GONE TO THE DOGS

Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium holds its final race day as last London dog track closes down after almost 90 years

Queue for the dogs stretched deep into the car park as punters said a final farewell before stadium is flattened to make way for football ground and flats

Yasmin Jeffery

Published: 23:17, 26 Mar 2017
Updated: 8:54, 27 Mar 2017

WIMBLEDON Greyhound Stadium has hosted its last ever race before it is bulldozed to make way for a football stadium.

The closure after 89 years means the capital is now without a single dog track.

Punters cheer on a greyhound during the final racing day at WimbledonCredit: Reuters

Racegoers queue outside Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium before the races beginCredit: Getty Images

Punters muck about on the track after the last raceCredit: Reuters

The queue for the dogs stretched deep into the pot-holed and unlit car park on Saturday night - a frequent occurrence in recent times.

The decision to bulldoze the institution has been described as a working class cull.

With Wimbledon’s closure, the capital no longer has any greyhound racing stadiums, when it once boasted 33.

The bulldozers are set to arrive as early as next week.

A retired greyhound takes a break during the final racing dayCredit: Reuters

A racegoer watches the results roll in during the last race the stadium will ever seeCredit: Reuters

Punters socialise as history is made outside, where dogs raced at Wimbledon for the last timeCredit: Reuters

The stadium's bar, The Dog's PawCredit: Reuters

In its place, an 11,000-seater stadium will be built for AFC Wimbledon.

Some 600 new apartments will also be built on the site after permission for the project was approved by the London Borough of Merton in December 2015.

The Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium has hosted the sport’s biggest race, the English Greyhound Derby, for the past 32 years.

It has also been used for the St Leger and Champion Hurdle.

Punters react to the last race, in what was a poignant end to nearly a century of greyhound eventsCredit: Reuters

A punter gets into the spirit of the night during the last raceCredit: Reuters

Annual attendance for greyhound racing remains high, with around two million heading to races every yearCredit: Reuters

From now on punters will have to travel to Kent, Essex or Sussex to watch the dogsCredit: Reuters

An announcer uses a microphone during the final greyhound racing day at Wimbledon Stadium on SaturdayCredit: Reuters

Punters pose on the track before the stadium is flattened to make way for a football groundCredit: Reuters

An owner takes his dogs into the stadiumCredit: Getty Images

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From now on, punters looking to place bets on the dogs will be forced to leave London and head to Crayford in Kent, Hove in East Sussex or Romford in Essex.

Around 120 people will lose their jobs.

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain said: "We're the regulator so naturally we're saddened. But it's not a death knell for the sport."

Old betting slips and empty plastic glasses litter the standsCredit: Reuters

A punter removes a placard for executive suites from the wallCredit: Reuters

A bookmaker removes his stand for the last timeCredit: Reuters

A punter snaps a photo of the empty restaurantCredit: Reuters

A cleaner sweeps up the day's mess ... 120 people will lose their jobs in the closing of the stadiumCredit: Reuters

Banks pointed out that even while gambling is busily shifting from arenas to mobiles and tablets, there are still 24 places in England where punters can watch dog racing, including at a newly-opened track at Towcester.

Annual attendance still runs to two million and the sport accounts for a fifth of gambling's turnover in the UK.