Monmore Green Stadium


Monmore Green Stadium is a Greyhound racing in [the United Kingdom|greyhound racing] and former motorcycle speedway stadium located in Wolverhampton. The stadium has private suites, a restaurant and a number of bars. The venue is owned and operated by Entain Group.

Speedway

was raced on Monday nights with the Wolverhampton Wolves competing in the top division of the sport. The speedway track at Monmore Green is long.

Greyhound racing

Matinée races take place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays with evening race meetings on Thursday and Saturday nights. The track hosts several major races including the Ladbrokes Gold Cup, Ladbrokes Puppy Derby, Ladbrokes Festival 630's, Ladbrokes Summer Cup and from 2015 the prestigious puppy competition the Trafalgar Cup.
The track features prominently in the song "Monmore, Hare's Running" on the 1997 album Voyage to the Bottom of the Road by the band Half Man Half Biscuit.

History

20th Century

Monmore opened in 1928 south-east of Wolverhampton and south of the Sutherland Road between the Great Western Railway line and East Park. The official opening night was Wednesday 11 January 1928 organised by a company called the Midland Greyhound Racing Association. A 10,000 strong crowd witnessed the seven races including two hurdle events and the first greyhound to win a race was Arrow Tranby winning one of the 500 yards races in a time of 32.08 secs at odds of 6-1 when winning the Shirley Stakes.
In 1935, the large resident Monmore kennels were split into two sections and also served Willenhall Greyhound Stadium. Unlike many tracks Monmore remained open during the majority of the war and introduced the Midland Puppy Championship in 1943, which would become the Midland Puppy Derby and then the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby. The company ran a policy of having joint Racing Managers covering both Monmore and Willenhall. In the fifties Peter Cartwright left his position as Racing Manager to join the National [Greyhound Racing Club] and was replaced by Bob Harwood. Further competitions were introduced at the track that included the Midland St Leger, Midland Classic Potential, Pride of the Midlands and Staffordshire Knot.
In 1963, a devastating fire swept through the main grandstand resulting in the closure of the track for a considerable period whilst repairs were made. The annual Midland Puppy Championship had to be switched to Willenhall. The fire instigated a major change with the grandstand undergoing significant investment in the mid-sixties to include an ultra-modern glass fronted restaurant with tiered viewing and waitress service. It brought the facilities up to date and attracted outside interest from the Totalisators and Greyhound Holdings. In 1970 TGH purchased Willenhall and Monmore from the Midland Greyhound Racing Co Ltd to add to the existing tracks of Crayford & Bexleyheath, Gosforth, Leeds and Brough Park that they already owned. Four years later in 1974 Ladbrokes bought out TGH and added another racetrack Perry Barr. Arthur Aldridge became Racing Director for Ladbrokes and following the 1981 decimation of horse racing fixtures due to bad weather the track held BAGS fixtures for the first time.
The track's resident kennels were demolished in the late eighties making way for the contract trainer system and Jim Woods arrived from Nottingham Greyhound Stadium to take over as Racing Manager with Bob Harwood General Manager. The stadium hosted the Golden Jacket classic race in 1986 before it moved to Crayford Stadium and a pre-war event the Midland Gold Cup returned in 1994. The stadium underwent changes in 1996 including a change of hare system from a Sumner to a Swaffham and a major track redesign creating new race distances.

21st Century

2011 was a very successful year for the track when they won the BAGS National Track Championship and trainer Chris Allsopp became champion trainer. In 2013, Jim Woods retired after a 31-year career handing the reigns to Tony Williamson who had served for twenty years as Wood's assistant. The prestigious Trafalgar Cup competition was held for the first time in 2015.
In 2018 the stadium signed a deal with SIS to race every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon and every Thursday and Saturday evening. Leading trainer Kevin Hutton joined the track in August 2018.
In 2022, Entain signed a long term deal with the Arena Racing Company for media rights, starting in January 2024. In 2023, the stadium owners announced that speedway would cease after the 2023 season.

