Celtic Park (Belfast)

Celtic Park was a multi-use stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was used for football matches and was the home of Belfast Celtic F.C.. Throughout the majority of its existence it was a greyhound racing track. The stadium was able to hold 50,000 spectators at its height 5,000 spectators seated.FootballThe stadium ceased to host Belfast Celtic matches when the team stopped playing competitive matches in 1949. Like Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland, it was known as "Paradise" by its fans. The football team ran into financial issues and finally dissolved in 1960 but the stadium was then firmly established as a greyhound stadium.Greyhound RacingOriginsTwo Belfast bookmakers called Joe Shaw and Hugh McAlinden visited to Belle Vue Stadium in 1926 to view the new form of greyhound racing around an oval. They duly formed the National Racing Greyhound Company with the assistance of Paddy O’Donoghue and James Clarke. It was the first greyhound track to open in Ireland on Easter Monday 18 April 1927, and one of the first in the United Kingdom. The company would take control of Ireland’s second track Shelbourne Park in 1927.McAlinden was the chairman of Belfast Celtic and he instigated the lease of the stadium for the racing which would be governed by the Irish Coursing Club, the official regulatory body of greyhound racing in Ireland. On opening night racing consisted of two hurdles races in the six race card and one race ended with a dead heat between Keep Whistling and Imperial Jimmy.