White City Stadium, Sloper Road, Grangetown, Cardiff, South Wales.
POSTCODE————————————CF11 8BG
LOCATED—————————————About one mile south west of the Millennium Stadium.
ORIGINAL SITE——————————-Reclaimed marshland.
DATE CONSTRUCTED———————-1927-28.
DATE VENUE OPENED———————April 1928.
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING——————————April 7th 1928.
Greyhound Racing only.
LICENSED OR INDEPENDENT————NGRC.
All venues covered would have to be licensed with the government, licensed suggested in this section would refer to tracks operating under NGRC Rules.
INSIDE OR OUTSIDE HARE TYPE——–A McWhirter-Ellis trackless endless drive system, presumably outside.
Please note that the Electric Hare suggested is only a guidance and would have been in operation for a certain amount of time at this venue. Although it is not necessarily guaranteed that it was operational all the time, as other types of lure may have been used and updated as time progressed.
DISTANCES————————————525 yards.
Please note that most racing venues distances had become varied throughout the years, the ones given above were at once point set and offers only a guidance to the track size.
CIRCUMFERENCE—————————467 yards.
Please note that alterations at most racing venues throughout its existence would see that the circumference of the track would vary, the one shown above offers only a guidance to the track size.
BIG RACE NAMES—————————-The Welsh Greyhound Derby from 1928-1936.
STADIUM SHARED WITH——————Speedway, Rugby League and Athletics.
LAST MEETING——————————-Saturday November 28th 1936.
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-1937 for Speedway.
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————–1938.
BUILT ON SITE——————————–The GKN Sports club transformed it in to more sporting pitches but they got built over during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s with houses on Osbourne Square and surrounding streets.
In some cases, structure’s that originally covered the venue after the stadium had been demolished, may have been themselves demolished too, so the one described is more likely to be the one which now presently covers the site.
EVIDENCE LEFT TODAY——————–Nothing known of.
FURTHER COMMENTS———————The stadium had a crowd capacity of 70,000 and that three sides of the venue was covered.
The long gone Welsh White City Greyhound Stadium that was based in Cardiff, was located roughly one mile south west of the Millennium Stadium in a district known as Grangetown. It was during 1927 that the GRA purchased a section of reclaimed marshland, situated along the side of Sloper Road, with a view of promoting the new sport of Greyhound Racing in South Wales.
The new stadium would be known as the Welsh White City, designed and constructed in a similar way to other White City stadiums that had been erected in various cities across the UK during that time. It was a fashionable venue with white painted walls, two large grandstands and enough standing room to accommodate 40,000 racegoers. Under the grandstands was six kennel blocks, with adequate room to house 180 greyhounds. It had up to date track lighting, bright enough to illuminate the 470 yards circumference grassed circuit. The GRA announced that all races would be run under rules similar to those of the NGRC, over a set distance of 525 yards, with the view of staging the Welsh Greyhound Derby annually during July.
Its opening meeting came on the 7th of April 1928, but the Saturday evenings poor weather contributed to a below expected 9,000 crowd. Even the first event added to the disappointment, as the hurdle race was declared void due to all the greyhounds wanting to fight each other rather than race. But the following Easter Monday meeting proved more satisfying, with the much-improved weather accounting for the impressive 25,000 crowd that had turned out to watch an uninterrupted evening. Yet within seven weeks of its opening, success at the White City had triggered off enthusiasts promoting the sport at the Cardiff Arms Park venue, who like the White City began attracting plenty of public interest. But it was the Sloper Road venue that had the upper hand by staging much classier events than its less elaborate neighbour, even the famous Mick the Miller raced there on more than one occasion, before taking the honours of winning the Welsh Derby in 1930.
The Welsh White City hosted the first ever Rugby League match played in Wales, with the Welsh national side playing England on the 14th of November 1928, in front of a crowd of 15,000. Another sporting event which would feature at the venue was Dirt Track Speedway Racing, with its first meeting being staged on Boxing Day of 1928. The sport would run for the next two seasons, before returning once again for just one season in 1936. The second spell would see a considerable investment made by the stadium’s owner on improvements for Speedway Racing, but the lack of interest from the public cost them dearly. Speedway did return once more in 1937 but for one final meeting only in July. But it was around the mid 1930’s that attendances at greyhound meetings began to dwindle too, one factor was that the Arms Park venue was attracting better attendances due its more city centre location.
Sadly. The Welsh White City ran their last Welsh Derby during 1936, and by end of the year Greyhound Racing at ceased, having staged its last meeting on November 28th 1936. The glamour of the Welsh White City had gone as the stadiums owners began to suffer losses, finding themselves in a position to be taken over by the Arms Park Company by March 1937. Although a handful of Speedway meetings were staged during 1937, no further Greyhound races took place. By the end of 1937 the stadium was bought by the Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Steel Company, with all the fitments sold by auction during December 1937.
The following year witnessed the total demolition of the stadium, before making way for a new sports ground, which included a pavilion for a newly laid cricket pitch, which also acted as football pitches during the winter, along with purpose-built tennis courts and bowling greens.
Today, the GKN sports venue no longer exists having been abandoned in 1962 and began to disappear beneath a new housing development project which continued between 1974 and 1984. The site is now covered by streets surrounding Osbourne Square, leaving no evidence at all of any sporting venues.
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