Banister Court Stadium
| Location | Court Road, Southampton, Hampshire |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°55'06.2"N 1°24'31.6"W |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Closed | 1963 |
Banister Court Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Court Road, Southampton, Hampshire.
At the turn of the 20th century Banisters Park in the north of Southampton consisted of the County Ground, Southampton which had been the home of the Hampshire County Cricket Club since 1885 and an area known as Banisters Court on the south side of the ground. Despite the fact that Banisters Park had reduced in size it was still mainly open space unlike the southern and central parts of Southampton.
The Southampton Greyhound Racing Company and a group of businessmen purchased Banister’s Court in the late 1920s with the intention to build a greyhound stadium. The site bought consisted mainly of a former well known school called Banister Court Private School, the name Banister derived from Sir Edward Banister owner of the farms that made up the area in the 17th century. The company started construction on the greyhound track where the car park would be accessed from Court Road which was off Banister Road.
The stadium opened as the Banister Court Stadium on the afternoon of the 6 August 1928. Lord D.L.Lawrence performed the opening ceremony and the first ever race at 3.00pm was also the first of six heats forming the Southampton Cup over 500 yards and it went to Glengormley’s Pride a 7-1 shot in 31.60secs. The third race a match race was won by Miss G.Knott’s Jodonna, Knott was the daughter of one of the directors Charlie Knott senior.
The stadium also had a dirt track ready for speedway and featured two large stands offering excellent viewing. The Chairman of the company Mr.J.Morgan and two of the directors Ronald Prideaux and H Pearl addressed the 3,000 people that had turned out to watch the opening. By the end of the meeting there were 6,000 present with another 3,000 attending the evening meeting held from 8.00pm until 9.30pm.
Speedway made its debut on 6 October 1928 and one year later the Southampton Greyhound Racing Company was bought out by the Hampshire Greyhound Racing Syndicate led by one of the existing directors and the local businessman and fishmonger Charlie Knott senior. The company was soon renamed Southampton Sports Stadium Ltd.
A greyhound called Buckna Boy represented Southampton in the 1929 and 1930 English Greyhound Derby and was one of the leading contenders for the 1929 running. The fawn dog trained by Renwick later defeated Mick the Miller in the Champion Stakes, finished runner-up in the Welsh Greyhound Derby but lost out when matched against Mick the Miller in 1930. It would be the only recorded instance of a Southampton greyhound competing in major races.
...
Wikipedia