Glasgow Spectator Sports, Part 2. Greyhounds and Speedway

It is 18 months now since the 2014 Commonwealth Games finished in Glasgow. By most accounts the games were a spectacular success, with all of the sports on display getting great crowds attending from Glaswegians. At any sporting event now it seems obligatory to talk of what "legacy" the games have left behind, there is even a Legacy 2014 website extolling all the benefits the games brought to the city. Did it encourage people to be more active, seek out new sports to watch or participate in? I'm not sure.

During the games I certainly went to see sports that I had never paid to watch before, but realise that, by and large, my spectating has largely fallen back to following Partick Thistle week in week out. My children still enjoy going to their assorted badminton, athletics and swimming clubs but we have not been spectators at any of these sports in the city since the games. The football league having a weekend break for the international matches meant that I was looking for other entertainment last weekend. This made me think about what other sporting excitement people of Glasgow find in their spare time, so I will try a few different sports and see if there is anywhere in town that can match Firhill for thrills.

Last week I took my children to the ice hockey. This week we tried speedway.

Greyhound Racing and Speedway

As the history of greyhound racing and speedway in Glasgow are so closely linked I will briefly look over both of these sports, which at one time were new and innovative, but both now evoke bygone ages.

The origin of greyhound racing lies in hare coursing, and to try and make it a spectator sport a London venue devised a mechanical hare to lead the dogs along a straight track as far back as 1876. When a Californian track developed a mechanical hare going around an oval track in 1912 the sport of greyhound racing took off. Glasgow's first greyhound track was set up in Carntyne in 1927, on a site which has been derelict for decades just north of the Forge Shopping Centre, recently redeveloped for housing.

After Wester Carntyne in 1927 came the White City Stadium and Albion Stadium near Ibrox a year later, then Shawfield put a dog track in place in 1932. Between 1948 and 1954 there was greyhound racing at Partick Thistle's Firhill Stadium. From 1928 many of these venues would introduce "dirt track" motorcycle racing on other nights of the week to boost incomes. Speedway, as it became known, as it requires a similar venue, has therefore always been associated with greyhound tracks. 

Shawfield Stadium on the banks of the Clyde is the only greyhound track in Glasgow still going. Shawfield was initially laid out as a trotting track, for horses. Football was first played at the stadium in the 1870s. Thistle FC were an Oatlands team and an early member of the Football League. They folded in 1895, only surviving in the record books as giving Partick Thistle FC their highest ever league win, a 13-1 drubbing at Firhill Stadium in the Scottish League Division Two. Clyde FC moved to Shawfield in 1898 and it was their home for another 88 years. The biggest crowds at the stadium were, for football, the 52,000 who came to see Clyde v Rangers in 1908 or, in other sport, the 40,000 who came to see local boy Benny Lynch beat Peter Kane in 1937 to defend his boxing world title. 

Shawfield Stadium

The Greyhound Racing Association owned Shawfield and planned to sell off the stadium to be developed as a supermarket. They moved Clyde FC out in 1986, who eventually settled in their unhappy Cumbernauld home. When the plans fell through GRA sold it to new owners who took in new tenants, the Glasgow Tigers speedway team who were based here until 1998. Since then it has only housed the greyhounds.

The dogs are paraded before the race at Shawfield Greyhounds

Every Friday and Saturday night the races start about 8pm, with the doors open an hour earlier. There are a couple of bars and a wee restaurant within the stadium, which is a good venue for birthday parties and the like. My children think that the snack bar here does the best chips in town. I don't go often to Shawfield, but every time that I do go I think of my grandad and great uncle Andy, who lived nearby in the Gorbals and made occasional trips to the dogs here in the 1930s. My grandad's tip to bet on the black dog, or trap 5 seems as random and as valid as any other technique.

A normal night will see about ten races, one every 15 minutes or so. Most races are handicaps with the dogs given a staggered start and ending at the finish line below the main stand. Once the dogs are paraded in front of the crowd you have your last chance to back a winner before they are placed in the traps. Like horse racing the point of going to the dogs is to have a flutter, and as with any betting you should only start off with the amount that you are prepared to lose on the night in your pocket, then stop. I'll wager that nobody has ever got rich betting on dogs. You can either place your bet at the various tote windows around the ground, or at the cluster of private bookies alongside the track, who may offer better odds.

