| Morton Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Santry | |
| Location | Santry, Dublin, Ireland |
| Opened | 1958 |
| Capacity | 4,000 (800 seated) |
| Tenants | |
| Clonliffe Harriers Shamrock Rovers (1999-2001) Sporting Fingal F.C. (2007-2010) |
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Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry, in the north of Dublin City. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Ireland, and home track of Clonliffe Harriers. It was home to Sporting Fingal FC. The modern capacity of the ground is 4,000 [1] with a single 800 seat, covered stand.
The stadium was opened in 1958 with a cinder track. An inaugural series of meetings was held, and on 6 August 1958, Australian Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile run with a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds. This was the first race in which five athletes had run a four minute mile.
In 1978 the stadium was resurfaced with a tartan track, the first such in the Republic of Ireland. In the early 1990s it was renamed after Billy Morton, the late administrator who had initiated the original track and who brought famous athletes to compete in the stadium. It hosted the athletics events of the Special Olympics World Games in 2003.
The stadium consists of a small covered stand with 800 seats and three sides of open terracing, bringing the total capacity up to 4,000. The stand encompasses dressing rooms and other facilities; there are also separate clubhouses for the associated clubs. The stadium complex also has indoor athletics training facilities.
On 25 July 2008, a special event was held in the stadium called the Morton Memorial Meeting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the aforementioned world mile record in an event promoted by the late Billy Morton. The event website is www.mortonmemorial.com where there are photos of the 1958 event.
The track (both indoor and outdoor) was relayed in late 2010. The indoor track is now blue.
Santry has also hosted the home games of soccer clubs Shamrock Rovers (from 1999–2001) and Dublin City.
Sporting Fingal of the League of Ireland played at the stadium though they were expected to move to the Fingal Sports Complex after its construction.
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