White City Stadium (Newcastle) 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. Tr ...

stadium near

Scotswood Bridge Scotswood Bridge is one of the main bridges crossing the River Tyne in North East England. It links the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank of the river with the MetroCentre and Blaydon in Gateshead on the south bank. It is si ...

in Blaydon on Tyne,

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 �About North East E ...

Origins

In 1927 the Tyneside Sports Stadium Ltd Company planned to construct a stadium just south of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

at the end of the

. There was a spare plot of land where the stadium could just about squeeze into between the river and the Redheugh Branch railway line. It was the first greyhound track to open in Newcastle and 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 ...

(GRA) also had a financial interest in the venture.

Opening

The stadium opened on 26 May 1928 and had a large circumference of 485 yards. Brough Park would open just 28 days later whilst

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populati ...

did not appear until 1932 and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

1937, resulting in four rival tracks.

History

There were two car parks situated on either side of the stadium off Chain Bridge Road with the entrance sporting some picturesque gardens. The main stand on the home straight featured a 300 feet wide 'Senior Club' upstairs with three bar lounges and glass fronted viewing above the tote hall and offices. The Senior Club could be accessed from the 3 shillings and 4 shillings 6 pence enclosures with an annual subscription of 2 shillings 6 pence. On the fourth bend there was a 'Junior Club' within the two shillings enclosure that also included two stands,

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 ...

and snack bar. The paddock and racing kennels were situated near the first bend with the resident and isolation kennels set further back on the second bend. It was described as a very good galloping track with long 100 yard straights and easy bends with a 550-yard distance in one circuit behind an 'Inside Sumner' hare system. By 1940 the distances were established as 325, 525, 550 and 700 yards and were verified with a racecard notice by the NGRC's official measurer Mr G E Marshall. As the

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 ...

approached business remained steady under the leadership of General Manager Mr J A Melville and the Racing Manager Mr T Greggs.

Closure

Despite excellent facilities and a profitable business problems arose after the war, the totalisator turnover was a healthy £1,106,242 in 1946 at its peak, lowering to £606,005 one year later. The problems came about because of the controversial government taxation of greyhound racing towards the end of the 1940s. It was in 1951 that Managing Director Mr Whatley reported that tote receipts were £75,000 of which £47,000 was taken out by taxation. The government policy continued to make matters difficult for greyhound racing totalisators with close scrutiny and restrictions of gambling still considered in the interests of the general public. The net result for White City was the closure of the track on 26 May 1951, exactly 23 years after it opened. Tyneside lost its first greyhound track and the site became a depot and then eventually industrial units on Toll Bridge Road.

References

{{English greyhound tracks Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom