| KINGS HEATH GREYHOUND STADIUM This site is not an official website for the track shown here and is neither approved or endorsed by the stadium. I am indebted to Richard English for helping to construct this page. |
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| The greyhound track at Kings Heath,
Birmingham, was situated on Alcester Road at the Alcester Lanes End, with crowds being
brought to the popular meeting by tram. It struggled to compete with its more illustrious
neighbours Hall Green and Perry Barr. It was first converted to greyhound racing in
1926 and had opened its gates as one of the earliest tracks on 21st May 1927 and was not
only NGRC registered but even offered BAGS meetings. In 1931 the racing was administered by the Associated Greyhound Racecourses Limited, with Admiral Sir Sydney R Freemantle as the main Director. The track had a circumference of 450 yards and operated a Metro-Vickers Electric Hare. Meetings in the early 1930s were held on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. There was a Members Club which had an annual subscription of 10 shillings and 6 pence. By 1936 the lease of the track was
taken over by H Leo Craven, but by 1949 the Greyhound Company had purchased the freehold
for the ground.
The most prestigious races at the track were the Lincoln, the Midlands Oaks and the Tradesmen's Trophy. I am grateful to Tony Nash for providing detailed information on winners of each of the feature races.
It finally closed its doors on 31st March 1971. |
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Famous bookmakers of the city cut their teeth at Kings Heath, notably Don and Ray Berrow, Bob Thornton, Tom Sheldon and Norman Fogg. |
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Track Records, as of 1962, are shown below together with an indication of how fast the time is in comparison to other tracks, both for currently open and defunct tracks, in the UK. Ratings are between 0 and 100, where 100 is an extremely fast time and reflects the speed of the track, tightness of the circuit and quality of greyhound visiting the tracks. |
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I am grateful to Jon Seddon for the following link to a map showing the whereabouts of the old track |
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| This section gives a comprehensive picture of
the badges produced by the track throughout the ages, but only provides the briefest of
glimpses of its history. For those wishing to undertake further research we can recommend
a visit to http://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwgreyhoundd-21 where further reading can be undertaken. |
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If you have rare Kings Heath badges and artefacts for sale then email johnslusar@fsmail.net |
| The Lincoln winners
1937 Hexham Bridge 1938 Demotic Mack 1939 Loyal Judy 1952 Sound Sprig 1953 Kettledrum 1954 Manganstown Major 1955 Manganstown Major 1956 Suir Villa Champion 1957 Wish Me Luck 1958 Five Up 1959 Wincot Clifford 1960 Welcome Home 1961 Welcome Home 1962 Poetic License 1963 Blackamoor 1964 Old Berry Silent 1965 Red Captain 1966 Kiddie Kut 1967 Stately Boy |
The Midland Oaks winners
1956 Queen of the Hollow 1957 Witch of the Wood 1958 Northern Princess 1959 Almond Blossom 1960 Wheatfield Swan 1961 Rattling Chariot 1962 Carols Black 1963 Calamaun 1964 Peace Sprite 1965 Ballingaddy 1966 Laughing Flame |
The Tradesmen's Trophy winners
1953 Killgariff Lily 1954 Pickpocket O'Leer 1955 Lanigan Charlie 1956 King of the Celts 1957 Jill's Knight 1958 Ennismore Enterprise 1959 Flying Swan 1960 Johnny's Fawn 1961 Dunsallagh Pleasure 1962 Nuptown Dobi 1963 Game Shuttle 1964 Silvae Smasher 1965 Clonmore Dew 1966 Seal Flipper |