THE 92,000-capacity White City Stadium staged an Olympic Games and played host to QPR before it was demolished in 1985.
The London venue was built for the 1908 Olympic Games after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius two years earlier meant the event could not take place in Rome as planned.
British organisers reacted by constructing the White City Stadium – which was designed by Lancashire-born engineer John James Webster.
It was initially built for a seated capacity of 68,000.
And in 1908 it held several Olympic sports including rugby union, archery, swimming, track and field and gymnastics.
Then in 1926, the stadium was sold to the Greyhound Racing Association.
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The track was grassed over to make the venue suitable for greyhound racing and speedway, with terracing and a restaurant also added.
From 1927 until the stadium’s closure in 1984, it was widely considered to be the best greyhound track in Britain.
The English Greyhound Derby was held at White City Stadium every year.
And in 1939, a record 92,000 people crammed in to watch the race.
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Eight years earlier in 1931, QPR spent two seasons playing their home games at the ground, before returning to Loftus Road.
They would have a third campaign at the stadium during the 1962/63 season.
Big boxing fights were also staged at the ground involving the likes of Len Harvey, Jack Petersen, Henry Cooper and Terry Downes.
In 1966, during England’s hosting of the World Cup, Wembley’s owner refused to cancel a greyhound meeting to allow Uruguay vs France to take place.
As a result, it was staged at White City Stadium.
But the regular greyhound racing failed to keep the ground from being closed – with its doors shutting in 1984.
The following year it was demolished and replaced with buildings for the BBC. It hosted such shows as Top Gear and the One Show.
Nowadays it is called White City Place – formerly known as BBC Media Village, although the BBC does still occupy two buildings on the site.
It is used by various media companies, while the Imperial College London sits to one side, with a Westfield shopping centre on the other.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