The greyhound traps at Shawfield Stadium 

Betting options are a straight "win", usually minimum stake £1, a "forecast" - predicting first and second in the correct order (minimum stake usually 50p) or a "trio" - predicting first, second, third in the correct order (minimum stake 25p but the odds and returns are obviously much higher). You can place a "reverse forecast" selecting two dogs to finish first and second in any order (two bets at 50p, so minimum cost £1) or a "trio - all ways" predicting 3 dogs to come in the first three positions in any order (six bets at 25p, so £1.50 minimum stake). 

My daughter overlooking the finish line at Shawfield. She's only here for the chips

It's a good night out if there is a crowd of you, but attendances recently seem a bit smaller than they used to be. There has been some concerns raised about the welfare of dogs kept for racing, particularly what happens to them after their racing days are over. If you do have a big win maybe you would consider donating some of it to the Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary or the Greyhound Awareness League. The retired dogs make great pets and we have a friend who adopted a greyhound, a well loved member of their family now.

Cost - Entry to Shawfield Greyhounds is £6 for adults and free for children under 16. Most of the cost thereafter depends on how much you decide that you want to bet. For me it is just as much fun when you have £1 riding on it as £10

Speedway

Glasgow now only has one venue where speedway can be seen, Saracen Park or "Peugeot Ashfield Stadium" in Possil. This stadium was opened in 1937 and is home to Ashfield Football Club, who still play their home matches on the pitch in the centre of the track here. On Sunday afternoons however this is home to the Glasgow Tigers. The Tigers started out in 1946, but have only been based at Ashfield since 1999. Before that they have called various tracks home. White City Stadium in the 1940s, on and off through to the 1960s. Hampden Park from 1969 to 1972, then Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge for four years, spells in Blantyre and Workington, before arriving at Shawfield Stadium in 1988. This was home for most of ten years before they settled in their current home.

White City Stadium, Glasgow, opposite Bellahouston Park,
with the Albion Stadium between it and  Ibrox Stadium

White City Stadium used to lie north of Bellahouston Park on the opposite side of Paisley Road West. It was finally demolished in 1972 to make way for the M8 and Govan Police Station. It was part of a chain which had greyhound and speedway venues in Manchester, Newcastle, Hull, Nottingham, Cardiff and London. In Glasgow the White City stadium initially had a grass dog track on the outside with a cinder speedway track inside it. There are some great pictures of it on the "Defunct Speedway Tracks" website.

Signs point the way to the Tiger's stadium

On the day we came to see the Glasgow Tigers in April 2016, the season had just begun and we were drawn by the chance to see them race against their rivals from the other end of the M8, Edinburgh Monarchs. The Monarchs are a team which dates back to 1928 and their existence has been as nomadic, and at times precarious, as their Glasgow rivals. Like ice hockey, this isn't a sport that started its life in the UK and many of the UK based teams are largely made up of riders from overseas. In the case of the Tigers this includes Australia, Finland, Argentina and England. 

Glasgow Tigers home stadium

The season starts in April and runs through until October with the Glasgow Tigers usually playing on Sunday afternoons at 3pm. There are 13 teams in the league, playing each other home and away over the season with play-offs at the end of the season for the top six teams, plus various cup and knock out competitions. Today's match was a league cup fixture, with Edinburgh the stronger team on last year's form. This was the first time I had come to see speedway, but the programme and compere easily guided me through the rules. As I am usually spending my Saturday afternoons watching Partick Thistle, the compere was a familiar face to me, with Michael Max providing matchday care to the Firhill crowd on Saturdays and the Tigers' fans the next day.

Michael Max keeps us right, alongside start marshal Hugh McNeilly,
assistant start marshal Heather McNeilly and team manager Stewart Dickson

Entertaining children is a big part of the afternoon here and before the racing started we were introduced to Roary the mascot and a parade of the teams on a flatbed truck before the racing starts at 3pm. Some fans turn up earlier, the doors open at 1pm, to look around the pit areas if that's your thing. The Tigers' name gives plenty of scope for tiger themed songs - "Tiger Feet", "Eye of the Tiger", and Katy Perry's "Roar" all featuring prominently. Every four or five races the track needs brushed and other entertainments are laid on, such as trying to throw a ball in Roary's bin and a children's race against the mascot. It is also a chance to grab some food, or get a drink at the bar.

