Dog racing has been in decline for years, so no surprise.
I think it's a sign we are getting old to be honest, times move on and things change, much like pubs closing.
Not sure why, darts and horse racing have reinvented themselves a bit in the last 10-15 years and are now much more appealing to a younger audience. Not sure why dogs should be any different.
Thinks horse racing is a dress up day out, often followed by entertainment (that's the one's my daughter goes to anyway).
Darts has become more like football with the spectator interaction.
Dog racing I find it more like a cross between going to an old bookies and a poor 1970's lower league football ground, which is probably why I quite like it! It hasn't;t moved on in 40+ years
I think the 'youth' of today just see that as zero appeal, much like going out drinking. Amazes me how many of the under 30's at work rarely drink, certainly never at lunch and rarely after work - that was a daily occurrence for me. I was out 4 nights a week at their age.
When I started work in 1970 for an insurance broker it was perfectly normal to go to the pub at lunchtime everyday.
same in the late 80’s. I started locally in Sidcup for 4 years, we were in the Alma every lunchtime. Then into the city and same again but for more than an hour. I worked at one place that closed Wednesday PM, no guesses where we all were.
now I know very few people who bar a ‘meeting’ go to the pub, certainly more go to gym than anything else during lunch times.
times change as do habits. Drinking, going to dogs etc is now very much a once in a while thing. Just look how many people have said on here they used to love going, but haven’t for sometimes decades.
i suspect if we have this conversation in 25 years they’ll be barely any pubs left as we know them and likely no greyhound racing.
The decline in pub going is much smaller than the decline in interest in sports like greyhound racing though.
Greyhound racing was the poor man's betting. Do the pools, and stick a couple of quid on the dogs. I'm not sure many people went there because they loved watching dogs running around a track, which isn't the same for other minority sports like non league football or county championship cricket.
Yes there was a social side, but that can be replicated elsewhere
I'm sure that's the case of dogs v pubs, even if they have dropped down to about 40,000 now (down from something like 70,000 in the 80's).
But it just highlights changing attitudes and times.
I don’t think it’s changing attitudes so much, more times evolving. A lot of our social spend now goes on things that were either not the norms or in relation to phones and other tech / entertainment subscriptions, didn’t even exist
Probably a mixture of both.
I think when it comes to drinking there's certainly a huge shift in changing attitudes and culture compared to when I was young 30 years ago. In part the reason why so many pubs (and clubs) have shut over recent years.
People just don't go out drinking like they used to, whether that's the Friday/Saturday night or the after work crowd or the lunchtime crowd. I don't think it's a bad thing in general.
Dog racing has been in decline for years, so no surprise.
I think it's a sign we are getting old to be honest, times move on and things change, much like pubs closing.
Not sure why, darts and horse racing have reinvented themselves a bit in the last 10-15 years and are now much more appealing to a younger audience. Not sure why dogs should be any different.
Thinks horse racing is a dress up day out, often followed by entertainment (that's the one's my daughter goes to anyway).
Darts has become more like football with the spectator interaction.
Dog racing I find it more like a cross between going to an old bookies and a poor 1970's lower league football ground, which is probably why I quite like it! It hasn't;t moved on in 40+ years
I think the 'youth' of today just see that as zero appeal, much like going out drinking. Amazes me how many of the under 30's at work rarely drink, certainly never at lunch and rarely after work - that was a daily occurrence for me. I was out 4 nights a week at their age.
When I started work in 1970 for an insurance broker it was perfectly normal to go to the pub at lunchtime everyday.
same in the late 80’s. I started locally in Sidcup for 4 years, we were in the Alma every lunchtime. Then into the city and same again but for more than an hour. I worked at one place that closed Wednesday PM, no guesses where we all were.
now I know very few people who bar a ‘meeting’ go to the pub, certainly more go to gym than anything else during lunch times.
times change as do habits. Drinking, going to dogs etc is now very much a once in a while thing. Just look how many people have said on here they used to love going, but haven’t for sometimes decades.
i suspect if we have this conversation in 25 years they’ll be barely any pubs left as we know them and likely no greyhound racing.
The decline in pub going is much smaller than the decline in interest in sports like greyhound racing though.
Greyhound racing was the poor man's betting. Do the pools, and stick a couple of quid on the dogs. I'm not sure many people went there because they loved watching dogs running around a track, which isn't the same for other minority sports like non league football or county championship cricket.
