Cassio Road, also known as the West Herts Sport Ground, is a sports ground in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

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

Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...

between 1898 and 1922.

History

In the early twentieth century, Cassio Road was used for athletics, cricket and football. By 1920 spectator facilities included a pavilion and covered standing areas on the western touchline, and a covered terrace behind the northern end of the pitch. When football was played at the ground,

duckboards A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of brid ...

were used on the two sides left open for cricket.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p18, Watford were elected to

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 ...

in 1920, and the first League match at Cassio Road was a 2–0 defeat by

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

on 4 September 1920 watched by 10,466 spectators. The ground's highest League attendance was 13,000 for a

local derby Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on 25 March 1921. In 1922 Watford moved to the

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cassi ...

ground. The last League game at Cassio Road was played on 29 April 1922, with Watford beating Gillingham 1–0 in front of 5,000 spectators. The ground remained open as a sports venue.

References

Football venues in England Sports venues in Hertfordshire Watford F.C. English Football League venues {{England-sports-venue-stub