Black Friday November 23 will go down in history as the day the Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) closed Oxford down.

The hurt and heartache of the many dedicated staff just before Christmas was there for all to see, just a few weeks to go and no employment in the New Year.

Punters, including some in their 80s who have supported the track for 50 years or more, and many other long standing supporters, will also be saddened by the news.

We can only hope that the city council sticks to its commitment of less than a year ago when it decided Oxford Stadium is a dedicated leisure site and should remain so.

That is, once the planning application is submitted.

Meantime, if nothing concrete is forthcoming in the near future, the stadium site will be left to its own devices with no maintenance whatsoever, leaving it derelict.

Galliard Homes, who offered some nice carrots to the council in promising loads of money for other leisure facilities and improvements, should ignore all that and realise what pleasure greyhound racing and speedway have given to thousands of spectators over the years.

The only hope now is that the expected planning application is turned down and that several interested parties have the chance to buy the stadium and put it back on its feet.

l IT has taken just two and a half days for the ‘Save Our Stadium’ campaign to take off, with over 3,000 signing up on Facebook.

The fight is on and what’s more, local MP Andrew Smith is to have a meeting with Ladbrokes supremo Gordon Bissett and bring the subject of the closure up in Parliament.

It was also revealed this week that Ladbrokes had an offer of £7.5m turned down by the GRA.

Now, if that doesn’t prove there is a future in Oxford Stadium, I don’t know what does. Apart from that, there are two other parties waiting in the wings if the city council is brave enough to turn down any planning application.

I gather that at least four companies are willing to lease the stadium in the meantime to keep the track open.

It makes sense for the stadium to remain open instead of being left in the wilderness.