Roary the mascot

"That's neat, that's neat, that's neat, that's neat....I really love your tiger feet"

Glasgow Tigers team introduced to the crowd

Spectators can stand around the outside of the oval track, or for an extra £1 per person, get a seat in the stand beside the start/finish line. There were 15 races in total, with four riders in each race going flat out for four laps. In each race the home team pair wear red or blue helmet colours and the visitors wear white or yellow. Points are awarded depending on finishing position, 3 points for first place, 2 for second and 1 for third. Nothing for being fourth or not finishing. If you are trailing by more than 10 points at certain stages, you can chose a rider to win double points in the next race, so there are various tactical shenanigans too. 

  

The starting tape goes up, and they're off

 It is fast and furious and not without crashes. In the first race, with Glasgow's Nike Lunna taking a good early lead, the race had to be stopped after a Monarchs' rider crashed into the safety barrier. The rider was uninjured (although the safety barrier wasn't) and Lunna was unlucky to lose the restarted race. Even when a race looks done and dusted, mechanical problems can change everything. Tigers' Ben Barker seemed home and dry in the 14th race when his chain came off and he had to push his bike across the line to take one point. At the end of the day it didn't matter and Glasgow Tigers were comfortable winners by 56-37 to win the derby match.

Spectators get close to the action

Danny Ayres of Glasgow Tigers and Max Clegg of Edinburgh Monarchs

A Monarchs' rider comes off his bike and accepts a lift back to the pits

Fernando Garcia is pleased to win a race for the Glasgow Tigers

Drifting around the banked bends

The pits behind the crowd, and an old Police phone box for the team manager?

Crossing the finish line

Overnight rain meant that the track was on the muddy side. As a result of this, finishing fourth in a race meant that a quick sponge-down would be required. The same was true for those standing along the home straight, who ended up caked in mud by the end of the day. However that, plus the smell of the burning fuel and the noise of the engines is part of the attraction surely. The racing can be very exciting, with plenty of nip and tuck. My children had a great time, I quickly got right into it. We will all definitely be back here again, especially if they promise to keep beating Edinburgh as soundly as that.

Mud splattered crowd

Cost - Adults £17.50 each and children £1 under 11 years old and £6 for 12-16 year olds. So two adults and two children £42 plus £1 each to get a seat in the stand rather than just standing.

Next week.....?

Great North Run Training in Glasgow

There are now only 3 weeks to go until I try running my first half-marathon, so this weekend was time to see how the training has been going and do another long training run. The aim today was to run the full race distance. I get bored at times jogging along, so thought that if I had a few goals to aim at today it would keep my interest up. Also I decided that if I live-tweeted what I was doing on twitter, I would force myself to complete my loop to avoid public disgrace. Looking at a map of Glasgow last night I came up with a route which started in Partick, was 13 miles long and would take in all the professional football stadiums in Glasgow. As the distance fitted perfectly it seemed like a sign that I had to give it a go.

 

I passed my 40th birthday two years ago, and with my wee brother decided 18 months ago to train for the Glasgow Great Scottish Run 10K as my dad was talking about doing it. Since getting myself fit enough  to shuffle around that distance I've managed to keep it going. As I'm diabetic, requiring insulin injections, it has caused me a few challenges, which I've solved with some advice from the charity Diabetes UK. So this year having decided to try to run a half-marathon, I plumped for the Great North Run, a 13 mile race from Newcastle to South Shields which this year has the bonus of having the great Haile Gebrselassie and Mo Farah running it alongside 55,000 others. I am running it to raise money for Diabetes UK and if you wish to you can donate at JustGiving.

 

So early on Saturday morning I headed down to the Clyde from Partick and crossed at the bridges beside the SECC and Science Centre, a typically grey summer's day as you can see. 

10 minutes gone, crossing the Clyde..

 This bit was familiar to me from occasional visits to support Partick Thistle at Ibrox, when usually I'd catch a pint on Dumbarton Road and walk this way to see Rangers. Nowadays it is the home to a Third Division outfit, and they have a fine wee ground. Perhaps if they improve from the standards that they achieved today (drawing 1-1 with Berwick Rangers) then in a few years time I'll be back to this place of fun and friendly smiles.

