{"id":98733,"date":"2023-10-07T08:17:31","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T08:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turbocelebrity.com\/?p=98733"},"modified":"2023-10-07T08:17:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T08:17:31","slug":"london-stadium-bigger-than-wembley-was-forgotten-about-and-hosted-ex-premier-league-side-before-being-demolished-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turbocelebrity.com\/sport\/london-stadium-bigger-than-wembley-was-forgotten-about-and-hosted-ex-premier-league-side-before-being-demolished-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"London stadium bigger than Wembley was forgotten about and hosted ex-Premier League side before being demolished | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
THE 92,000-capacity White City Stadium staged an Olympic Games and played host to QPR before it was demolished in 1985.<\/p>\n
The London venue was built for the 1908 Olympic Games after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius two years earlier meant the event could not take place in Rome as planned.<\/p>\n
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British organisers reacted by constructing the White City Stadium – which was designed by Lancashire-born engineer John James Webster.<\/p>\n
It was initially built for a seated capacity of 68,000.<\/p>\n
And in 1908 it held several Olympic sports including rugby union, archery, swimming, track and field and gymnastics. <\/p>\n
Then in 1926, the stadium was sold to the Greyhound Racing Association.<\/p>\n
The track was grassed over to make the venue suitable for greyhound racing and speedway, with terracing and a restaurant also added.<\/p>\n From 1927 until the stadium's closure in 1984, it was widely considered to be the best greyhound track in Britain.<\/p>\n The English Greyhound Derby was held at White City Stadium every year.<\/p>\n And in 1939, a record 92,000 people crammed in to watch the race.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS<\/strong><\/p>\n Eight years earlier in 1931, QPR spent two seasons playing their home games at the ground, before returning to Loftus Road.<\/p>\n They would have a third campaign at the stadium during the 1962\/63 season.<\/p>\n Big boxing fights were also staged at the ground involving the likes of Len Harvey, Jack Petersen, Henry Cooper and Terry Downes.<\/p>\n In 1966, during England's hosting of the World Cup, Wembley's owner refused to cancel a greyhound meeting to allow Uruguay vs France to take place.<\/p>\n As a result, it was staged at White City Stadium.<\/p>\n But the regular greyhound racing failed to keep the ground from being closed – with its doors shutting in 1984.<\/p>\n The following year it was demolished and replaced with buildings for the BBC. It hosted such shows as Top Gear and the One Show.<\/p>\n Nowadays it is called White City Place – formerly known as BBC Media Village, although the BBC does still occupy two buildings on the site.<\/p>\n It is used by various media companies, while the Imperial College London sits to one side, with a Westfield shopping centre on the other.<\/p>\n<\/picture>TOTAL WEAPONS <\/span><\/p>\n
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