Ellesmere Port Stadium was a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

stadium on Thornton Road,

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

, in the Wirral,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England.

Origins

The track was constructed in the late 1960s, west of the

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that netwo ...

and east of Cow Worth Grange and Thornton Road.

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing started on 29 February 1988 and the first race was won by Go Ben Go. The greyhound racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course be ...

) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. Racing took place on Monday and Saturday evenings. The track circumference was 410 yards, with original race distances of 310, 525, 650 and 710 yards. The hare system was an 'Inside Sumner' and the track had long straights and exceptionally wide bends. The main annual events were the Cheshire Oaks and Whitbread Open. Race distances were changed to 265 and 470 metres before the track underwent major renovation. In 2013, £170,000 was spent in upgrading the facilities of the 2,000-capacity stadium.

Speedway

Speedway took place from 1972 until 1982, and again in 1985.

Football

Football teams that played at the stadium included Ellesmere Port Town F.C., Ellesmere Port & Neston F.C. and

Colwyn Bay F.C. Colwyn Bay Football Club () is a Association football, football club based in Old Colwyn in North Wales. They are currently members of the . Nicknamed the Seagulls, but also known as 'The Bay', their home ground is Llanelian Road in Old Colwyn. ...

Closure

The stadium closed in the spring of 2014 and in 2016 plans were passed to build 141 homes on the site.

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct football venues in England Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct speedway venues in England Sport in Ellesmere Port