The Sports Ground is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium used by

Bideford A.F.C. Bideford Association Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Bideford, Devon, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sports Ground. The club are nicknamed "The Robins" due to their all-red strip. Hi ...

on Kingsley Road in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Origins

The Sports Ground was constructed on the west side of Kingsley Road and the east side of Mignonette Walk as it was called at the time. There were tennis courts on the north side and a bowling green and putting green on the south side.

Football

Greyhound racing

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 ...

took place around the pitch following the construction of a track in 1987. Race night was a Thursday evening and race distances consisted of 420 and 700 metres. It was an all-grass surface with an 'Outside Sumner' hare system. There were kennels for 30 greyhounds and a

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 ...

on site and the track circumference was 370 metres, which was described as having tight bends. The venture was short-lived, with the racing ending in 1988. The greyhound racing was independent (not affiliated with 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 ...

). It was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname for independent tracks.

References

{{English greyhound tracks Bideford A.F.C. Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Sports venues in Devon Football venues in England Buildings and structures in Bideford