County Ground Stadium

This article is about the former rugby union, speedway and greyhound racing venue in Exeter. For other uses, see County Ground.

The County Ground Stadium was a rugby union, speedway and greyhound racing stadium in Exeter, Devon.[1] It was one of two separate venues in Exeter known as the County Ground, along with the still-used County Cricket Ground.

It was situated south of Cowick Street in the St Thomas Ward. The ground was formerly called the Devon County Athletic Ground before greyhound racing arrived in 1935 until 1986 and the Exeter Falcons speedway team rode there from 1947 until 2005. It was the home ground of Exeter Rugby Club (latterly Exeter Chiefs) prior to their move to Sandy Park in 2006; the stadium was demolished to make way for housing shortly afterwards.[2] In September 1905, the County Ground staged the opening match of the New Zealand rugby team's first-ever British tour, against the Devon County XV. New Zealand's "All Blacks" nickname was first coined in media reports of their shock 55–4 victory over Devon.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "English independent greyhound tracks". Greyhound Racing History.
  2. ↑ "History". Exeter Chiefs. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Keating, Frank (3 November 2010). "How the original All Blacks went down in the annals of history". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2015.



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