Often referred to as the \u2018Cultural Heart of Ireland\u2019 thanks to the roughly 7000 Gaelic speakers who live there, Galway is the birthplace of much-loved actor, Peter O\u2019Toole. The Republic of Ireland\u2019s third largest city might be best known for its proximity to the Aran Islands, but it\u2019s also home to Galway Sportsground.<\/p>\n
We know Galway Sportsground better as Galway Greyhound Stadium, but it\u2019s dual title comes from the fact that it\u2019s actually a multi-purpose venue. When it opened in 1927, it was actually a football ground. It\u2019s hosted a number of different sports over the years and greyhound racing didn\u2019t take place for the first time here until 1935. The racing is very much part of the stadium\u2019s raison-d\u2019\u00eatre nowadays, however, so let\u2019s tell you more about it.
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Galway Greyhound Stadium<\/p> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/p>\n
Owing to the fact that stadium is shared with Connacht Rugby Club, race meetings can sometimes be moved or cancelled altogether if they clash with a rugby match. In general though, you can see greyhound racing twice a week, every week. It\u2019s all about giving people a chance to let their hair down on a weekend, so head to the venue on Fridays or Saturdays if you want to see some racing.<\/p>\n
Again, timing can be slightly tricky because of the rugby and other things that take place at Galway Greyhound Stadium. Presuming everything is as it\u2019s supposed to be, however, you\u2019ll be able to get into the grounds from 6.30pm on both Friday and Saturday evenings. The first race normally gets underway at the enjoyably random time of 7.52pm. Don\u2019t worry if you\u2019re there early though, as there are snack areas, a restaurant and bars where you can while away your time choosing your winners.<\/p>\n
There are essentially two different histories to speak of when it comes to this venue. There\u2019s the history of Galway Sportsground \u2013 the multi-purpose sports arena \u2013 and there\u2019s the history of Galway Greyhound Stadium. We\u2019ll start by talking about the former, partly because that has influenced the latter to some extent.<\/p>\n
Despite originally opening as a football stadium, the sport hasn\u2019t actually had as much to do with the venue as you might expect. In fact, one of the most notable things to happen during Galway Sportsground\u2019s early years was the hosting of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Gaelic Games Championship Final in 1932. Ten years later, the final of the Galway County Hurling Championship was also held there.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that there have been no noteworthy football games held in the stadium over the years. In the 1985-1986 season, Galway United played in the European Cup Winner\u2019s Cup for the first time and their match was played in the venue. Seven years later, their home ground of Terryland Park was renovated and so the club played their home matches there for the season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rugby that has made the biggest difference to the way the stadium looks, however. Connacht Rugby Club call the venue their home and play their rugby union matches there. Thanks to the club\u2019s success over the years they have been able to develop it and in 2011 and 2016 the capacity was gradually increased from 5,500 to 8,100. Prior to that, the biggest change came in 1978 when the entire venue needed a facelift.<\/p>\n
That is where we enter the history of greyhound racing at the stadium. It was decided by the management of the ground that they wouldn\u2019t be able to make the necessary changes without closing the greyhound track, so that\u2019s exactly what they did. Whilst it was closed, they built a new stand and re-laid the surface of the track, increasing the camber at the same time. After \u00a3500,000 worth of investment, the track re-opened on the 25th of May, 1979. It stayed in much the same way until the Bord na gCon invested \u20ac6 million in a major renovation project in 2003.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Often referred to as the \u2018Cultural Heart of Ireland\u2019 thanks to the roughly 7000 Gaelic speakers who live there, Galway is the birthplace of much-loved actor, Peter O\u2019Toole. The Republic of Ireland\u2019s third largest city might be best known for its proximity to the Aran Islands, but it\u2019s also home to Galway Sportsground. We know … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":84,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"page_type":[5],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-05-05 23:43:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"page_type"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/398\/revisions\/400"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irishbettingsites.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_type?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}