West Ham Stadium
| Location | London |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30'52.7"N 0°02'06.6"E |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Closed | 1972 |
West Ham Stadium was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in east London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Prince Regent Lane, near the site of the present-day Prince Regent DLR station.
The venue was used for greyhound racing and speedway on weekdays and had no connection at all with West Ham United football club, who played at the nearby Boleyn Ground, Upton Park from 1904 until 2016.
Plans for a very large stadium in a rural area near Plaiston Marsh, east of Canning Town were unveiled in the late 1920s and work began on the structure where an old sports ground (built in 1855) was situated that had belonged to the workers of the custom house of Royal Victoria Dock.
The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch, responsible for most of the major football stadia at the time including Anfield and Highbury. There was a large two tier stand accommodating 80,000 spectators with a smaller stand able to hold a further 20,000 bringing the capacity for the stadium up to 100,000. The track was the largest in Great Britain with a circumference of 562 yards and 123 yard straights. The standard trip of 550 yards did not even require a greyhound to complete a full lap. The track was lit by 70 x 750 watt lamps and used a special monorail train weighing 500lbs to carry the hare. There was also a very unusual design regarding the track surface which used turf laid on a wooden foundation which had been raised twelve inches above ground level which would consequently result in a very fast track. It was described as a well-sprung dance floor matted with a special fibrous substance.
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