Catford Stadium

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Catford Stadium[[1]] is a closed historic greyhound track in Catford [[2]], a suburb of London. It was open between 1932 and 2003, when it was closed by its commercial operator Wembley. In its heyday before the legalisation of bettings shops in the 1960s, the Stadium[[3]] attracted large crowds[[4]], and celebrities such as Henry Cooper, Lester Piggott, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Leslie Grantham appeared to present trophies to the winners.

Before it closed[[5]], the stadium was embroiled in controversey, when in 2001, a trainer was caught on camera admitting overfeeding dogs to slow them down, and again in 2002, when a greyhound named Football Focus died of heat exhaustion. The local amauteur side, Catford Wanderers, were mooted to move into the stadium[[6]], though this dream was never realised. The stadium[[7]] has caught on fire and has since been demolished, along with the scoreboard [[8]]. Greyhound racing as a whole in the UK has been in terminal decline for several decades now, as there were once 33 greyhound stadiums alone in London, now only 4 are left (Crayford, Romford, Walthamstow and Wimbeldon). All that remains now is the large neo sign [[9]], bearing that once legendary name: Catford Stadium[[10]].

[edit] External links

• BBC news item about closure
• Pictures at Derelict London
• [11]