White City Stadium was completed in 1908 for the Olympic Games, hosting many events besides track and field within its confines. Aside from the running track there was an outer cycling track and the infield included swimming and diving pools in addition to field events. Following the Olympics, White City Stadium had a variety of used but in the mid-1920’s was acquired by the Greyhound Racing Association. Until the mid-1980’s White City was known as one of the finest greyhound venues in England and when it was demolished little was noted about its football history. How did a greyhound stadium end up hosting a single match during the 1966 World Cup?

Money. The owners of Wembley, also a noted Greyhound venue at the time, refused to cancel the races that conflicted with the sole match scheduled at the stadium that didn’t feature England. White City had a sporadic relationship with Queens Park Rangers so football had been featured there before. QPR twice moved from Loftus Road to White City but only played three seasons at the larger ground. The added travel discouraged many Loftus Road regulars and without their commitment the White City move simply wasn’t going to work.

Ultimately the decline of greyhound racing and the ever increasing cost of land in London sealed White City’s fate. The ground. was closed and demolished in 1985. Greyhound racing has all but disappeared from the country and yet a relatively short time ago even top flight grounds hosted dog racing, including Stamford Bridge but that’s another post.

The photo is of the Waterloo Road Stand designed by Archibald Leitch. Sadly this was one of the stands to fall into a state of disrepair as financial constraints, part of the general neglect of football facilities throughout the league. The stand was closed to spectators, although at the club’s nadir attendance could be under 2,000, and eventually torn down to be replaced by the Billy Wright Stand in the early 90’s.

The Football League Cup was instituted in 1960 as a means for clubs to take advantage of the spread of floodlights, making mid-week evening matches possible. Clubs weren’t necessarily happy with the added matches, as early results suggest top clubs rested players or treated it as a practice for the serious matches on the weekend. The decision was made at the time to have a two-legged final, giving each club a home gate.

The Victoria Ground saw the first leg of the 1964 League Cup Final end in a 1-1 draw, when a late equalizer from Leicester cancelled Stoke’s 1-0 lead. The second leg was held at Filbert Street, and Leicester took the honours with a 3-2 victory. Stoke played with some handicap, as they were reduced to 10 men for long periods due to serious injury: substitutes weren’t permitted until the 1965-66 season.

The East Stand was built in 1969. It replaced the original Chicken Run and its chicken wire enclosure, but kept the colourful name. Like most classic grounds, the stand was in close proximity to the sidelines. West Ham legend Billy Bonds once proclaimed, “I put opponents into the Chicken Run…fans would finish them off.”

The peak capacity of the ground was just over 42,000 before conversion to an all-seater stadium in the early 1990’s. Between 1993 & 2001 three new stands opened, bringing the all-seated capacity to 35,016.

The name Boleyn Ground has largely been displaced by Upton Park, the area in the Borough of Newham where the stadium is located. The ground was sold to developers, and West Ham moved to the London Stadium after the 2015-16 Premier League season.