Monmore Green Stadium is a greyhound racing and former motorcycle speedway stadium located in Wolverhampton.[1] The stadium has private suites, a restaurant and a number of bars. The venue is owned and operated by the Ladbrokes Coral group.
 The entrance to the stadium in 2007 | |
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| Location | Wolverhampton, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°34′37.71″N 2°6′6.73″W / 52.5771417°N 2.1018694°W |
| Operator | Entain (Ladbrokes Coral) |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Website | |
| monmoregreyhounds | |
Speedway edit
Motorcycle speedway was raced on Monday nights with the Wolverhampton Wolves competing in the top division of the sport.[2] The speedway track at Monmore Green is 264 metres (289 yards) long.[3]
Greyhound racing edit
Matinée races take place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays with evening race meetings on Thursday and Saturday nights. The track hosts several major races including the Ladbrokes Gold Cup, Ladbrokes Puppy Derby, Ladbrokes Festival 630's, Ladbrokes Summer Cup and from 2015 the prestigious puppy competition the Trafalgar Cup.[4]
The track features prominently in the song "Monmore, Hare's Running" on the 1997 album Voyage to the Bottom of the Road by the band Half Man Half Biscuit.
History edit
20th Century edit
Monmore opened in 1928 south-east of Wolverhampton and south of the Sutherland Road between the Great Western Railway line and East Park (a large sculptured park and gardens). The official opening night was Wednesday 11 January 1928 organised by a company called the Midland Greyhound Racing Association. A 10,000 strong crowd witnessed the seven races including two hurdle events and the first greyhound to win a race was Arrow Tranby winning one of the 500 yards races in a time of 32.08 secs at odds of 6-1 when winning the Shirley Stakes.[5]
In 1935, the large resident Monmore kennels were split into two sections and also served Willenhall Greyhound Stadium. Unlike many tracks Monmore remained open during the majority of the war and introduced the Midland Puppy Championship in 1943, which would become the Midland Puppy Derby and then the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby (not to be confused with the more prestigious Puppy Derby held at Wimbledon Stadium). The company ran a policy of having joint Racing Managers covering both Monmore and Willenhall. In the fifties Peter Cartwright left his position as Racing Manager to join the National Greyhound Racing Club and was replaced by Bob Harwood. Further competitions were introduced at the track that included the Midland St Leger, Midland Classic Potential, Pride of the Midlands and Staffordshire Knot.[6]
In 1963, a devastating fire swept through the main grandstand resulting in the closure of the track for a considerable period whilst repairs were made. The annual Midland Puppy Championship had to be switched to Willenhall.[7] The fire instigated a major change with the grandstand undergoing significant investment in the mid-sixties to include an ultra-modern glass fronted restaurant with tiered viewing and waitress service. It brought the facilities up to date and attracted outside interest from the Totalisators and Greyhound Holdings (TGH). In 1970 TGH purchased Willenhall and Monmore from the Midland Greyhound Racing Co Ltd to add to the existing tracks of Crayford & Bexleyheath, Gosforth, Leeds and Brough Park that they already owned. Four years later in 1974 Ladbrokes bought out TGH and added another racetrack Perry Barr. Arthur Aldridge became Racing Director for Ladbrokes and following the 1981 decimation of horse racing fixtures due to bad weather the track held BAGS (Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Service) fixtures for the first time.[8]
The tracks resident kennels were demolished in the late eighties making way for the contract trainer system and Jim Woods arrived from Nottingham Greyhound Stadium to take over as Racing Manager with Bob Harwood General Manager. The stadium hosted the Golden Jacket classic race in 1986 before it moved to Crayford Stadium and a pre-war event the Midland Gold Cup returned in 1994.[9] The stadium underwent changes in 1996 including a change of hare system from a Sumner to a Swaffham.[10]
21st Century edit
2011 was a very successful year for the track when they won the BAGS National Track Championship [11] and trainer Chris Allsopp became champion trainer. In 2013, Jim Woods retired after a 31-year career handing the reigns to Tony Williamson who had served for twenty years as Wood's assistant.[12] The prestigious Trafalgar Cup competition was held for the first time in 2015.[13]
In 2018 the stadium signed a deal with SIS to race every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon and every Thursday and Saturday evening.[14] Leading trainer Kevin Hutton joined the track in August 2018.[15]
In 2022, Entain signed a long term deal with the Arena Racing Company for media rights, starting in January 2024.[16] In 2023, the stadium owners announced that speedway would cease after the 2023 season.[17]
Major competitions edit
Track records edit
Current edit
| Metres | Greyhound | Time | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 210 | Crossfield Larry[19] | 12.34 | 9 September 2023 | |
| 264 | Jetharts Here[20] | 14.95 | 8 September 2007 | |
| 416 | Southfield Jock[21] | 24.01 | 4 December 2015 | |
| 480 | Ballymac Eske[22] | 27.48 | 28 June 2012 | |
| 630 | Iceman Brutus [23] | 37.07 | 20 August 2007 | Ladbrokes Gold Cup heats |
| 684 | Centour Corker[24] | 40.60 | 29 May 2003 | Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic Final |
| 835 | Slick Strauss[25] | 51.00 | 17 August 2017 |
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References edit
- ^ "Track Search". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 25 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ Wolverhampton Wolves website
- ^ Wolverhampton Wolves club and track information
- ^ "Resurrecting the great Trafalgar was pure class". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015.
- ^ Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 106. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
- ^ Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing, pages 57-58. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 07207-1106-1.
- ^ "Piper Apache in Open at Wolverhampton". Birmingham Mail. 10 September 1963. Retrieved 2 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Genders, Roy (1990). NGRC book of Greyhound Racing, page 60. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7207-1804-X.
- ^ Fry, Paul (1995). The Official NGRC Greyhound Racing Yearbook. pages 225-226. Ringpress Books. ISBN 186054-010-4.
- ^ "Remember When - October". Greyhound Star.
- ^ "2011 Bags Intertrack Championship". Greyhound Star.
- ^ "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When 2013)". Greyhound Star.
- ^ "Resurrecting the great Trafalgar was pure class". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015.
- ^ "SIS announces schedule for SIS British Greyhound Service for 2018". SIS.
- ^ "More Towcester Trainers Relocate". Greyhound Star.
- ^ "No Competition - No Progress". Greyhound Star. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "STATEMENT: WOLVERHAMPTON SPEEDWAY". British Speedway. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "British Track Records as of January 2024". Greyhound Star. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ "Lawrence Jones mMemorial Festival 210". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 25 January 2024.}
- ^ "M.M.C. WOLVERHAMPTON TROPHY". Greyhound Data. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "LAWRENCE JONES MEMORIAL FESTIVAL 416 (HEAT 1)". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "Monmore (Wolverhampton) 28 JUN 2012 HT 5". Greyhound Data. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "LADBROKES GOLD CUP 630 (HEAT 2)". Greyhound Data. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "Summer Classic". Greyhound Data. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "LADBROKES 835". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "LADBROKES.COM 210". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2021.}
- ^ "British performances of the week". Greyhound Star. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "LADBROKES.COM 900". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "LADBROKES TV TROPHY 2021 FINAL". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- ^ "Monmore track records". Greyhound Data. Retrieved 17 October 2021.