Barley Bank was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

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

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

in England. It was the home ground of Darwen F.C. during their time in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

History

Barley Bank was originally the home of Darwen Cricket Club, with football being played on a pitch in the north-west corner of the ground. Spectator facilities included a 1,200-seat covered stand on the western touchline with an embankment running the remainder of the length of the pitch on that side. During the football season, a temporary stand was erected on the eastern side of the pitch, with tents in the south-east corner of the ground used for dressing rooms.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p20, The ground's record attendance of 14,000 was set for a friendly match with local rivals

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

on 18 March 1882. Darwen joined the Football League in 1891, which at that stage consisted of a single division. The first League match played at Barley Bank was a 2–1 defeat by

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in front of 7,000 spectators. On 22 February 1896, the club was forced to play a League match on the cricket pitch due to the poor condition of the football pitch; a crowd of just 300 saw them draw 1–1 with

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 ...

. At the end of the 1898–99 season Darwen were voted out of the Football League. The final match at Barley Bank was a 1–1 draw 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 ...

with 1,000 spectators present. The club joined the Lancashire League and moved to Anchor Ground, taking Barley Bank's main stand with them. The ground was later used for housing.

References

{{Blackburn with Darwen culture Defunct football venues in England Defunct sports venues in Lancashire Sport in Blackburn with Darwen Darwen English Football League venues Football Alliance venues