The County Ground Stadium was a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 ...

and speedway stadium in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

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. Devo ...

. It was one of two separate venues in Exeter known as the County Ground, along with the still-used County Cricket Ground. It is also not to be confused with the Exeter Greyhound Stadium in

Marsh Barton Marsh Barton is the largest trading estate in Exeter, covering over . It supports over 500 diverse businesses including one of Europe's largest motoring centres, showrooms, city plumbing, Exeter College's automotive site, builders merchants, a ...

that also held greyhound racing and speedway.

Origins

It was situated south of Cowick Street in the St Thomas Ward. The ground was formerly called the Devon County Athletic Ground.

Greyhound racing

Independent (unaffiliated to a governing body)

took place at the County Ground Stadium. The opening meeting was held on Saturday 13 December 1930 and the track had a 370-yard circumference with race distances over 250, 440, 620 and 810 metres. The track was described as a tight circuit with an almost square shaped track. Main competitions included the Spring Cup, Derby and St Leger and they had an 'Inside Sumner' hare system.

Speedway

Exeter Falcons speedway took place from 1947 until 2005.

Rugby Union

In September 1905, the County Ground staged the opening match of the New Zealand rugby team's first-ever British tour, against the Devon County XV. New Zealand's "All Blacks" nickname was first coined in media reports of their shock 55–4 victory over Devon.

Closure

It was the home ground of Exeter Rugby Club (latterly

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home m ...

) prior to their move to

Sandy Park Sandy Park is a rugby union stadium and conference and banqueting centre in Exeter, England. It is the home ground of Exeter Chiefs, who from the 2010–11 season have been playing in the Gallagher Premiership, the top flight of the English r ...

in 2006.

Bellway Homes Bellway plc is a residential property developer and housebuilder based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was founded in 1946 by J ...

built 150 houses on the site shortly afterwards.

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Sport in Exeter Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct speedway venues in England Sports venues in Devon Defunct rugby union venues in England