Yes there was a social side, but that can be replicated elsewhere
I'm sure that's the case of dogs v pubs, even if they have dropped down to about 40,000 now (down from something like 70,000 in the 80's).
But it just highlights changing attitudes and times.
I don’t think it’s changing attitudes so much, more times evolving. A lot of our social spend now goes on things that were either not the norms or in relation to phones and other tech / entertainment subscriptions, didn’t even exist
Probably a mixture of both.
I think when it comes to drinking there's certainly a huge shift in changing attitudes and culture compared to when I was young 30 years ago. In part the reason why so many pubs (and clubs) have shut over recent years.
People just don't go out drinking like they used to, whether that's the Friday/Saturday night or the after work crowd or the lunchtime crowd. I don't think it's a bad thing in general.
There has been a bit of a shift, but statistics like pub number are a bit misleading, as a lot of the pubs that have closed are compact, backstreet locals, whereas many of the new pubs that have opened (Wetherspoons, Yates, Brewdog etc) are all massive. One typical Wetherspoons is comparable to 5-10 backstreet locals.
Pubs in the centre are still doing fine (albeit with massive pressures from cost of energy and taxation) whereas the pubs in the suburbs or the countryside are struggling, unless they are food orientated.
Dog racing has been in decline for years, so no surprise.
I think it's a sign we are getting old to be honest, times move on and things change, much like pubs closing.
Not sure why, darts and horse racing have reinvented themselves a bit in the last 10-15 years and are now much more appealing to a younger audience. Not sure why dogs should be any different.
Thinks horse racing is a dress up day out, often followed by entertainment (that's the one's my daughter goes to anyway).
Darts has become more like football with the spectator interaction.
Dog racing I find it more like a cross between going to an old bookies and a poor 1970's lower league football ground, which is probably why I quite like it! It hasn't;t moved on in 40+ years
I think the 'youth' of today just see that as zero appeal, much like going out drinking. Amazes me how many of the under 30's at work rarely drink, certainly never at lunch and rarely after work - that was a daily occurrence for me. I was out 4 nights a week at their age.
When I started work in 1970 for an insurance broker it was perfectly normal to go to the pub at lunchtime everyday.
same in the late 80’s. I started locally in Sidcup for 4 years, we were in the Alma every lunchtime. Then into the city and same again but for more than an hour. I worked at one place that closed Wednesday PM, no guesses where we all were.
now I know very few people who bar a ‘meeting’ go to the pub, certainly more go to gym than anything else during lunch times.
times change as do habits. Drinking, going to dogs etc is now very much a once in a while thing. Just look how many people have said on here they used to love going, but haven’t for sometimes decades.
i suspect if we have this conversation in 25 years they’ll be barely any pubs left as we know them and likely no greyhound racing.
The decline in pub going is much smaller than the decline in interest in sports like greyhound racing though.
Greyhound racing was the poor man's betting. Do the pools, and stick a couple of quid on the dogs. I'm not sure many people went there because they loved watching dogs running around a track, which isn't the same for other minority sports like non league football or county championship cricket.
Yes there was a social side, but that can be replicated elsewhere
I'm sure that's the case of dogs v pubs, even if they have dropped down to about 40,000 now (down from something like 70,000 in the 80's).
But it just highlights changing attitudes and times.
I don’t think it’s changing attitudes so much, more times evolving. A lot of our social spend now goes on things that were either not the norms or in relation to phones and other tech / entertainment subscriptions, didn’t even exist
Probably a mixture of both.
I think when it comes to drinking there's certainly a huge shift in changing attitudes and culture compared to when I was young 30 years ago. In part the reason why so many pubs (and clubs) have shut over recent years.
People just don't go out drinking like they used to, whether that's the Friday/Saturday night or the after work crowd or the lunchtime crowd. I don't think it's a bad thing in general.
There has been a bit of a shift, but statistics like pub number are a bit misleading, as a lot of the pubs that have closed are compact, backstreet locals, whereas many of the new pubs that have opened (Wetherspoons, Yates, Brewdog etc) are all massive. One typical Wetherspoons is comparable to 5-10 backstreet locals.
Pubs in the centre are still doing fine (albeit with massive pressures from cost of energy and taxation) whereas the pubs in the suburbs or the countryside are struggling, unless they are food orientated.
