Tyne and Wear HER(16969): East Boldon, Sunderland Road, Sunderland Greyhound Stadium - Details
16969
Gateshead
East Boldon, Sunderland Road, Sunderland Greyhound Stadium
East Boldon
NZ36SE
Recreational
Modern
C20
Demolished Building
Built at a cost of £60,000 to designs by Matkin & Hawkins. Opened in March 1940. By the 1960s the stadium had lost its licence and became a flapping track. In 1964 a speedway meeting attracted a crowd of 6,500. Three speedway teams were based here - the Saints (1964), the Stars (1971-73) and the Gladiators (1974). Greyhound racing returned in the 1990s after a major refurbishment. Sunderland is only one of 25 licensed greyhound tracks in Britain (there were 77 in 1951). Three other tracks are in the North East, at Easington, Wheatley Hill and Cambois.
3791
6076
NZ37916076
Lynn Pearson, 2010, Played in Tyne and Wear - Charting the heritage of people at play, p 122-123