Major competitions

Track records

Previous (post-metric)

MetresGreyhoundTimeDateNotes
210Cry Havoc12.6420 March 1997
210Andlyns Asabat12.458 May 2014
264Parliament Act15.3228 August 2001
264Boher Chief15.3027 May 2004
264La Galga15.2411 August 2005
264La Galga15.2326 August 2005
264Winnies Dancer15.228 October 2005
264Ningbo Jack15.0912 June 2006
264Paid Boss15.0824 August 2007
277Cross Bar16.6619 April 1984
277Fearless Champ16.349 November 1985
416Devitos Chance24.96 10 December 1997
416Moynies Cash24.573 July 2004
416Woodcroft Jo24.514 September 2004
416Belindas Company24.3323 September 2006
416Funtime Chunky24.3324 August 2007
416Last Mohican24.305 July 2008
416Loughbeag Roopy24.2226 June 2010
416Guinness Sky 24.2124 June 2013
460Larkhill Jo27.1510 April 1997
462Hume Silver28.1514 April 1984
462Fearless Champ28.1218 January 1986
480Larkhill Jo27.957 July 1997Midland Gold Cup semi-final
480Knocktoosh Queen27.939 August 2003
480Express Hancho27.9123 August 2003 Ladbrokes Gold Cup semi-finals
480Westmead Eagle27.8517 March 2005
480Ballymac Pires27.8217 March 2005 Ladbrokes Puppy Derby final
480Blonde Dino27.818 September 2007
480Ballymac Ruso27.796 December 2008
480Bandicoot Tipoki27.7612 March 2009 Ladbrokes Puppy Derby heats
480Farloe Lee=27.7612 March 2009Ladbrokes Puppy Derby heats
480Target Classic27.717 December 2009
480Farley Blitz27.6013 February 2010
484Duke of Avon29.225 July 1979
484Keen Mint29.5511 October 1982
484Fearless Power29.268 November 1986
484Darragh Commet29.0811 February 1989
484Heres Andy29.005 July 1996last 484 record
630Spring Rose37.9010 May 1997
630Slippy Elite37.8128 November 1998
630Form of Magic37.5616 May 2002Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic heats
630Marmions37.4220 May 2004Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic semi
630Westmead Hawk37.0820 May 2005
647 Telecomm Tiger40.4218 October 1986
647 Catunda Flame40.338 July 1989
647 Easy Bimbo40.1813 July 1991
647Highmoor Glen40.1010 July 1993
684 True Honcho41.0314 April 2001
692 Desert Fame43.4125 April 1984
692Miss Bluebird43.3729 October 1985
815 Lizzies Girl52.1623 April 1975 BBC TV Trophy Final
815 Scurlogue Champ51.8015 May 1985 BBC TV Trophy heats
815Scurlogue Champ51.6422 May 1985BBC TV Trophy final
835Spenwood Gem52.0917 September 1998
835Knappogue Oak52.0928 August 2001
835Minglers Moth52.0115 August 2002
835Hesley Gale51.9527 May 2004
835Head Iton Tonge51.6021 June 2007
835Flying Winner51.2629 August 2009
880Thornfield Pride 54.7919 July 1997
900Make It Not58.055 November 1983
900Angelas GirlApril 1983
900Lilac Wonder57.835 December 1992
900Ladys Storm57.029 July 1998
900Aayamza Royale55.9527 February 2021
900Aayamza Royale55.0022 May 2021TV Trophy final
1067 Belladare70.749 May 1987
1067Coverall70.3429 October 1990
1104Travel Now72.6625 March 2000
460 HJames Wish28.191998
480 HBrave Ruler28.8826 July 1999
484 HDistant Echo30.5418 July 1987
484 HNifty Kid30.3228 November 1988
484 HRun On King30.0910 April 1991
647 HTebroc Heathen42.6020 April 1989

Previous (pre-metric)

YardsGreyhoundTimeDateNotes
300 General Radiance17.2227 May 1937
300Hurry Kitty17.178 November 1945
475Neidins Bunty27.5323 March 1939
475Coynes Castle27.148 August 1946
500Rushton Mac1954
500Lucky Joan28.10October 1962
525Kilpeacon Bride30.095 February 1944
525Red Captain29.34April 1965
525Aughrim Glen29.191970
650Derry Fame37.04June 1964
650Hogans Express37.041970=equalled
700Half Term40.7914 October 1944
700Clahane Girl40.05September 1962
700Forward King39.82September 1967 Steward's Cup final
880Chantilly Lace51.80April 1960
880Old Irish51.101970
525 HBaytown Express30.9029 October 1944
525 HCoast Raider30.60September 1957