I'm sure that's true, but in my experience (two daughters in their early twenties, their friends and also many under 25's at work), the younger generation do not drink like we used to. Even on the rare occasion that mine and others do go out for a night of drinking, they all do this 'pre-drinking' or even sneak in their own drinks! It seems to be a once a month, every 6 weeks thing rather than an every Friday and Saturday night (or in my case that slipped to Thursdays and sometimes Wednesdays!)
I'm sure that's true, but in my experience (two daughters in their early twenties, their friends and also many under 25's at work), the younger generation do not drink like we used to. Even on the rare occasion that mine and others do go out for a night of drinking, they all do this 'pre-drinking' or even sneak in their own drinks! It seems to be a once a month, every 6 weeks thing rather than an every Friday and Saturday night (or in my case that slipped to Thursdays and sometimes Wednesdays!)
Yeah, I agree with you. Daughter is almost 19, her group of friends range 19-23 and we've got 4 family friends in their early-mid 20s and the pub is maybe a once a month thing at most.
My wife & I sit here shocked when the eldest says she's spent most of her weekend in the Gym, met friends for coffee, gone out for lunch/dinner, everything other than drinking booze. Very unlike us in our twenties.
My two passions, Charlton and greyhounds. Link between both from Crayford 2005
Same here. We used to pick the home game before Christmas. Train to Crayford dogs. Then finish the night in The Bear & Ragged same for last home game of the season
I'm sure that's true, but in my experience (two daughters in their early twenties, their friends and also many under 25's at work), the younger generation do not drink like we used to. Even on the rare occasion that mine and others do go out for a night of drinking, they all do this 'pre-drinking' or even sneak in their own drinks! It seems to be a once a month, every 6 weeks thing rather than an every Friday and Saturday night (or in my case that slipped to Thursdays and sometimes Wednesdays!)
Yeah, I agree with you. Daughter is almost 19, her group of friends range 19-23 and we've got 4 family friends in their early-mid 20s and the pub is maybe a once a month thing at most.
My wife & I sit here shocked when the eldest says she's spent most of her weekend in the Gym, met friends for coffee, gone out for lunch/dinner, everything other than drinking booze. Very unlike us in our twenties.
Seems young adults these days are a lot smarter than when we were young.
The price of a pint and smoking ban to a lesser extent has played a large part to it.
You’ve only gotta look at pubs/bars/clubs in Bexleyheath and Dartford.
Friday and Saturday nights used to be heaving, now the only place I know that’s regularly open and busy on a Saturday night is the Lord Hill, and that’s full of 30+.
Bruv worked there for years when his kids were young & he needed extra cash. I was working in Homebase then whilst in 6th form & we'd go regularly. We'd play 5 a side there too. Happy carefree days. Very sad.
You’ve only gotta look at pubs/bars/clubs in Bexleyheath and Dartford.
Friday and Saturday nights used to be heaving, now the only place I know that’s regularly open and busy on a Saturday night is the Lord Hill, and that’s full of 30+.
These days I tend to go the yacht in long lane ( only night it’s busy is the Sunday for the quiz ) and the Prince Albert as a 2 min walk from home and the owner is Charlton but v rarely is it busy
Removed a few posts. Anyone want to start a thread about animals in sport, you’re more than welcome but please do so in a seperate thread. Any further off topic posts will similarly be removed, thanks
Removed a few posts. Anyone want to start a thread about animals in sport, you’re more than welcome but please do so in a seperate thread. Any further off topic posts will similarly be removed, thanks
On topic. Very selective. Thanks for the clarification.
I used to go to every meeting at Catford and finally worked out a way to make a profit. When it closed it took a huge part out of my life. Still miss it to this day.
I used to go to every meeting at Catford and finally worked out a way to make a profit. When it closed it took a huge part out of my life. Still miss it to this day.
Sad to see this closure, my son goes a few times a year, and has a booking this Christmas, the young children love it!. Used to take my football team there 10 years ago, it was a good night out. I also remember the stock car racing from years ago. Ironically I drove past it yesterday going to the new Sainsbury's. I thought Crayford looked quite busy mid day on a Wednesday. Personally, I did not have a clue about what the hell I was betting on, so used to do a double reverse 1 and 2 on a random number !....... mug punterI guess.
