Stanley Greyhound Stadium (Liverpool)
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Stanley Greyhound Stadium (Liverpool) 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 ...
track in east
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. It is not to be confused with
Stanley Greyhound Stadium Stanley Greyhound Stadium, also known as Murray Park Stadium, was a greyhound racing stadium in Stanley, County Durham. Origins In the northerly part of County Durham stands the former colliery town of Stanley and the Murray Park Stadium was ...
in
County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
also known as Murray Park.


Origins

In 1927 a race developed between two companies to construct the first greyhound stadium in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. The race was won by the Liverpool Greyhound Club Ltd (LGC) when they opened Breck Park Stadium in April 1927. The other company the
Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...
had chosen a site on a former brick works and clay pit for their track that would be known as the Stanley Greyhound Stadium and it opened just four months later. The Stanley track was south of Prescot Road and north of Edge Lane in the Old Swan area of Liverpool and ran parallel to the railway line.


Opening

The opening night was on 17 August 1927 and the GRA wasted no time in upsetting their rival track by posting national advertisements warning potential stadium investors. Their claims were that they had sole rights of greyhounds chasing electric hares and this upset the Breck Park and
Elland Road Greyhound Stadium Elland Road Greyhound Stadium also known as Leeds Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The stadium is not to be confused with the football ground Elland Road or Fullerton Park. Origins and opening Elland ...
management so much that they took the GRA to court over the notices. The circumference of the track was a large 516 yards and it provided a stern stamina test for a greyhound. There were 160 resident kennels on site that served both Stanley and later sister track Seaforth Greyhound Stadium.


Pre

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 ...
history

One of the first significant events taking place was the Westmorland Cup; this was a competition for hurdlers from the Stanley track with the winner taking part in Northern Zone final. The first two in turn would then participate in the Champion Hurdle (or 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 ...
as it is known today) at White City in London against the Southern zone qualifiers. The first season of racing ended in October 1927 and the track went into the winter break with plans to reopen during Easter 1928. However, during the break the GRA sold the stadium to the Electric Hare Company. The directors were Jimmy Shand, Tom Wilson and John Bilsland and they moved their entire greyhound operation from the Southend Kursaal in
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 ...
(greyhounds included) by train to take over Stanley after leaving Southend due to high rent demands. The Stanley track boomed resulting in the syndicate taking control of another track in Liverpool called Seaforth which they planned to open in the near future. Wilson opted out of the company and his shares were purchased by the other two. Affiliation to a governing body came in the form of the British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS); this organisation was much smaller than the National Greyhound Racing Society (NGRS). By 1930 Bilsland bought out Shand for £400,000 leaving the Electric Hare Company under the control of Bilsland. With the money gained from the buyout Shand had plans of a grand nature, a super track just one mile from Stanley and it would be called White City Stadium (Liverpool) and it was opened in 1932. Seaforth Stadium became the fourth Liverpool greyhound stadium when it was opened by Bilsland on 25 February 1933. The decision to open Seaforth by the Electric Hare Company Ltd would be an extremely successful one because despite its location away from the centre it would become the most frequented. Despite the fierce competition all four tracks actually made good profits, probably based on the fact that there was a very keen population willing to spend money on the racing. Stanley suffered legal problems just like Breck Park due to the totalisator and gambling issues that ended up in court. The Liverpool Stanley rugby league club arrived in 1934 and the venue was also used for speedway as the Liverpool Merseysiders rode there from 1936-1937. The war arrived and severely disrupted racing during the duration.


Post War history

Subject to a boom like so many others tracks after the war the totalisator turnover in 1946 was a remarkable £1,814,431. Speedway returned for a second spell at Stanley in 1949 as the
Liverpool Chads Liverpool Chads are a defunct motorcycle speedway team who were based at the Stanley Stadium in Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, England.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing History Liverpoo ...
arrived but the Liverpool Stanley rugby league team left the stadium in 1950 moving to
Knotty Ash Knotty Ash is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2001 Census was 13,200, increasing to 13,312 at the 2011 Census. Knotty Ash is well known as the home o ...
. By March 1950 the decision was made by the four Liverpool tracks and Firhill in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
to resign from their NGRC affiliation. The chairman of Seaforth & Firhill John Bilsland stated that the cost of NGRC membership exceeds £1,000 per year if you included the greyhound registration fees.


Closure

Speedway finished again at Stanley in 1953 before having two final seasons in 1957 and 1960. In June 1961 planning was submitted for the site to be redeveloped for residential and ancillary purposes but although this was initially refused it was clear that the stadium was going to be lost and it finally closed on 11 November 1961. The site became a huge wholesale fish, fruit and vegetable market in 1964.


Track records


References

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