Hackney Stadium – At The Dogs

Saturday 11th May 1985 is a day I shall never forget. I was going with friends to watch Tottenham Hotspur v Watford in the old First Division (now The Premiership) at White Hart Lane, North London. We decided that we would go to Hackney Stadium to watch the greyhound races first. Hackney was an old traditional stadium mainly attended by men and old style bookmakers with their bag and chalk board for posting the odds. I wondered around taking photographs of the crowd, staff and various activities of the racing.The prizes on the day were presented by the late comedian Frank Carson, which took place in the centre of the stadium in front of the main stand.

After the dog racing we went on to the game at Spurs. In 1985 there was still standing terraces behind the goals with fences to keep the crowd off the playing area, we had seats high in the stands. Watford won the game 5-1, so we were happy on leaving the ground. We stopped off at a pub where we started to hear the terrible news of the Bradford City football ground fire. You always remember where you were when these tragedies occur, this was such an occasion.

All images ©Keith Collman - All Rights Reserved