White City Stadium
Location | White City, London, England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°30′49″N 0°13′39″W / 51.5136°N 0.2274°W |
Capacity | 93,000[1] |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1907 |
Opened | 27 April 1908 |
Closed | 1984 |
Demolished | 1985 |
Tenants | |
|
White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 World Cup.
From 1927, it was a venue for greyhound racing, hosting the English Greyhound Derby until its closure in 1984. The stadium was demolished in 1985 and the site is now occupied by White City Place.
History
Designed by the engineer
Many events of the
The position of the finish line for the marathon in the 1908 Summer Olympics is commemorated by a marker in the plaza that now stands there. The distance of the modern marathon was fixed at these Games and calculated from the start of the race at Windsor Castle to a point in front of the royal box. The medal table for the 1908 Summer Olympics is also listed on a nearby wall.[6]
The original running track continued in use until 1914. There were attempts to sell the stadium in 1922, but several athletes in the team for the 1924 Summer Olympics used it for training.
In 1926, the GRA (Greyhound Racing Association) took over the stadium and in 1927, the track was grassed over for greyhound racing and speedway. They built new covered terracing and a restaurant. From 1927 until its closure, it hosted weekly greyhound meetings and was considered the top greyhound track in Britain. It hosted the sport's premier event, the English Greyhound Derby, until 1984. Just before and after the Second World War attendances were huge, a record 92,000 spectators attended the 1939 Derby final.
In 1931, a 440yd running track was installed for the
Also in 1931, Queens Park Rangers F.C. began the first of two spells playing at the stadium, until 1933 (the second spell was from 1962 to 1963). QPR eventually decided against a permanent move to White City and stayed at Loftus Road.
Between 1932 and 1958, the stadium hosted major British boxing events, with attendances peaking as high as 90,000 for the second meeting between
In 1933, Wigan Highfield, a rugby league side, nearly became bankrupt. White City Company, owners of the stadium, decided to move the club to White City. Previously, only rugby union had been popular in southern England, professional rugby league being the preserve of northern towns and cities. Wigan Highfield became London Highfield with their debts paid. Their first try was scored by George "Porky" Davies, who went on to play for Liverpool Stanley and then St. Helens from 1938 to 1947. The White City Company lost money on the venture and decided not to continue with rugby league. London Highfield was the precursor to London Broncos, the current leading rugby league club in London.
In 1966,
The stadium was demolished in 1985 and the site is now occupied by White City Place (formerly BBC White City).
Greyhound racing
White City Stadium was principally used for greyhound racing for the majority of its existence. The first greyhound meeting took place on 20 June 1927.[7] The stadium became the Mecca of greyhound racing with tens of thousands of spectators attending meetings on a regular basis, particularly in the 1940s, and 1950s. A crowd of 92,000 attended the 1939 English Greyhound Derby final.[8]
Competitions
The track was renowned for holding some of the sport's top events in addition to the
Speedway
The speedway track at White City was 380 metres (420 yards) in length.
The White City stadium first held open speedway meetings in 1928 before the start of the Southern League, in 1929. A team from the stadium known as White City (London) entered the 1929 Southern League where they finished in 7th place out of 11 teams (after Birmingham (Hall Green) resigned for the league after racing 7 league matches). The White City team were due to race in the 1930 Southern League, but they withdrew from the league before it started. The stadium then ran once again using an Open Licence and held occasional one-off meetings between (1953–1958, 1961) until a new league team was formed, from the Oxford 'Rebels' in 1976.
From 1976 until 1978, the stadium was home to
From 1979 to 1983 the stadium once again raced using an Open Licence hosting a number of high-profile
Following the end of speedway at the Wembley Stadium after the 1981 World Final, White City became the home of international speedway in Great Britain until it was closed in 1984. Following this international speedway moved out of London and north to Odsal Stadium in Bradford.
Speedway World Finals
World Team Cup
- 1976 – Australia (John Boulger / Phil Crump / Billy Sanders / Phil Herne / Garry Middleton) – 42 pts
- 1979 – New Zealand (Ivan Mauger / Larry Ross / Mitch Shirra / Bruce Cribb / Roger Abel) – 35 pts
- 1982 – United States (Bruce Penhall / Bobby Schwartz / Kelly Moran / Shawn Moran / Scott Autrey) – 34 pts
Appearances in the media
The White City Stadium features in the climax to the 1950 film
The stadium is shown in the 1956 comedy centred on greyhound racing Jumping for Joy.
The stadium was the location of a public outburst by Ray Davies of The Kinks during a July 1973 performance.[12] Davies swore onstage,[13] and at the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, declared his retirement from the group.[12][13] He subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital.[12][14] He would eventually recover and return to recording with The Kinks.[15]
At a David Cassidy show on 26 May 1974, 800 people were injured in a crush at the front of the stage.[16] Thirty were taken to hospital, and one, 14-year-old Bernadette Whelan, died on 30 May from injuries.[17]
The Pogues made a song about the stadium and its demolition, called "White City". It can be found on their 1989 album Peace and Love.
See also
References
- ^ History of the White City Site BBC
- ^ White, p. 5
- ^ Zarnowski, C. Frank (Summer 1992). "A Look at Olympic Costs" (PDF). Citius, Altius, Fortius. 1 (1): 16–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2007.
- ^ The First Hundred Years - The story of rugby in Cornwall by Tom Salmon 1983 (published by the Cornwall RFU)
- ^ "Official Report 1908 page 1". digital.la84.org.
- ^ The photographing of the plaques is not allowed without prior permission.
- ^ "A Concise History Greyhound Racing". Stainforth OnLine. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ISBN 0-948955-36-8.
- ISBN 0-7207-1804-X.
- ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
- ISBN 0-7524-2221-9
- ^ a b c Hinman, Doug (2004). p. 174
- ^ a b Hollingsworth, Roy (21 July 1973). "Thank you for the days, Ray". Melody Maker.
- ^ George, Chris (27 August 1994). "The Kitchen Sink Kink". The Independent.
- ^ Portions of the preceding paragraph copied from the Wikipedia article The Kinks, section "Theatrical Incarnation: 1973–1976"
- ^ "14 girls hurt in crush at Cassidy concert". The Times. 27 May 1974.
- ^ Thompson, Dave (31 May 2016). "The death of a teenybopper". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia.
Sources
- White, Valerie (1980). Wimpey: The first hundred years. George Wimpey.
External links
- White City Stadium and BBC radio Archived 3 August 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- White City Development - History Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- Remembering White City - 'the governor' of lost tracks Article on Betfair.com
- Map sources for White City Stadium
- /BBC Sport 1908 Olympics in photos
- Aerial view of stadium in 1933 from the English Heritage "Britain from Above" archive