Raploch Park, also known as the Larkhall Greyhound Stadium, was 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 ...

ground and

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 ...

stadium in

Larkhall Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was the home ground of Royal Albert.

History

Royal Albert played at Raploch Park from their foundation in 1878. The ground was on the north-western side of Raploch Street, opposite Gasworks Park, the home ground of

Larkhall Thistle Larkhall Thistle Football Club is a football club from Larkhall, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Formed in 1878, "the Jags" are Scotland's oldest continuous Junior football club and currently compete in the . The team plays in red and white str ...

. The ground had a running track around the outside of the pitch, and a pavilion and covered stand were erected on the north-western side of the pitch. The track was later elongated to allow greyhound racing, with kennels built in the northern corner of the site.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p210 The ground's probable record attendance of 5,000 was set on 6 December 1890 for a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, with the visitors winning 4–0. This was equalled for a Scottish Cup second round match against

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on 11 February 1922, which Royal Albert lost 1–0, and again for a Scottish Cup first round replay against

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

on 17 January 1923, which ended in a 0–0 draw. Royal Albert were elected into the new Third Division of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

in the same year, and the first SFL match at Raploch Park was played on 18 August 1923, a 3–0 win over Dumbarton Harp. However, the Third Division was disbanded at the end of the 1925–26 season, with the final SFL match played at the ground on 16 April 1926, a 3–0 win over Montrose. Although Royal Albert folded, they were reformed as a

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club, which continued to use the ground until the 1960s, when it was demolished and the site used for housing. The club moved to Robert Smillie Memorial Park.

Greyhound racing

Sam Park and George Reid introduced greyhound racing to the sports stadium in 1938. The venue would be known as the Larkhall Greyhound Stadium from 1938 and the first meeting took place on 21 December 1938. The racing was independent (unlicensed) for 26 years until the track closed in 1964. Robert Hamilton remained as the Racing Manager throughout the entire 26 years.

References

{{Scottish greyhound tracks Defunct football venues in Scotland Royal Albert F.C. Scottish Football League venues Sports venues in South Lanarkshire Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing in Scotland Sports venues completed in 1878 Larkhall