The first greyhound racing in Southend took place at the Kursaal from 1927 until 1928, when the English Football League banned it from the ground due to the track damaging the pitch.

[6] The circuit was 465 yards in circumference and was described as a particularly easy galloping track with good straights which gradually merge into the banked bends.

The hare system was an 'Outside Sumner' and the racing kennels were located behind the east stand that now included a restaurant and the Greycing Club with dance floor.

[6] Some of the earliest trainers at the track included J Bartlett, Stan Gray, A.F Dandridge and Frank Clarke, the latter left the stadium in 1937 to be replaced by Bill Cowell.

Cowell won the Scurry Gold Cup and Lincoln Stakes with Hexham Bridge in 1937 whilst Stan Gray trained Happy Squire an Essex Vase success in 1939.

[6] The vast majority of tracks continued to trade throughout the war but Southend had been requisitioned by the Army Officer Training Corps in 1940 leaving the football team and greyhound racing without a home.

Mr A Gray became Racing Manager and in 1955 the football team decided not to renew the lease and left for Roots Hall.

[7] In the late 1960s and early 1970s the trainers were Stan Gray, Dennis Mansfield, Bill Matthews and Bert Stephens, Kenny Linzell had a spell at track as well.