Somerton Park

Somerton Park
Location	Cromwell Road, Newport
Opened	1932, reopened 1992
Closed	1989, and 1993
Demolished	1993
Owner	demolished
Operator	Cardiff Arms Park Company and Newport City Council (both former)
Capacity	25,000
Tenants
	Newport County, Newport Wasps, Greyhound racing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Somerton Park was a football, greyhound and speedway stadium in Newport, Monmouthshire. It was purchased by the Cardiff Arms Park Company in 1932 and Newport County played their first football match there on 27 August against Clapton (Leyton) Orient. On 17 November 1932, the first greyhound meeting took place at the stadium.

The stadium remained the home of Newport County until the original club went bankrupt on 27 February 1989. County's 57 years at the stadium had brought many highs and lows, the most notable being the Welsh Cup and Fourth Division promotion triumph in 1980 and the European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final appearance in 1981, but the final few years brought the trauma of two successive relegations which saw the club lose its Football League status after 68 years.

The club was reformed within four months and began the 1989-90 as a Hellenic League side. The new club's first season was spent in Moreton-in-Marsh, followed by two seasons at Somerton Park, the next two seasons were played in Gloucester before finally settling at Newport Stadium for the 1994-95 season, where the club have played their home matches ever since. By 1993 Somerton Park had been redeveloped as a housing estate.

The stadium's record attendance was 24,268 for a Football League Third Division South match between County and arch-rivals Cardiff City on 16 October 1937.

The stadium was home to the Newport Wasps speedway team between 1964 and 1977, attracting some the biggest names in the sport. The tight track meant that turf had to be brought on to make the corner flag area for football matches and removed once the match had finished.