Shawfield Stadium

infobox stadium


coordinates =
caption = View from the terracing
location = Rutherglen, Scotland
opened = 1898
owner =
surface = Grass
construction_cost =
architect =
tenants = Clyde F.C. (1898–1986)
Glasgow Tigers (1988–1995, 1997–1998)
Scottish Monarchs (1996)
dimensions =
seating_capacity =

Shawfield Stadium is a greyhound racing venue in the town of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located close to the boundary with Glasgow. It has also previously been a regular venue for football and speedway, as home to Clyde F.C. and the Glasgow Tigers respectively. Other sports including boxing and athletics have also been staged there.

History

The stadium began to take shape when Clyde took over the site, previously a trotting track, in 1898. Dog racing was introduced as an additional source of revenue for the club in 1932, but Clyde's financial difficulties led to them selling Shawfield to the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) in 1935, continuing to play there as tenants. This arrangement continued until 1986 when the GRA's redevelopment plans led to them evicting Clyde from their traditional home. When these plans failed to come to fruition, there was talk of Clyde, then enduring an unsatisfactory groundshare at Partick Thistle, returning to the ground. Ultimately this proposal came to nothing, with Clyde eventually establishing a new home base in the new town of Cumbernauld.

Instead of football returning to Shawfield, new tenants arrived at Shawfield in the shape of the Glasgow Tigers, returning to their home city in 1988 after a year's exile in Workington. The Tigers would race there for a decade, apart from the 1996 season when they were temporarily in abeyance and replaced by the ill-fated Scottish Monarchs team who had a team but no track due to the closure of Powderhall.

Originally it was planned that Clyde and the Tigers would share the venue but concerns about the corners of the football pitch led to the football team moving elsewhere. The original track layout was revised resulting in the track's longish straights and sharp but wide bends. The pits were conveniently tucked in behind the Tote Board to minimise any noise.

When the venue opened the racing could be viewed from two straights and the third and fourth bends but over the years the viewing area was reduced to a small part of the stadium in front of the stand.

Shawfield today

Since the departure of speedway to Ashfield Stadium ahead of the 1999 season, Shawfield has only staged greyhounds. Currently, racing takes place three nights per week(Tuesday, Friday & Saturday) . While the basic shape of the stadium, with its crumbling disused terracing and crush barriers, remains intact from the Clyde era, today only the grandstand is in use. As well as betting facilities there is a bar and a restaurant for spectators. The large tote board which dominated the south end of the track was demolished in 2004. The exterior of the stand, which had become quite run down, has been reclad in recent years.

Location anomalies

* Historically, the boundary between the City of Glasgow and the county of Lanarkshire passed right through Shawfield. During the Second World War, when the gathering of crowds in areas deemed "unsafe" were severely restricted, this meant Shawfield was allowed to accommodate 20,000 spectators, whereas Celtic Park, less than a mile away but wholly located in Glasgow was permitted only 10,000 people in a much larger venue.

* In the 1966-67 season, Clyde's third placed finish in the Scottish League should have earned them a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, however a one club per city rule applied to the competition, and second placed Rangers had precedence to represent Glasgow. Clyde attempted to argue that Shawfield's location actually meant they were from the separate town of Rutherglen, however the organisers of the tournament were unimpressed, citing Clyde's membership of the Glasgow Football Association and participation in the Glasgow Cup.

* Local government reorganisation in 1975 meant that Rutherglen, and Shawfield with it, was now incorporated entirely into an expanded Glasgow district. Further changes in 1996 created the new unitary authority area of South Lanarkshire, with Shawfield now lying entirely within this area and no longer even partially in Glasgow.

References

*Crampsey, Bob: "The First 100 Years" (The Scottish Football League, Glasgow, 1990) ISBN 0-9516433-0-4
*Inglis, Simon: "Football Grounds of Britain" (CollinsWillow, London, 1996) ISBN 0-00-218426-5

External links

* [http://www.dog-track.co.uk/shawfield.html Stadium and track info] from dog-track.co.uk
* [http://www.glasgowspeedway.co.uk/history.php History page] from Glasgow Tigers official website
* [http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/cgi-bin/vm/main.plx?srcpage=advancedsearch&area=Shawfield Photos] of racing at Shawfield in 1955, from the Mitchell Library archive