It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 World Cup.

Designed by the engineer J. J. Webster and completed in 10 months by George Wimpey,[2] on part of the site of the Franco-British Exhibition, this stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908 after the first stanchion had been placed in position by Ettie Grenfell, Baroness Desborough on 2 August 1907.

The distance of the modern marathon was fixed at these Games and calculated from the start of the race at Windsor Castle to a point in front of the royal box.

QPR eventually decided against a permanent move to White City and stayed at Loftus Road.

Between 1932 and 1958, the stadium hosted major British boxing events, with attendances peaking as high as 90,000 for the second meeting between Len Harvey and Jack Petersen in 1934.

The first major fight at the stadium was Len Harvey's unsuccessful challenge for the NBA Middleweight Championship versus Marcel Thil of France.

Future heavyweight champion Primo Carnera suffered his only defeat on British soil when he lost to Canadian Larry Gains in May 1932.

Other important fighters to appear at White City include Jock McAvoy, Don Cockell, Nino Valdez, Henry Cooper and Terry Downes.

In 1966, Wembley's owner's refusal to cancel regular greyhound racing meant the match between Uruguay and France in the 1966 FIFA World Cup was played at White City.

[7] The stadium became the Mecca of greyhound racing with tens of thousands of spectators attending meetings on a regular basis, particularly in the 1940s, and 1950s.

The White City stadium first held open speedway meetings in 1928 before the start of the Southern League, in 1929.

The stadium then ran once again using an Open Licence and held occasional one-off meetings between (1953–1958, 1961) until a new league team was formed, from the Oxford 'Rebels' in 1976.

Other notable riders were Steve Weatherley, Trevor Geer, Poland's Marek Cieślak and multiple Finnish champion Kai Niemi and Colin Watson (pre war).

[11] From 1979 to 1983 the stadium once again raced using an Open Licence hosting a number of high-profile Speedway World Championship qualifying rounds, including the Overseas and Intercontinental Finals during the 1970s, and 1980s.

[12] Davies swore onstage,[13] and at the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, declared his retirement from the group.