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walthamstow greyhound staduim arguably the finest greyhound staduim in the country is to close in mid august.

blamed for the closure is bad attendances aligned with later betting office opening hours, the tote turnover is down 35% and running costs are high.

bullshit imo , looks like mr chandler has sold out to property developers for top dollar for real estate highly sought after land with the 2012 olympics coming up.

below is the official line on things:

Official Walthamstow statement
PRESS STATEMENT
Agreed Sale of Company's Land 16 May 2008
The directors of Walthamstow Stadium Limited have agreed to the sale of the Company's freehold property at Walthamstow Stadium to a development consortium led by Yoo Capital, London, and Quadrant Housing Association and K W Linfoot plc. Formal contracts have been exchanged and completion is expected on or before 1st September 2008. Racing will continue until the middle of August 2008.

Since the abolition of General Betting Duty in 2001, with the consequent loss of the unique advantage of tax-free betting only on-course, greyhound punters have been able to bet tax-free off-course, and with betting offices and exchanges open throughout the evening to accommodate them, attendances and betting turnover on-course have declined dramatically. Walthamstow's totalisator turnover alone has fallen by some 35 per cent during the period.

With all of the principle income streams in sharp decline, and general running costs rising relentlessly, the company's operations have become unsustainable.

Staff and trainers have been notified and now enter a consultation period. It is hoped that all will find alternative positions after operations cease. From an animal welfare point of view, it is anticipated that most of the greyhounds currently racing at the Stadium will be accommodated at other racecourses. If, however, certain owners choose to retire their greyhounds, every effort will be made to support them in finding suitable homes.







whatever the reason its a sad day for greyhound racing

wow, so sick, good memories from the stow

I remember i was on my way to catford and i stopped in the pub and the landlord showed me on teletext that they announced the track was closing.......................on the same day!!!!!!!!

lol, i couldn't believe it, they still haven't done anything with the track or carpark all these years later.

He might have sold out but the betting shops are taking the piss with their opening hours these days, all so they can keep the roulette machines going longer, i know a lot of private bookmakers make so much more on the machines than anything else but it's gotten silly now, they'd be open 24 hours if they were allowed to and it's affecting other areas of the industry

Nooooooooooooo Charlie Chans RIP, I spent some drunken nights there in my younger days :(

dont get me wrong i dont blame him for selling just feel a more honest reason should be forthcoming.

betting shops were on there arse before roulette machines were introduced, now they keep them alive.


white city, harringay, catford, westham, wembley stamford bridge and now walthamstow!

this leaves as far as im aware wimbledon as the only surviving london track

Kinsley FTW.

Romford

 ;carlocitrone;

I didnt think the big firms knew how to be in trouble?

seems silly building new tracks and trying to repopulise the sport, it's obviously a dying game, people would rather bet indoors online, or play poker, bingo etc to go out for a night at the dogs, there just doesnt seem to be that many new people coming into the game, a lot of the poeple still about are the mob from the 60s, 70s and 80s, i think in 50-60 years time there wont be any greyhound racing unfortunatley.

Charlie chans, so sick, good days

 ;carlocitrone;

romford is not in london kev, you should know that!

and it dont help with ***** like this lobbying!!!!!!!

http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/londonTracks.htm

lol we had this debate before !

Romford IS in London FACT.

When i said it was when we went before both you and turny said it wasnt! Make your mind up!

I wouldnt have said it wasnt, cos I know it is.

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

sad people

In what parallel universe could greyhound racing be considered cruel.

Why is it when the dogs come out of the traps they dont all stop and look at eachother and say: "this is bollocks, lets go back to the kennels, i'm freezing"?

pmsl

Derby dogs was sold out years ago for yuppie flats. Not in the class of walthamstow but i think its a way greyhound stadiums will eventually go unfirtunately

those numpty tree huggers protesting have probably never even seen a greyhound race, they probably think they use a new live hare for every race ... fkin joke.

never in a month of sundays!

people that are cruel to greyhounds are scum and should be brought to justice but to tie all greyhound owners and enthuasiasts with the same brush is bollox.

greyhounds were born to run and chase!

if any of these twats stop me outside wimbledon next week on my way in they will get a swift kick in the proverbials!!!

