Perry Barr Stadium Guide
For the purposes of clarity regarding its location, Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium is sometimes referred to as Birmingham Greyhound Stadium. That is because, somewhat obviously, it is located in the Perry Barr area of the city of Birmingham. Just to make matters even more confusing, there was another venue in Birmingham that hosted racing called the Birchfield Ladbroke Stadium, but it was also known as the old Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium. It was nothing to do with this one, though. That all clear?
Perry Barr Stadium promises you a great night out and with a restaurant, several bars and lots of seasonal offers it’s easy to see why. There is a glass-fronted grandstand from where you can watch the racing if the weather’s a bit rough. If it’s nice and warm then you’ll find some bench seating outside that you might want to take advantage of. If you want to go with a party of people and have a bite to eat then there’s a restaurant onsite. If you’d rather keep things more casual, then you’ll find a snack bar with plenty of food and drink options. Perfect.
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Race Days & Times
The main events at Perry Barr Stadium take place on Friday and Saturday evenings. That’s when the venue is at its best with a great atmosphere and you’ll pay to get in. There are day races on a Sunday and a Tuesday, but these are predominantly aimed at television audiences so the stadium isn’t in full swing.
For daytime visitors, you’ll find the doors open at 11am on a Tuesday and 1pm on a Sunday. The racing tends to get underway about an hour later. It’s doors at 6.30pm on both a Friday and a Saturday evening and the first race starts at around 7.20pm both days.
Visiting
- Ticket Prices: Given the fact that the Sunday and Tuesday races are mainly for the amusement of television audiences and bookmakers, you don’t have to pay a penny to get in then. Fridays are Saturdays are for the pleasure of the people in the stadium and that’s why you’ll pay £7 if you’re over eighteen. That price includes a Race Card. Senior citizens and kids under eleven can get in free, whilst anyone under eighteen will pay £3.50.
- Getting There: Perry Barr Stadium isn’t far from Villa Park, but then no venue is perfect. If you’re driving you’ll find the stadium right in the middle of the A34 and the A453, not far from the M6. Perry Barr Train Station is about a ten-minute walk away and buses 33 and 51 stop within walking distance.
- Parking There’s a decent sized car park onsite that is free for anyone entering the stadium.
History
Unlike most greyhound stadiums, Perry Barr Stadium wasn’t originally built to service the sport. Instead it opened in 1929 under the name of Alexander Sports Ground and was to be the home of Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club. Interestingly, the venue still has their badge on its walls in several locations. If you go to the stadium and sport a running stag in an art deco style then you’ll know why and can sound dead clever in front of your mates when you tell them all about it.
The Birchfield Harriers aren’t the only ones who used the stadium, either. There was a cycling club, imaginatively named Bichfield Cycling Club, that used the track for races. In the mid-1930s, Sunbac Speedway Club took advantage of the cycling track that was outside the running lanes to host speedway racing there, too. On top of that, Aston Villa’s reserve sides played games at Perry Barr Stadium in the ‘30s and ‘40s.
For some venues that would be enough history to make to with, but Perry Barr had other ideas. When the Second World War was in full swing it was taken over by the British government and the local Home Guard was based there. Toward the end of the war it was also used to house Italian prisoners of war. The last POWs didn’t leave until January of 1946 and so the Harriers couldn’t move back in until then. They remained there until 1977 when Alexander Stadium opened its doors nearby and they relocated, which was also when the venue was renamed as Perry Barr Stadium.
All of that is to say nothing about the greyhound-based history of the stadium. The Birmingham suburb of Perry Barr had been without the sport after the 1984 closure and then demolition of the old Perry Barr Stadium, so a former trainer named Maurice Buckland headed up a consortium named the Perry Barr Greyhound Racing Club and pursued the idea of introducing the sport to Perry Barr Stadium. That happened in 1990 and the club remained in their control until the Greyhound Racing Association bought the stadium for £4.2 million in 2005.