Poole Stadium
Encyclopedia
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
venue and speedway
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
track located in the town centre of Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
is owned by the Borough of Poole. It was built in the early 1930s in an attempt to provide a source of entertainment to the residents of Poole during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Due to a sponsorship deal with local radio station Wave 105
Wave 105
Wave 105 is a UK regional commercial radio station broadcasting across Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of West Sussex and Wiltshire. Playing a mix of adult contemporary music, it combines presenter-led shows with local news and information, entertainment guides and competitions. The...
, the stadium is also known as the Wave 105 Stadium. It is also often referred to as Wimborne Road, which is a road that runs adjacent to the stadium. During weekdays, the stadium's large car park is used to provide parking for Poole Hospital
Poole Hospital
Poole Hospital is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed NHS foundation trust hospital...
's park and ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
scheme.
Football
In 1933 local semi-professional football team Poole Town F.C.Poole Town F.C.
Poole Town F.C. is a football club based in Poole, England. They were established in 1890 and joined the Western League Division Two in 1930. They won the Western League title in 1957 and reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup four times in their history. They are currently members of the...
moved to Poole Stadium where they began to play their home games in the Western Football League
Western Football League
The Western Football League is a football league in the south west of England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and parts of South Wales...
. In the 1946/47 season they had a run in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
which took them through to a first round match against Queens Park Rangers. Poole Town drew 2-2 at Loftus Road
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, London. It is home to the English football team Queens Park Rangers of the Premier League and has a capacity of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End , Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End,...
, but lost 6-0 in the replay in front of a then record breaking Poole Stadium crowd of 10,224. They again reached the first round in the 1962/63 season and held Watford F.C.
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
to a 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road, a stadium in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, is the home of the football club Watford and their tenants, the Saracens rugby union club. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 17,477.-History:...
, but lost the replay at Poole Stadium in front of a 11,155 crowd.
Poole Town were based at the stadium for 61 years until Poole Council forced them to leave in 1994, blaming low attendances. During their stay at the stadium, the club had financed improvements to the stadium such as a 1,100 seater grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
on the east side of the football pitch built in 1960, and covered terracing
Terrace (stadium)
A terrace or terracing in sporting terms refers to the traditional standing area of a sports stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
on the west side.
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing was introduced to the stadium in 1960 and continued to take place there up until 1990 when the greyhound track was removed to accommodate a larger football pitchAssociation football pitch
An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...
. Football no longer took place at the stadium after 1994 and greyhound racing returned when Stadia UK were given a long term lease on the stadium by Poole Borough Council. Stadia UK financed the construction of a modern glass fronted grandstand on the east side of the stadium in 1997 which incorporated a 312 seat restaurant, two bars, full Tote
The Tote
The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...
betting facilities and multiple viewing screens. Race nights take place on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Speedway
Poole Pirates
Poole Pirates are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the British Elite League...
since the club was created in 1948 and speedway has taken place at the stadium every year since. Prior to 1948, a cycle track
Track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....
had surrounded the football pitch until it was replaced with the larger speedway track. Poole Stadium was chosen to host the 2004 Speedway World Cup
2004 Speedway World Cup
The 2004 Speedway World Cup was the 4th FIM Speedway World Cup season. The Final took place on August 7, 2004 in Poole, Great Britain. The tournament was won by Sweden and they beat host team Great Britain , Denmark and Poland in the Final.-Qualification:-Venues:Two cities were selected to host...
final by organiser Benfield Sports International (BSI). Poole hosted the qualifying race-off and the final which took place on August 7 with Sweden
Sweden national speedway team
Sweden are one of the major teams in international speedway. They have been managed by Mats Olsson, who is currently in his 2nd spell, since 2005 after he quit in 2000...
becoming the 2004 World Champions. Temporary stands were erected around the corners of the track to provide 2,200 extra seats. The official attendance figure at the stadium for the final was 7,131.
Poole Speedway is officially 299.1m long and the track record is 56.91 set by Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's Antonio Lindback
Antonio Lindbäck
Antonio Lindbäck is an international motorcycle speedway rider who was a member of the Swedish team who won the Speedway World Cup in 2004.- Career highlights :...
on June 14, 2006.