Redheugh Park
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Redheugh Park (pronounced ''red-yuff'') 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 ...
stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The stadium was built in 1930 when
South Shields F.C. South Shields Football Club is a association football, football club based in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England. The team competes in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of the English football league system. The third club of th ...
moved to Gateshead from
Horsley Hill Horsley Hill was a football and rugby league ground and greyhound racing track in South Shields. History South Shields RLFC were established in 1902 and played at Horsley Hill during the 1902–03 and 1903–04 seasons. They were voted out of ...
and became Gateshead AFC. It was their home for more than 40 years. The stadium offered terracing all round. The Main Stand was a two-thirds pitch length seated stand (purchased from a greyhound stadium in Carlisle) with covered standing extensions added on either side. Opposite the Main Stand was a large covered terrace that ran the full length of the ground. The North end of the ground had a small covered terrace, whilst the opposite Ropery Road (South) End was a small uncovered terrace, which latterly included a large totalisator scoreboard introduced for greyhound racing.


History

In 1930 Gateshead Council set about finding a suitable site for Gateshead AFC to relocate to. Sites at Low Fell and Sheriff Hill were considered, but were deemed too far out of town. The chosen location was in the Teams area of Gateshead, a worked out clay pit (known as Johnsons Clay Hole) edged by Ropery Road and Derwentwater Road. The holes, tunnels and craters on the site were filled by lorries full of the town's refuse. Redheugh Park was officially opened by Mr Sutcliffe, the Football League's then Vice-President on 30 August 1930 when Gateshead AFC played their first-ever Football League game winning 2–1 against Doncaster Rovers in front of 15,545 spectators. Greyhound racing at Redheugh Park commenced in 1937, which brought a boost to the football club's financial position and subsequently eased the burden for the upkeep of the stadium. However the inclusion of the Greyhound track reduced the size of the playing area, the terracing at either end of the ground and subsequently the capacity. With the loss of Football League status in 1960 and the football club's subsequent continual slide down the leagues, a further heavy blow was dealt with the cessation of greyhound racing at the stadium in 1966. This put both Redheugh Park and Gateshead AFC in serious financial troubles. Other sources of income were investigated, which included allowing showmen to have a small fair on the car park, allowing advertising to be placed on the wall facing Askew Road (permission was refused) and even converting the refreshment bar into a transport café to catch passing trade. In 1967 Gateshead AFC made a vain attempt to fill the void the Greyhound racing had left by staging
speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...
racing at the stadium.


Greyhound Racing

In 1937 greyhound racing was introduced to Redheugh Park and the ground underwent renovation including the reduction in size of the playing pitch. Terracing was erected all around the stadium and the main stand had its back to the Redheugh Iron and Steel works. The main stand was purchased from the Carlisle track (presumed to be the one at Harraby) and almost extended the whole length of the pitch. The first nights racing took place on 23 November 1937 organised by the Redheugh Park Greyhound Racing Company. The track is opened by Major, Alderman W J Pickering in front of an attendance of 8,000 and the first race is won by Lovely Lucerne over 450 yards. The circumference was 370 yards and the track was to race mainly under
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 ...
rules despite short spells as an independent track. 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 ...
board was erected on the south end terrace and tote turnover in 1947 was £686,782 a substantial amount for a capacity of 12,000. The distances changed to 440 yards and 600 yards and handicaps were very popular. The track raced under the 'combine' tag in the mid-fifties which effectively meant that they were allowed to host C-Licence owner-trainer race nights. The greyhound racing ended on 7 January 1966.


Track records


Closure

By the early 1970s Redheugh Park had become run down. This, combined with a fire in the 1971–72 season, saw Gateshead AFC move to the Gateshead Youth Stadium (now known as the
Gateshead International Stadium Gateshead International Stadium (GIS) is a multi-purpose, all-seater venue in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Originally known as the Gateshead Youth Stadium, the venue was built in 1955 at a cost of £30,000. It has since been extensively r ...
). However the new venue proved no easier on the finances of the club, bringing the liquidation of Gateshead AFC in late August 1973. By 1972 Redheugh Park was in a derelict condition. Weed infested with crumbling terraces and dilapidated stands, it was demolished.


Present day

For nearly twenty years the outlines of Redheugh Park could be made out with the terraces appearing as grass humps on the land. The area was completely leveled for the 1990 Gateshead Garden Festival and used as a car park. A few years later saw football return to the area in the shape of the Pitz 5-a-side soccer centre which was renamed Power League which is still in place today.


Further reading

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References

{{coord, 54, 57, 08.22, N, 1, 37, 49.86, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Defunct football venues in England Gateshead A.F.C. Sports venues in Tyne and Wear Gateshead Sports venues completed in 1930 Sports venues demolished in 1972 Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom English Football League venues