Loomer Road Stadium is a former sports stadium situated in Chesterton, Staffordshire. The building had considerable parking facilities, covered terracing and a bar with a view of the track. It had a capacity of 5,000. The stadium was constructed in the early 1970s and hosted greyhound racing until 2003, and speedway and stock cars until its closure at the end of the 2019 season. Origins Since 1912 the land south of Chesterton and north of Newcastle-under-Lyme has been dominated by the imposing Holditch colliery. The colliery was responsible for mining coal and ironstone creating a tangled web of railway lines, pits and an unused 18th century canal. In the early 1970s a speedway and greyhound track was constructed giving the area the first speedway and greyhound racing since the closures of Hanley Greyhound Stadium and Cobridge Stadium. The colliery was experiencing heavy investment at the same time which also incentivised the construction. Greyhound racing Russell Bragg entered into an agreement with John Bryant to start greyhound racing and the first meeting took place on 11 April 1975. There were forty racing kennels on site and the track was known as Chesterton Greyhound Stadium. The track had a small circumference and consisted of 400 and 525 yards before it was switched in February 1979 to the more traditional practice of being located on the outside of the speedway circuit. Unusually for a greyhound track it had been on the inside of the speedway which clearly limited the type of greyhound that could manoeuvre around the tight bends. The switch included a new 'Outside Sumner' hare system. The new distances were initially measured at 259, 455 and 658 metres with the total cost of the alterations being £15,000. Directors Bill Corbett and Jack Eisenberg successfully applied to join the National Greyhound Racing Club permit scheme in the summer of 1981 but just one year later the experiment had failed and Chesterton reverted to independent status (unaffiliated to a governing body) on 30 November 1982. Stephen Pardoe the Racing Manager stated that "the reasons were purely economic". The costs of registrations and transfers were turning owners away and with the re-opening of the rival Cobridge track they were left with no choice but to leave the permit scheme. During the late 1980s and the 1990s the racing schedule continued on Wednesday and Friday nights at 7.30pm with trials on Thursday and Sunday. Race