Morton Stadium

Morton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry Demense, Finglas in Ireland. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Dublin city and the home track of Clonliffe Harriers and the football (soccer) club Raheny United. The modern capacity of the ground is 4,000 with a single 800 seat, covered stand.

History

The stadium was opened in 1958 with a cinder track. An inaugural series of meetings was held, and on 6 August 1958, Australian Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile run with a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds. This was the first race in which five athletes had run a four-minute mile.

In 1978 the stadium was resurfaced with a tartan track, the first such in the Republic of Ireland. In the early 1990s it was renamed after Billy Morton, the administrator who had initiated the original track and who brought famous athletes to compete in the stadium. It hosted the athletics events of the Special Olympics World Games in 2003.