Belle Vue Stadium Guide

Belle Vue is arguably one of the best known greyhound racecourses in the UK, perhaps because it’s where the sport’s first ever race took place. Located on the outskirts of Manchester, this 4,300 person venue has races on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

Belle Vue prides itself on being a welcoming and fun place to spend some time. It is family friendly and offers a great atmosphere. They have also updated their systems to ensure that they’re as modern and up-to-date as possible.

Map

Race Days & Times

The course is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for premier greyhound races. The first race on a Thursday evening is at 7.25pm, whilst on Friday and Saturday evenings they start at 7.20pm.

There are also races on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. The races start at 2.15pm on Wednesdays and 11am on Sundays. These are often shown live on TV, too.

Visiting

• Ticket Prices: It’s £3 to enter the course on Thursdays, £4 on Fridays and £5 on Saturdays; It’s £1 at all times for twelve to seventeen-year-olds, whilst senior citizens and kids under 11 can enter free; It’s also free entry on Wednesdays and Sundays
• Getting There: The greyhound stadium is less then three-miles from Manchester Piccadilly station and Belle Vue Train Station is just a few minutes walk away and serves both Manchester & Stockport; You can get buses 201, 203 and 204 that all stop by the course
• Parking: There are 400 car parking spaces at the course, as well as space for buses and coaches and it's free to park

History

The first ever greyhound race around an oval track in the United Kingdom took place on the 24th of July, 1926 at Belle Vue Stadium. The rights to promote the sport belonged to an American businessman named Charles A. Munn. The first person he spoke to regarding introducing the sport was Major L. Lyne Dixson, a leading figure in field sports in Britain.

They were joined in their quest to introduce the sport by Brigadier-General Alfred Critchley, and Sir William Gentle JP, men who were willing to take a chance in the face of the General Strike of 1926. They raised £22,000 in order to form the Greyhound Racing Association Ltd and they chose to situate their first stadium in Manchester as the city had links with both sport and betting.

Belle Vue was the country’s first purpose-built greyhound stadium. It was named in honour of the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens that had been built on the site in 1836. About 1,700 people turned up to watch the first race on the 24th of June with a dog by the name of Mistley winning the race by over 402 metres.

The first day, saw six races with seven dogs running in each race. That’s about half the number of races that take place at modern day meetings. Major-General T Anderson was appointed as the course’s first Director Of Racing, with L.V.Browne working as the Racing Manager.

There was fear from the Greyhound Racing Association that they’d made a terrible mistake when it emerged that they’d lost £50 on the first day’s racing rather than turned a profit. Their fears were allayed the following week when over 16,000 people turned up for the meeting. In the first three months, there were 37 meetings with more than 200 races.

’Heading to the dogs’ became a national pastime and greyhound stadiums began to spring up around the country. The GRA was able to repay a £10,000 bank loan and shares in the company rose significantly. By 1927, Belle Vue was welcoming around 70,000 visitors every week.