Southend Stadium was a former
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 ...
and football stadium in Grainger Road,
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
.
It was also the home ground of
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
between 1934 and 1955 and was also known as Greyhound Park.
Origins
The first greyhound racing in Southend took place at the
Kursaal
Kursaal may refer to:
*Kursaal (amusement park), an amusement park in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
* Kursaal Ward, a council ward in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
* Dome Cinema, Worthing, previously named the Kursaal
* Royal Hall, Harrogate, ...
from 1927 until 1929. Three years later in 1932 planning permission for a new stadium was submitted to the Southend Council by a new company called Southend Stadium Ltd headed by the Wimbledon supremo
William John Cearns.
[
The new stadium was built on the site of the Milton Hall Brickworks in the All Saints Ward and featured two main stands, the east stand which would later have a restaurant and the west stand with covered seating, the remainder of the stadium being uncovered terracing. The Milton Hall Brick Company Ltd had just opened the Star Lane Brickworks in the nearby village of Great Wakering allowing the sale of the older Brickworks located between the Redstock Road to the north, Maldon Road to the south and Sutton Road on its east side. After the stadium had been constructed it could be accessed from the new Stadium Road via Redstock Road or from Grainger Road via Maldon Road.
]
Opening
The stadium opened on Saturday 15 April 1933 and attracted an attendance of over 5,000. The first ever race was won by a greyhound called Janet McNab over 525 yards, the greyhound won by 5 lengths in a time of 32.22 secs.
Pre war history
Meetings took place on Monday afternoon in addition to Wednesday and Friday evening. Distances used in the early years of racing were 300, 500 and 525 yards including hurdles. The Thames Silver Salver was inaugurated in 1933 and became an established competition that would attract some of the sports best sprinters in future years.
In 1934 Southend United F.C. relocated the club from the Kursaal to the Southend Stadium in a complete reversal of proceedings that had taken place in 1927. A seven-year lease had been agreed despite reservations from the Football Association. The Racing Manager was T F Fenton-Livingstone and the timekeeper was Les Cox who would later become Racing Manager at Romford Greyhound Stadium
Romford Greyhound Stadium, referred to as Coral Romford Greyhound Stadium is a Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing track located in Romford town centre in the London Borough of Havering in east London which is owned and oper ...
.[
The circuit was 465 yards in circumference and was described as a particularly easy galloping track with good straights which gradually merge into the banked bends. The hare system was an 'Outside Sumner' and the racing kennels were located behind the east stand that now included a restaurant and the Greycing Club with dance floor. Below the east stand Greycing Club was the Junior Greycing Club and cheaper enclosure. The residential kennels were to
be found seven miles away in the village of ]Canewdon
Canewdon is a village and civil parish in the Rochford district of Essex, England. The village is located approximately northeast of the town of Rochford, while the parish extends for several miles on the southern side of the River Crouch.
Can ...
.[
Some of the earliest trainers at the track included J Bartlett, Stan Gray, A.F Dandridge and Frank Clarke, the latter left the stadium in 1937 to be replaced by Bill Cowell. Cowell won the ]Scurry Gold Cup
The Scurry Gold Cup is an original classic greyhound competition currently run at Perry Barr Stadium.
It was run at Clapton Stadium from 1928 until its closure in 1973. The event moved to Slough Stadium in 1974 which consequently closed in 198 ...
and Lincoln Stakes with Hexham Bridge in 1937 whilst Stan Gray trained Happy Squire an Essex Vase
The Essex Vase is a greyhound racing competition held annually at Romford Greyhound Stadium. It was inaugurated in 1939 and ran until 1949. It was decided to bring the race back in 1959.
The 2017 version of the event was delayed and held in March ...
success in 1939. Jim Syder Jr. trained at the track for eleven years from 1935 to 1946 before joining Wembley Greyhounds
Wembley Greyhounds was the greyhound racing operation held at Wembley Stadium in London.
History Origins
After the 1924-25 British Empire Exhibition Wembley Stadium was in liquidation before eventually being purchased by Arthur Elvin. For the ...
.[
]
Post war history
The vast majority of tracks continued to trade throughout the war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
but Southend had been requisitioned by the Army Officer Training Corps in 1940 leaving the football team and greyhound racing without a home.
When hostilities ceased in 1945 the stadium was in need of major repairs and the pitch had to be re-laid before the football team could play again. Greyhound racing returned during April 1946. The totalisator
A tote board (or totalisator/totalizator) is a numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track (to display the odds or payoffs for each horse) or at a telethon (to display the total amount donated to the chari ...
peaked in 1948 at £1,694,181 during a boom period for the industry.
A rival track called the Rayleigh Weir Stadium
Rayleigh Weir Stadium was a speedway, greyhound racing and stock car stadium in Weir between Rayleigh and Thundersley in England.
It is not to be confused with the Rayleigh Greyhound Sports Stadium that existed in O’Tooles Meadow on Down Ha ...
opened in 1948. Mr A Gray became Racing Manager and in 1955 the football team decided not to renew the lease and left for Roots Hall
A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
Root or roots may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
. Trainer Bill Matthews won the Thames Silver Salver for his home track in 1955.[
The 1960s saw racing held three times a week racing on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and the stadium regularly closed from January to March. The hare system changed to an 'Outside McKee'. There were five buffet bars and two licensed bars listed in the facilities during a time when Arthur Hall became General Manager and Terry Evans replaced A Gray as Racing Manager.][
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the trainers were Stan Gray, Dennis Mansfield, Bill Matthews and Bert Stephens, Kenny Linzell had a spell at track as well. In August 1970 the ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
screened the annual Television Trophy at the track; it was the first time that colour was used. A new stand was constructed with a new tiered restaurant which brought increased attendances and tote turnover but proposals for a new track to be laid inside the greyhound track for speedway and stock cars was refused by the council over noise concerns.
Stan Gray retired in 1971 replaced by Tony Barker and new trainer Tom Lanceman who also supplied runners to Ipswich Stadium
Ipswich Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium situated in Ipswich, Suffolk.
Origins and Opening
In the early 1930s the site chosen for a new stadium was directly north east of where the River Orwell and River Gipping meet and north of the Lo ...
was one of the first trainers to take dual attachment. In 1979 Lanceman's Topofthetide won the Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
for the second successive year. The stadium introduced the Coronation Cup
The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...
in 1981 and Tony Dennis won the Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
with Rathduff Solara.[
]
Closure
The last meeting was held on Boxing Day 1985. Two months later the stands and terracing were demolished making way for a retail park.
Competitions
* Thames Silver Salver
*Coronation Cup
The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...
Track records
Pre-metric
Post-metric
References
{{Southend United F.C.
Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom
Defunct sports venues in Essex
Southend United F.C.
Defunct football venues in England
Sports venues completed in 1933
English Football League venues
1985 disestablishments in England
Sports venues demolished in 1986
1933 establishments in England