Wimbledon Stadium

Facing declining attendances and with no renovations undertaken for many years, the stadium was put up for sale by the owners, the Greyhound Racing Association, and closed permanently in March 2017.The site was purchased by Galliard Homes Limited,[3] in order to build 600 new apartments and a new football stadium, the new Plough Lane, for AFC Wimbledon.[7] The difficult plot did not deter South London Greyhound Racecourses Ltd., who went ahead with plans to build a large stadium ready for 1928.The Burhill kennels in Walton-on-Thames became renowned within the industry for housing the hounds for Wimbledon, and were used by trainers Stan Biss, Harry Leader and Ken Appleton.[10] In 1931, Paddy McEllistrim's head man Dan Costello gained a trainer position at the track and would later train Wimbledon's second Grand National winner in Lemonition (1934).The well-known Irish dog Tanist was put with Paddy McEllistrim, but found it hard to cope with the sharp turns at Wimbledon, and failed to win a single race by the end of June 1940.In 1942, after a winter rest, he won the Walthamstow Stakes and Wimbledon Spring Cup, before embarking on forty wins and seven second places from 48 starts.After finishing first fourteen times in succession, he was beaten by a neck by Laughing Lackey, narrowly failing to beat Mick the Miller's 19 straight wins record.[13] A new puppy named Ballyhennessy Seal first came to the scene in 1943 after moving from Catford Stadium to Wimbledon, and was placed in the care of Stan Martin.[18] Phil Rees Sr. joined the track as a trainer in the 1960s following the retirement of Dennis Hannafin, and the Greyhound Express Merit Puppy Championship was renamed the Juvenile in 1963.[18] Wimbledon introduced new technology in 1976 after using a sectional timing mechanism, and were one of the first tracks to use the system of grading (selecting greyhounds in classes on ability).In 1998 the Laurels relocated to sister track Belle Vue Stadium, and a new Paddock Bar extension costing £500,000 opened; the kennels were moved to the first bend to facilitate the change.Trainer Ray Peacock died in 2007, with racing Manager Derek Hope leaving to join William Hill, being replaced by Gary Matthews.After sharply falling attendances for many years, and with the stadium becoming dilapidated, its closure was announced by the GRA and the final meeting was held on 25 March 2017.This attracted a large crowd, many of whom were turned away due to reduced capacity restrictions, caused by much of the stadium being closed off for public safety.The last ever race was won by Glitzy King, trained by Brian Nicholls, who provided many of the dogs in the final few months of the stadium's existence.[28] Plough Lane also hosted Motor Racing events promoted by Spedeworth International, including Superstox, Stock Cars, Hot Rods and Bangers.The Unlimited Banger World Final also used to take place at Wimbledon until the event moved to Foxhall Stadium in 2008, citing the introduction of the London low emission zone as making it too expensive for the transporters to travel to the venue.