Photos of Harringay Stadium

The track where my first dog ran - not quite that lokg ago hahaha

was there on the night when the riot happened in 1950s.Think it began after the fav who won got disq for fighting near line.

Historical accounts paint a colourful picture of life around the stadium. Joe Coral, the founder of Coral Bookmakers, started his business at Harringay Stadium and other similar venues. Coral is supposed to have come up against organised crime boss Darby Sabini at Harringay but held his ground by holding a gun to Sabini's stomach.

Contemporary newspaper reports suggest that the crowds at the stadium could also be prone to violent disorder. There were at least three documented incidents of serious crowd disorder between 1938 and 1957. On 14 May 1938, when speedway racing was stopped early due to an accident, a crowd of 2,000 demanded their money back. When their demands were ignored the crowd broke onto the track, smashing and damaging parts of the stadium and setting fire to the track's tractor.[20]

Eight years later a crowd attending a greyhound racing event ran riot after a second-placed dog was disqualified. According to The Guardian, the crowd

“    invaded the track and for over half an hour indulged in senseless destruction. They started bonfires which they fed with pieces of the hare trap...smashed electric lamps and arc lights, tore down telephone wires, and broke windows, wrecked the inside of the judge's box, overturned the starting trap...They also attacked the tote offices...[21]    ”
In June 1957 another disqualification provoked a further riot at a greyhound racing event. Similar levels of disorder as the previous riot were dealt with on this occasion by firemen from six fire appliances who turned their hoses on the crowd. Apparently the angry crowd was quickly dispersed, but they left quite a trail of destruction.




I was under the impression that the rule regarding fighting and disqualification had been changed before 1957 whereby the result would then have been unaffected.

I need to get a story straigHT sparrow. Did power firm lay in years b4 it closed?

I moved to Yorkshire in 1970 private so I wouldn't really know although I remember Power at Hackney. By that time I was a regular at Leeds!

U wer spoiled at leeds for trainers wernt u. All the top men in north teained there at 1 time. I was a sapling at the time sparrow.

Most learned there trade from the legend that was joe booth.

I liked it at Leeds where I came across handicaps for the first time and it was a good learning experience for me. In my opinion it was the best track in the north but unfortunately was owned by Ladbrokes who eventually sold it.



Following the war business boomed in 1946 with the tote turnover being £1,167,103.[6] The profits enabled the company to upgrade the facilities and Harold Richards was brought in as Racing Manager in the early 1950s. Two competitions were inaugurated; the Ebor Stakes was introduced in 1951 followed by the Yorkshire Two Year Old Produce in 1958.

In the early 1960s Totalisators and Greyhound Holdings (T.G.H) purchased the track and added it to their portfolio of existing tracks. Racing was held on Monday and Saturday evenings and the amenities included five buffet bars, five licensed bars and a restaurant. The hare was an 'Outside Sumner' hare and the resident trainers were Tommy Brown, Joe Kelly, Alf Eggleston and Ann Harrison. During the 1970s Ladbrokes acquired the Totalisators and Greyhound Holdings (T.G.H) group which included the tracks at Brough Park, Crayford & Bexleyheath Stadium, Gosforth, Willenhall and Monmore. The track kennels were demolished in 1979 forcing Tommy Brown and Jim Brennan to retire and Joe Kelly switched to Owlerton; they were replaced by contracted trainers Pete Beaumont, Jim Brown and Ray Andrews.[7]

Closure
Tim Hale and Derek Bowman replaced Racing Manager Harry Bridger on 1 January 1981 but would only oversee the action for one year because Ladbrokes closed the track. The last meeting was held on 15 March 1982 with the last ever winner being Mike Supreme.[8] In 2014 the new Leeds District Police HQ opened on the site of the stadium.

I dont know how u access all this info sparrow. Its fantastic.

It's all online private, just google your subjects and cut and paste. So easy for people nowadays to access information.

It's all online private, just google your subjects and cut and paste. So easy for people nowadays to access information.

I,m a dinosaur mate.

Us young'uns have it easy now private

I'm very much enjoying these posts Sparrow. Just shows how popular this great sport was. Cheers.

You're welcome HJS.

Loved those swinging tote clock things at Harringay.
Any old pics of Hackney Wick (both the old one and the Embassy one on the other side), or Park Royal or Hendon, Sparrow.
Hope not 'cos it does bring a lump to my throat, particularly ones of Hackney 2 or 3 years after closure, to see the sad state of the track
and knowing it could have easily been restored. .

I will post some in a week or two Rothman. I was brought up in Hackney itself but only went to the Saturday morning meetings as it raced on the same days as Clapton in the 1960s which was a far superior track.

Sparrow,didn't know 'til a few years later that on the site right next to the Wick was one of the most famous toy factories in the world.
Namely the Lesney toy factory, better known as Matchbox toys.

Nearly every family in Hackney had a member who would have worked at Lesney's at some time or other. The company even ran a fleet of buses to get them to work! The next road to stadium was Temple Mills Lane which at one time had a flapping track where even my father trained a few dogs to run in the late 1930s.

Anyone know what to key in the browser to view the pics ? Thanks

If you want to view the pics on this thread then you need to be in New Community forum.
Click "Switch To New Community" at the top of this page.