Powderhall Stadium

Powderhall Stadium (1927-1995)
Speedway at Powderhall in 1982.
Powderhall Stadium (1927-1995) is located in the City of Edinburgh council area
Powderhall Stadium (1927-1995)
Powderhall Stadium (1927-1995)
Location within the City of Edinburgh council area
Former namesPowderhall Grounds (1870-1927)
LocationNorth Edinburgh
Coordinates55°58′00″N 3°11′37″W / 55.96667°N 3.19361°W / 55.96667; -3.19361
Construction
Built1869
Opened1870
Renovated1970 & 1987
Expanded1927 greyhounds
Closed1995

Powderhall Stadium, formerly the Powderhall Grounds, was a multi-sports facility overlooking the Water of Leith on Beaverhall Road, in the Powderhall (Broughton) area of northern Edinburgh, Scotland. It opened in January 1870 at the height of professional pedestrianism and was modelled on the stadium at Stamford Bridge in London. It hosted professional sprint races, track and field athletics, including the Scottish Amateur Athletics Championships on a number of occasions, professional football, international rugby, cycling, and dog races as well as boxing, quoits and pigeon shooting. For 100 years it hosted the Powderhall Sprint, the most famous professional sprint handicap in the world. With the decline of pedestrianism as a spectator sport in the 1920s it was converted to a greyhound stadium, hosting the Scottish Grand National for over sixty five years, and it also hosted professional speedway. The stadium finally closed in 1995 and the site is now a housing estate.