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Sunderland Greyhound Stadium
Sunderland Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track situated at Fulwell in the City of Sunderland and English county of Tyne and Wear. The stadium is owned by ARC and racing takes place every Wednesday and Friday evening as well as an additional BAGS meeting on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The circumference of the track is 378 metres.
Speedway races were held at the track from 1964 to 1974, with home teams including The Saints, The Stars and The Gladiators.
Sunderland host one major competition called the Arena Racing Company Grand Prix (formerly the William Hill Grand Prix). It is not to be confused with the defunct classic race, The Grand Prix, held at Walthamstow Stadium until its closure.
Designed by architects Matkin and Hawkins, the stadium was built at a cost of £60,000 in 1940. The site chosen for the new Boldon Greyhound Stadium, as it was known at the time, was North of Sunderland and south-east of East Boldon where the Sunderland and Newcastle Roads merged. It ran parallel with this road on its south side and the London & North Eastern Railway on its north side. On the opposite side of the road (slightly east) was the East Boldon hospital for infectious diseases which would later become the sanatorium. Boldon had strong links to the mining community which was a common factor with new greyhound tracks.
It all started on the afternoon of Saturday 23 March 1940 at 3pm, quickly followed by a second and third meeting on the Easter Monday. Fred Gillespie was brought into the track to act as General and Racing Manager, along with other officials A E Hawkins from the Coundon track and George Hall from the White City Stadium (Newcastle). The opening meeting saw eight races over 450 yards and the meeting was advertised as a Sunderland super greyhound stadium with a wonder totalisator and three luxurious clubs, large covered enclosures and a free car park. The first ever winner was trap 2 'Percheron' at odds of 5-2 in a time of 28.35 secs.
The greyhound track at Sunderland has had a varying past with affiliation to the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) on two separate occasions and a long stint as an independent track. It was known as the Newcastle Sports Stadium and the Boldon Greyhound Stadium throughout its history, before being renamed the Sunderland Greyhound Stadium.
Despite opening during the war, business grew year on year until peaking in 1946. The track included a large main glass fronted club on the home straight with ballroom attached, covered stand and clubs on the fourth bend, a covered stand on the back straight, with the racing kennels and paddock on the first bend. There was also accommodation for 170 greyhounds adjoining the stadium which acted as the resident kennels. It was a 380 yards circumference track with an 'Inside Sumner' hare and distances of 348, 450 & 600 yards.
The stadium first joined the NGRC set up after the war but withdrew in 1951 (believed to be on 26 February). The reason for the change was a system called 'Combine' which allowed tracks to run under rules similar to the latter day permit rules. Sunderland wanted owner-trainers that included many from the mining community to be able to race on separate race nights but the NGRC refused this request. With Sunderland also reliant on these forms of income the decision was made to leave.
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Sunderland Greyhound Stadium
Sunderland Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track situated at Fulwell in the City of Sunderland and English county of Tyne and Wear. The stadium is owned by ARC and racing takes place every Wednesday and Friday evening as well as an additional BAGS meeting on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The circumference of the track is 378 metres.
Speedway races were held at the track from 1964 to 1974, with home teams including The Saints, The Stars and The Gladiators.
Sunderland host one major competition called the Arena Racing Company Grand Prix (formerly the William Hill Grand Prix). It is not to be confused with the defunct classic race, The Grand Prix, held at Walthamstow Stadium until its closure.
Designed by architects Matkin and Hawkins, the stadium was built at a cost of £60,000 in 1940. The site chosen for the new Boldon Greyhound Stadium, as it was known at the time, was North of Sunderland and south-east of East Boldon where the Sunderland and Newcastle Roads merged. It ran parallel with this road on its south side and the London & North Eastern Railway on its north side. On the opposite side of the road (slightly east) was the East Boldon hospital for infectious diseases which would later become the sanatorium. Boldon had strong links to the mining community which was a common factor with new greyhound tracks.
It all started on the afternoon of Saturday 23 March 1940 at 3pm, quickly followed by a second and third meeting on the Easter Monday. Fred Gillespie was brought into the track to act as General and Racing Manager, along with other officials A E Hawkins from the Coundon track and George Hall from the White City Stadium (Newcastle). The opening meeting saw eight races over 450 yards and the meeting was advertised as a Sunderland super greyhound stadium with a wonder totalisator and three luxurious clubs, large covered enclosures and a free car park. The first ever winner was trap 2 'Percheron' at odds of 5-2 in a time of 28.35 secs.
The greyhound track at Sunderland has had a varying past with affiliation to the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) on two separate occasions and a long stint as an independent track. It was known as the Newcastle Sports Stadium and the Boldon Greyhound Stadium throughout its history, before being renamed the Sunderland Greyhound Stadium.
Despite opening during the war, business grew year on year until peaking in 1946. The track included a large main glass fronted club on the home straight with ballroom attached, covered stand and clubs on the fourth bend, a covered stand on the back straight, with the racing kennels and paddock on the first bend. There was also accommodation for 170 greyhounds adjoining the stadium which acted as the resident kennels. It was a 380 yards circumference track with an 'Inside Sumner' hare and distances of 348, 450 & 600 yards.
The stadium first joined the NGRC set up after the war but withdrew in 1951 (believed to be on 26 February). The reason for the change was a system called 'Combine' which allowed tracks to run under rules similar to the latter day permit rules. Sunderland wanted owner-trainers that included many from the mining community to be able to race on separate race nights but the NGRC refused this request. With Sunderland also reliant on these forms of income the decision was made to leave.