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Crystal Palace has been the venue for almost every
major sport from Victorian times. WG Grace played both cricket and won a
hurdles race on the same day! The first recorded in moving pictures was
probably ...
The FA Cup Final began at Kennington Oval in
1872 and then wondered about for a while before settling into the Corinthinans
ground at Crystal Palace. Finals were played between 1895 and the outbreak of
WW1 in 1914. We have a fleeting video of West Brom playing Barnsley in 1912. It
was a draw at Crystal Palace with Barnsley winning the replay at Bramall Lane,
Sheffield. Football has move a mile or so south where Crystal Palace FC play at
Selhurst Park.
Motor Racing began in 1927. It was an immediate
succes with a peak of 71,311 at an Easter Monday 1930 event, All the great
names competed. Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Nigel
Mansell, James Hunt and even a very young Bernie Ecclestone! It all ended in
1972 when rising costs, the short circuit and dwindling crowds. The closing
event featured John Surtees driving Chitty Chitty Bang Bang around the
course.
National Sports Centre was opened in 1964 The
NSC has hosted major sporting events including the Athletics Grand Prix series.
It has London’s only 50m swimming pool. The Grade II listed athletics
stadium can hold up to 20,000 fans. The brutalist 1960's architecture is both
loved and hated and its English Heritage listing will see it remain in a more
minor role as the centre of UK athletics moves across the river into 2012
Olympic venues. |
