Longford Greyhound Stadium is 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 ...
track located on the south side of
Longford
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...
,
County Longford
County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
The stadium is a ten-minute walk from the town centre and has a large customer car park. Racing takes place every Monday and Friday evening and the facilities include a fast food bar and
totalisator betting.
Race distances are 525, 550, 750 and 805 yards.
History
Longford Greyhound Stadium is accessed via Earl Street and is just about the most centrally located track you can get in Ireland. The south Longford venue has a circumference of 485 yards and opened in May 1939. The track hosts the Longford Derby & Longford Puppy Derby and other events to have taken place previously here are the Padian Cup and Smithwicks 550.
One of the pioneers of the track was M. J. Lyons (a local businessman), and John Dorris (managing director) and Jim Conroy (former racing manager) have been long service personnel at the track.
In 1966 the track closed for the winter break and looked unlikely to re-open, but the owner
Thomas Packenham sold the site to Longford Sports Ltd.
The small track remains a tight circuit and in recent times has battled for survival during a hard financial climate. The management including current Racing Manager Patrick Farrington and the voluntary committee continues to work hard to achieve a safe surface and environment for the greyhounds to run in. In July 2014 the sale of the Park Road track was agreed to Scottish-based greyhound owner Howard Wallace.
Competitions
*Longford Derby
*Longford Puppy Derby
Track records
Current
Former
References
External links
Irish Greyhound Board
{{Greyhound stadiums in Ireland
Greyhound racing venues in the Republic of Ireland