Newcastle Stadium
| Location | The Fossway, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne And Wear |
|---|---|
| Owner | William Hill |
| Field size | 415m circumference |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Renovated | 2003 |
| Tenants | |
| Greyhound racing | |
Newcastle Stadium is a greyhound stadium located on The Fossway, Byker, Newcastle. Racing at the stadium takes place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The circumference of the track is 415 metres.
The stadium used to be known as Brough Park until it changed its name to Newcastle Stadium.
The site chosen in 1928 was the area near Walker that was undergoing extensive change at the time; the stadium plot had previously contained garden allotments and the north section of a football ground. The stadium was constructed just south of the Fossway, east of Tunstall Avenue and west of the large garden allotments that ran alongside Roman Way. The resident kennels were constructed right next to the Fossway and sat directly on the route of Hadrian's Wall. The kennels were very large and accommodated the greyhounds that would supply both Brough Park and Gosforth in later years. On the south side of these kennels was the tracks third and fourth bends. The stadium had a main stand on the home straight with licensed club facilities and a smaller stand on the back straight, also with licensed club facilities. In addition to the stands there were several tote buildings located on the home straight and between bends three and four next to the tote indicator and coffee bar.
Brough Park became the second greyhound stadium in Newcastle because the Tyneside Sports Stadium Ltd opened a track to the south of Scotswood Bridge called the White City Stadium just 28 days previous. The opening night was on 23 June 1928 with the first ever race being won by a greyhound called Marvin at odds of 3-1.
In 1938 the All England Cup was introduced and the significant prize money attracted many of the top greyhounds from London and the south. As with many tracks the war soon interrupted the regular racing. The surface was described as a good grass track, 430 yards in circumference with distances of 295, 500 & 520 yards with an inside Sledge-Trackless hare. The 500 yard distance had recently replaced 480 yards and a rarely seen centre green hare controller was in operation (the vast majority of tracks drove the hare from a home straight position). Two more competitions called the Northumberland Stakes and Northumberland Cup were introduced.
...
Wikipedia