Seaforth 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. Tr ...

stadium in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, England.

Origins

In 1927 the Seaforth area was heavily populated with industry and housing with very few available plots of land that could provide enough space for a new stadium. The plot selected was east of Liverpool docks and Crosby Road south and on the south side of Church Road. Three stands were constructed, two adjoining ones adjacent to Church Road and one on the opposite side of the course facing Crosby Road South and Henley Street (no longer in existence). The racing kennels were on the corner of Church Road and Caradoc Road but there was no room for resident kennels which would find a home on the Portland House grounds between the Old Seafield Convent and the impressive Seaforth Hall. Jimmy Shand and John Bilsland the owners of the Electric Hare Company had already built Stanley Stadium in 1927, the same year as Breck Park Stadium and Bilsland planned to open Seaforth (a third track in Liverpool) after buying out Shand for £400,000 in 1930. Shand duly planned to open his own track in Liverpool called

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football c ...

which won the race between the pair to open first after delays to the construction at Seaforth.

Opening

Seaforth became the fourth greyhound stadium in Liverpool when opening on 25 February 1933 and despite its location away from the centre of the city it would become the most frequented in this industrial area by the docks.

History

The stadium hosted Speedway for a short period of time from 1934-1935 but it never gained a foothold. In 1946 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 opposi ...

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 ...

turnover was a significant £1,990,410. By March 1950 the decision was made by the four Liverpool tracks and

Firhill Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as ...

to resign from their National Greyhound Racing Society affiliation due to increased costs. John Bilsland stated that the cost of NGRC membership exceeds £1,000 per year if you included the greyhound registration fees.

Closure

On 31 December 1965 Seaforth closed becoming the third of the four Liverpool tracks to close. Today the area is housing called Church Grove found East of Liverpool docks and 'Crosby Road South' and south of 'Church Road'.

Track records

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct speedway venues in England Defunct sports venues in Liverpool