20 minutes gone, 4km in, Ibrox Stadium

Heading eastwards towards the next stadium was a bit of a challenge for me. As a typical westender I rarely venture to the part of Glasgow known around here as "the Southside", but as I had spent a tense and ultimately rewarding evening here last week at Hampden I soon found my way to my next target. Known to most people outside Scotland as our national football stadium, it is home to "The Spiders", Queen's Park Football Club founded in 1867 with the motto "Ludere causa Ludendi" (play for the sake of playing). Still an amateur team after all these years my trip here last week to watch Partick Thistle win 5-4 in the dying minutes of a Ramsdens Cup tie will live long in my memory. 

50 minutes gone, 10km in, Hampden Stadium

Halfway (or half-time) now and with having diabetes once I've been running 50-60 minutes I find that I need to top up the sugar levels with a handful of dextrose tablets. I've found jelly babies are easier to get over with a dry mouth when running.

 

Next stadium is a bit of a cheat as Shawfield is no longer a football ground, as Clyde FC left here in 1986, leading a nomadic existence, briefly sharing Firhill, before settling in an anonymous concrete stadium in a Cumbernauld wind-tunnel, where famously there seems to be a mechanism for turning off the hot water for the visiting players' dressing room.

60 minutes gone, 12km, Shawfield Stadium

Right. Half-time break on the southside over, second half about to start. Back across the River Clyde at Glasgow Green and into Glasgow's East end. Coming over this way always brings back memories of a CIS Cup game against Celtic in 2002. Alan Archibald was in the team that day which was drawing 1-1 after extra time, and we were into sudden death penalties, almost tasting victory but missed the chance again and again, and Celtic squeezed through. That was a long walk home. Today was the first time I had seen the new velodrome and sports arena across from Celtic Park. I hope the area around here does benefit from the Commonwealth Games, as it has looked pretty desolate in recent years around here at times.

1 hour 10 minutes, 14km, Celtic Park at Parkhead

Leaving Celtic Park I ran past the stall holders at the Barras setting up shop, then through the city centre, over Cowcaddens and up Maryhill Road.

 

The last bit of this run was always going to be a bit of a slog, so I had saved the stadium of Glasgow's current form team, Partick Thistle, as my final goal. I've been coming here since I was a boy in Maryhill Primary School, and they are still my local team. It has been fantastic fun this year at Firhill watching them winning games, controlling possession, passing the ball and playing some confident, classy football. The 3-0 victory yesterday over Dumbarton could easily have been 6-0 and there were lovely periods of play in that game. A few years back I went to the football for almost 3 consecutive years without seeing a single Thistle victory as we plummeted through the divisions and although we've been stuck in mid-table of Division 1 for a few years now, this looks like our best chance for a while of promotion. However, it is early days, and if you haven't been in a while, come along. You might like what you see.

1 hour 45 minutes, 21km/ 13 miles. Firhill Stadium
(NB me running in my "Blurple" away strip in which we've won every game so far this season)

Anyway, I managed to achieve my aim of a 13 mile run, taking in Ibrox, Hampden, Shawfield, Celtic Park and Firhill. I did it in a decent time and I feel ready to head down to Newcastle and Sunderland and see what football grounds I can add to my list above. I still had a bit in my legs as I slowly warmed down on the shuffle home and am pretty sure I passed Danny McGrain walking his dog in the Botanic Gardens on my way home, who managed to play top level football at Celtic whilst dealing with diabetes. If he could do it with the equipment and medications that they had back then, it is clear that diabetes needn't be an impedement with all the help and technology we get now. If you feel like sponsoring me, just follow this link to JustGiving. Thanks

P.S. Thanks to www.scottishrunningguide.com for covering this. Here is a link to their article.

P.P.S. One person asked about my diabetes management with this type of exercise. When exercising regularly I find that I need to reduce all of my insulin doses across the day and I don't make tweeks before specific runs. I aim to start a run at least an hour after insulin/ a meal, with a blood glucose between 7-11mmol/L and if exercising for over an hour will need a sugary snack during a run. As I mentioned above a handful of jelly babies I find easiest to get over. Doing this my blood glucose was 6.9mmol/L after the above run, but extra testing is required for a couple of hours afterwards as it can still fall. This is what works for me. PC