I found this list of closed dog racing tracks in London. I never realised there were so many.
Battersea Greyhound Track: 1933 - 1936
Brixton Greyhound Stadium: 1932 - before outbreak of WW2
Catford Stadium: 1932 - 2003
Charlton Stadium: 1930 - 1971
Clapton Stadium: 1928 - 1974
Dagenham Greyhound Stadium: 1939 - 1965
Edmonton Stadium: 1930's - 1947
Greenford Park: 1927 - 1928
Hackney Wick Stadium: 1932 - 1997
Harringay Stadium: 1927 - 1987
Hendon Greyhound Stadium: 1935 - 1972
Mitcham Stadium: 1936 - 1937
New Cross Stadium: 1900s - 1969
Park Royal Stadium: 1931 - 1969
Perry Hill Stadium: Early 1930s - 1935
Southall Greyhound Stadium: 1931 -1976
Stamford Bridge Stadium: 1937 - 1968
Temple Mills Stadium: 1933- 1949
Vicarage Road: 1928 - 1978
Walthamstow Stadium: 1933 - 2008
Wandsworth Stadium: 1933 - 1966
Wembley Stadium (Old): 1927 - 1998
West Ham Stadium: 1928 - 1972
White City Stadium: 1927 - 1984
Wimbledon Stadium: 1928 - 2018
The White City 'roar' as the hare starting running for The Greyhound Derby was something to behold.
Catford was a great track - a mate and I always went to Epsom for The Derby and in 1985 after watching the great Slip Anchor win (and we backed him heavily) we somehow (I was very, very drunk) got back to Catford to see the mighty Scurlogue Champ break the track record in front of one of the biggest crowds I'd ever seen at Catford. Those were the days when Scurlogue Champ and Balleyregan Bob were front page news - what a time to be alive. Here's the race:
Dogs at the old Wembley was a laugh, about 200 people rattling around that cavernous stadium. I think it partly used the Royal Dining Area or something, I have vague memories of a big old room full of oak paneling.
I used to go to every meeting at Catford and finally worked out a way to make a profit. When it closed it took a huge part out of my life. Still miss it to this day.
Did you back the heaviest dogs in forecasts when it was wet?
Dogs at the old Wembley was a laugh, about 200 people rattling around that cavernous stadium. I think it partly used the Royal Dining Area or something, I have vague memories of a big old room full of oak paneling.
Strangely you could even sit in the Royal Box for the dog racing at the old Wembley. The main bar was a big old barn of a place.
My brother-in-law took my niece and nephew this afternoon. He just messaged me this:
"So they have 3 staff (bar, tote, kitchen). 4 security guards. 6 people who walk the dogs to the traps. 2 people driving tractors. The guy who waves the flag. The two people who operate the trap. Then four people sat in uniform in the bar area ( not sure what they are doing)
That's at least 22 staff. And there are 20 customers.
Comments
I think when it comes to drinking there's certainly a huge shift in changing attitudes and culture compared to when I was young 30 years ago. In part the reason why so many pubs (and clubs) have shut over recent years.
People just don't go out drinking like they used to, whether that's the Friday/Saturday night or the after work crowd or the lunchtime crowd. I don't think it's a bad thing in general.
Pubs in the centre are still doing fine (albeit with massive pressures from cost of energy and taxation) whereas the pubs in the suburbs or the countryside are struggling, unless they are food orientated.
My wife & I sit here shocked when the eldest says she's spent most of her weekend in the Gym, met friends for coffee, gone out for lunch/dinner, everything other than drinking booze. Very unlike us in our twenties.
The price of a pint and smoking ban to a lesser extent has played a large part to it.
Friday and Saturday nights used to be heaving, now the only place I know that’s regularly open and busy on a Saturday night is the Lord Hill, and that’s full of 30+.
I was working in Homebase then whilst in 6th form & we'd go regularly. We'd play 5 a side there too.
Happy carefree days.
Very sad.
Ironically I drove past it yesterday going to the new Sainsbury's. I thought Crayford looked quite busy mid day on a Wednesday.
Personally, I did not have a clue about what the hell I was betting on, so used to do a double reverse 1 and 2 on a random number !....... mug punterI guess.
https://greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/
One race was about 3/4 round the track, at Catford it would have probably been 1 1/2 laps.
and a fiver on the 5 dog in the last race.