hill at the time. Previously the site had been the Hyde Park Cricket Ground followed by the Hyde Park Drill Ground and then the Hyde Park Volunteer Ground.

Opening

The greyhound racing started on the 1 April 1933.

History

There were two large stands and amenities included a sizeable members social club and snack bar. Racing was held on Friday and Saturday nights at 7.30pm. The track itself was a small circumference of 300 yards enabling distances of 200, 375, 525 and 700 yards. The five dog racing was a mixture of handicap races an level breaks racing with an 'Inside Sumner' hare system in use. Many of the greyhounds that raced at the track were company owned and came from their breeding kennels at Hatfield Woodhouse Farm. The same management called Hyde Park Greyhounds Ltd ran the track from when it opened into the 1970s and was one of the first tracks in the country to convert to grass straights and sanded bends instead of all-grass just after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the r ...

) and was known as a flapping track which was the nickname given to independent tracks. It struggled to compete with the much larger Darnall Stadium and

Owlerton Stadium Owlerton Stadium, also known as Sheffield Stadium, is a purpose-built speedway track built in 1929 which also hosts greyhound racing The track is in Owlerton near Hillsborough in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Greyhound racing takes pla ...

but totalisator turnover peaked in 1946 at £625,084. Annual events included the Tenants Trophy and Coopers Trophy.

Closure

The track closed in April 1980 when the site was converted to housing called Manor Oaks Gardens.

References

{{English greyhound tracks Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Sports venues completed in 1933 1933 establishments in England 1980 disestablishments in England