The Athletic Ground was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

ground in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was the home ground of Loughborough F.C. between 1886 and 1900.

History

The Athletic Ground was initially used for cricket until Loughborough F.C. started using it for football after their establishment in 1886. The ground was located behind the Greyhound Hotel, with the dressing rooms located at the back of the hotel. There was a pavilion in the northern corner of the ground and a small grandstand on the southern touchline.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p17, The ground's probable record attendance of 10,000 was set by a

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

match against local rivals

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is an English professional association football, football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football league system, Eng ...

on 7 October 1893. In 1895 Loughborough were elected to the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

, with the first League match played at the ground on 14 September 1895, when 2,000 spectators saw Loughborough draw 3–3 with

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

. Following crowd trouble at a match against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 10 October 1896, the ground was closed for several games. It was closed again between 23 January and 6 February 1899 after more crowd trouble during a reserve match against Coalville Town, and for a month after further trouble during a game against Woolwich Arsenal on 3 March 1900. Whilst the ground was closed, Loughborough played home matches at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively b ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and the Vicarage in

Whitwick Whitwick is a large village in Leicestershire, England, close to the town of Coalville in the northwest of the county. It lies in an ancient parish which formerly included the equally historic villages of Thringstone and Swannington. It was an ...

. Loughborough were voted out of the Football League at the end of the 1899–1900 season, and folded in the summer of 1900. The last League game at the ground had been a 2–1 defeat by

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

on 23 April, with just 100 spectators in attendance. The ground was demolished in 1908, with housing later built on the site.

References

{{Authority control Defunct football venues in England Sports venues in Leicestershire Sport in Loughborough English Football League venues Sports venues demolished in 1908