The venue was the backdrop to the first rugby meeting between England and the All Blacks a 15-0 defeat for the hosts and W G Grace even set up a cricket team in the wider area.
Icons of athletics have graced the track since its opening in the Sixties. Dave Bedford, the long-time race director of the London Marathon, broke the 10,000-metre world record on it, while the boss of World Athletics Seb Coe and his great rival Steve Ovett had countless duels at Crystal Palace.
In more recent times, the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, was racing down the home straight in the lead-up to the London Olympics. British athletes at the time referred to it as "the Wembley of track and field".
Those Games, as glorious as they were, acted as a precursor for Crystal Palace to go to rack and ruin, with a bigger and better equipped venue for major athletics down the road.
The neglect got so bad that rats were scurrying across the indoor track, trees were growing out of the stands and pigeons were fouling tables at the café.
Only five years ago, there was talk of ripping up the main Jubilee stand and bringing the bulldozers in to do away with the outdoor and indoor tracks.
This story is from the December 08, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 08, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis