Kevin Boothby has brought Oxford Stadium back to life and following the relaunch of speedway this week, with Oxford Cheetahs, greyhound racing is set to return to the venue in June.

Here we look back at some archive photos of greyhound racing fans and campaigners.

Speedway returns to Oxford Stadium on Wednesday, at 7.30pm, when Oxford Cheetahs take on Scunthorpe Scorpions.

Read again: Anti-greyhound billboard found to be misleading

Executive suites at the Sandy Lane stadium have re-floored, painted and had a new heating and air conditioning system implemented.

Oxford Mail:

Each suite has capacity to host 24 people for greyhound racing and speedway meetings, and includes its own bar area.

The return of greyhound racing will be a boost to punters who enjoyed the sport in Oxford for more than 70 years until it finished in 2012.

Crowds would gather at Oxford Stadium at Cowley several evenings a week, hoping their dog would bring them a few pounds - or even a fortune - from the bookies.

The stadium was built in 1938 on the site of a ‘flapping’ (non-regulated) track, where owners could race their greyhounds round an oval on selected days.

Oxford Mail:

Read again: Stadium suites transformed as racing edges closer

Lord Denham officially opened the stadium on the first race night on March 31, 1939.

The stadium closed for most of the Second World War, but occasionally opened for Saturday afternoon racing.

One of the wartime attractions was ‘The Gunner’, an Irish Grand National winner, bought by the stadium boss Leslie Calcutt.

It won 11 successive races, drawing in large crowds.

Post-war progress was threatened with Calcutt’s sudden death in 1952, aged just 49, but success continued when Bristol Stadium, of which he had been director, took over.

Oxford Mail:

The stadium continued to flourish in the 1960s, but there was more unease when the company offered to sell the site in 1975 to Oxford City Council for £235,000 for housing.

An SOS (Save our Stadium) group was formed and 27,000 people signed a petition against the plan.

Eventually, the stadium was saved when Northern Sports bought it for £250,000.

Read more: Petition calls for stop to greyhound racing

The company invested £1.5m in the 1980s on a grandstand restaurant and sports centre, including squash courts, a snooker club, gymnasium and sauna, attracting more and more people.

Oxford Mail:

Following the closure of the stadium in 2012, dedicated campaigners fought hard to lobby for the stadium's preservation.

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