Greenfield Stadium, Bradford
![]() Greenfield Stadium in Bradford c.1960 | |
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Former names | Greenfield Athletic Ground Greenfield Autodrome Yorkshire Trotting and Athletic Grounds |
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Location | Bradford |
Opened | Before 1907 |
Closed | 5 March 1969 |
Tenants | |
Bradford Northern Bradford Panthers Greyhound racing |
Greenfield Stadium, also known as Greenfield Athletic Ground,
Sports
Rugby League
In 1907, the newly formed Bradford Northern rented the ground for £8 from Whitaker's Brewery, who also agreed to sponsor the club. It became Northern's first permanent home and the club set up its headquarters at the adjacent Greenfield Hotel. Bradford's first match there was against Huddersfield on 7 September 1907 and was watched by around 7,000 spectators. The club gained a significant scalp later that year when they beat the New Zealand touring side.[3]
Northern spent a total of £302 on a
Greyhound Racing
Origins and Opening
In 1926 work began on the venue to convert it into a greyhound racing stadium, one of the first in the UK and it opened on 8 October 1927.[4][5] The track was affiliated to the National Greyhound Racing Club.[6]
By now the facilities were much more developed than they had been in early days. There was a main stand made up of covered
History
During the first month of racing the city of Bradford suffered severe gales and on the 29 October 1927 the football team lost the roof of their enclosure and the greyhound track lost the roof from both stands. The stadium traded as Greenfield Greyhound Racing Association overseen by general manager J.C.Ridley. the two major stakeholders were the Electric Hare Company, Liverpool and the Greyhound Racing Association.
In 1932 trainer Jimmy Rimmer set a record of 504 winners in one year whilst attached to the track, Rimmer was famous as being the slipper at the Waterloo Cup for many years. One year later in 1934 Greenfield was represented by a greyhound called Deemsters Mike in the English Greyhound Derby final. The brindle dog trained by Fred Livesly also went on to win the Northern Flat.[8]
The track was described as a well laid out course with a good run-in to the finish and suitable for all types of runners. There was an 'Outside Sumner' hare and race distances of 310, 500, 650 and 700 yards on a circuit with a 420-yard circumference. The stadium entrances sat alongside the Greenfield Hotel and the popular club stand, on the opposite side of the track was the stadium club stand where the finishing line was located. Behind this stand fifty race day kennels and a paddock provided the hounds housing. Even further behind these were the residential kennels. Between the first and second bends a third stand called the Padden Connel club brought the total spectator capacity to 7,000 patrons.[9]
In 1952 the track reached the final of the national track championship sponsored by the News of the World only to lose out to Eastville Stadium 19–11.
Speedway
In 1961, a 320 yards (290 metres) speedway track was laid inside the dog track, and the city's speedway team, Bradford Panthers, relocated to Greenfield from Odsal Stadium. The first meeting was opened by famous speedway promoter Johnnie Hoskins. Success was short-lived, and the last meeting at Greenfield Stadium was a double-header against Sheffield and Leicester on Tuesday 9 October 1962. The Panthers folded soon after.[7]
Closure
The stadium was closed for business in March 1969[6] and sold for industrial warehousing.[1] The last sporting event was a greyhound meeting on 5 March, attended by 4,790.[10]
Track records
Distance yards |
Greyhound | Time | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
310 | Castlewood Captain | 17.27 | 1946 | |
500 | Fine Parade | 28.34 | 1946 | |
500 | Fly Baby Fly | 28.20 | 10.06.1964 | |
500 | Faithful Hope | 28.20 | 13.10.1965 | |
650 | Well Schooled | 37.40 | 1946 | |
650 | Haverbrack Rona | 37.29 | 1950 | |
700 | Peartree Man | 40.90 | 1946 | |
700 | Siva Starlight | 40.26 | 13.06.1962 | |
310 H | Duoro | 18.93 | 1930 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Delaney 1991, p. 44.
- ^ "Bradford Greenfield". defunctspeedway.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ Priestley, Mike (25 November 2006). "Highs and lows of city sport". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
- ^ "Greenfield Stadium Timeline". Flickr.
- ^ a b "Greenfield Greyhound Stadium". greyhoundderby.com. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ a b Bamford & Jarvis 2001.
- ISBN 0-948955-36-8.
- ^ Tarter, P Howard (1949). Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia. Fleet Publishing Company Ltd. p. 64.
- ^ Greenhalf, Jim (13 February 2012). "Up and down era for city sports fans". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
Bibliography
- Bamford, R.; Jarvis, J. (2001). Homes of British Speedway. The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3.
- Delaney, Trevor (1991). The Grounds Of Rugby League. ISBN 0-9509-9822-2.