Three Well-Missed Sporting Venues in Surrey

Surrey has several major sporting venues, from football grounds to racecourses. Attracting tourism and revenue, they are also a vital part of Surrey’s culture and society. But over the years, many have closed their doors for better or worse. Below, we discuss three well-missed sporting venues in Surrey.

Mitcham Stadium

The Mitcham Stadium was a real anomaly. A multi-purpose ground, it was used for everything from greyhound racing to athletics. At one point, even hurling and Gaelic football were played there. Yet its fantastic legacy only existed in the short timespan of twenty years, from 1935 to 1955.

Part of its ragged history is down to its founder, a businessman named Sydney Parkes. He built the stadium directly opposite the Tooting and Mitcham Sandy Lane ground, trying to capitalise on the property boom going on in the area at the time. He soon managed to attract huge crowds there for rugby games. To increase footfall, he even began to sign international rugby legends and tried to get them to form a baseball team on the ground.

His final throw of the dice was to bring greyhound racing to the area. Despite putting down a track, he was later denied a license. The ground was demolished to make way for new housing in the fifties, with Leyton Orient Football Club purchasing its main grandstand for their ground.

Hurst Park

Surrey has an abundance of horse racing courses, and is the county second only to Yorkshire in terms of how many it holds. Yet in the mid-nineteenth century, it also had an extra one named Hurst Park. It was an open course but was closed in 1962 and like Mitcham Stadium, the land was sold for housing.

Despite Surrey having so many courses, each is extremely different and all are well attended. Horse racing has ballooned in popularity, in part due to the accessibility afforded by modern technology. This is not only when it comes to making a wager either. People are now able to get involved by buying shares in thoroughbred horses which they can watch in races. Many of these allow access to quality animals such as the Treasure Time horse as part of a syndicate, with owners getting a percentage of winnings from each of the horse’s success.

Another course like Hurst Park would bring even more revenue to the area and while the course is long gone, parts of it could still be reclaimed. The old gate posts are still there, and part of the grandstand was sent to become Mansfield Town’s football ground.

British Aerospace Company Ground

It seems hard to imagine today, but in the past workplaces were often so vast they had their own leisure and living facilities. Consider the houses at the original Cadbury factory, made for its workers to live in. In some instances, companies had their teams and even gave areas up for them to play.

One such instance was the British Aerospace Company Ground, situated in Byfleet. It was built between 1914 and 1918, with its first cricket team forming in 1920. It served the nearby Vickers Armstrong factory at Brooklands. The last recorded game was in 1979 and unlike many sports grounds which were demolished for housing, this land was used as the path of the M25.

Sport as an entertainment form is more popular than ever. Yet property prices in Surrey are also at a premium. While the area could benefit from more stadiums like these, Surrey residents may have to wait sometime before any new additions appear when living space is in such demand.