And Park Royal.

I used to be a regular at Stamford Bridge on a Saturday night which kicked off at around 5.45pm and then if there was any money left we'd all pile into taxis over to White City and get in for a reduced entry fee for the last few races and some jellied eels. Happy days....

Edited: Stamford Bridge was Saturdays, Wembley was on a Friday.

It's just sad, moaning for the sake of moaning, i cant be bothered to investigate the reasons why they believe greyhound racing is detrimental to the dogs but it sounds like a bunch of people with absolutely nothing better to do, because there really isn't any discernable reason to believe so
.
If your into animal rights so are so many GENUINE causes you could be lobbying against, and i'm sure that in between sewing leaves into their jeans and updating their web page dedicated to heather mills McCartney they find time to protest against the proper causes but they seem to have put a lot of effort into denigrating the sport of greyhound racing for no particular reason, muppets!

thanks ralph yes of course park royal.


and how could i forget the best running track in the country in its day hackney!

also there were tracks at hendon, clapton, wandsworth and new cross!

unless a track is now owned by a major bookmaking firm it has no chance of survival

crayford

level?  ::)

no level. it being a track and being in London it kinda fits the criteria of a surviving London track

The county of greater London maybe but not london town

Bexley is in the London Borough of Bexley, Walthamstow is in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, both are towns in Greater London

crayford is different than bexley, crayford is kent, it might be in the county of london but it doesnt have a london postcode

Crayford does not have a London postcode as the nearest sorting office is just down the road in Dartford, just across the border into kent. Crayford dog track sits probably 400 metres from this border but is most definitely in London. The Dartford postcodes actually stretch cover quite a large area of what is in fact SE London

Then it's not in London, it's in kent! ;D

do you live in the south east?

not if it's in London it's not.

I was born and grew up about a mile and a half from the track, I know where it is and it aint in Kent

well we better come up with a third answer then cos it's not london

portsmouth?

Portsmouth is in London ...

It's closer than crayford

it must be, i heard some woman shouting Rickkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy earlier, Portsmouth is more London than Walford FACT!

lolz, gotta love your argument on this one, ignoring the fact that it's physically situated in London and just using the fact that it has a Dartford postcode.

the DA15 postcode stretches as far as parts of Greenwich and I'm pretty sure even you can't claim Greenwich is not in London.

I'm not using any argument other than it's in Kent because it's in kent because crayford dog track is in kent and it's not in london because it's in kent alright?

now dartfords in greenwich yeah?

This is extremely sad news.

what that Dartfords in greenwich? i know, all these kent bods living in S E London, DONT need that!

a brilliant argument, the only thing letting you down is the facts

no that 'stow is closing.

I dont need facts, look how many times i said it!

yeah but you get over it, then the realisation sets in that Dartford(which is in kent and nearer to dover than London) is actually in Greenwich, it's worrying ::)

blimey, I've just counted and you did say it quite often. I'm now beginning to see that you may be right.............

maybe Crayford is in Kent after all, shame really, leaves Wimbledon as the only track in London

Who said that Dartford is in Greenwich/?

fwiw I class anything withnin the M25 as London. ::)

ty

Didn't Charlie Chan's close ages ago anyway?

RIP the Stow.


You think they can give me a refund for monies lost?

Did it ?? ... shows how old I am then :)

dartfords in kent and romfords in essex end of!

ask any true londoner and they will say the same. that leaves wimbledon as sole surviving london track when walthmstow closes.

as for classing anywhere inside the m25 as london pppleeeeaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeeeeee!  rotflmfao

It says in today's RP that the 'stow lost around £500k last year.

err, yes, Dartford is in Kent although that's not particularly relevant to the discussion of dog tracks seeing as it doesn't have one.

Crayford however does have a track and is in London.

I rest my case.