Clarence Street is a former rugby stadium in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. From 1885 until 1989 it was the home of

York F.C. The York Wasps (known simply as York from 1868 to 1989, Ryedale-York from 1989 to 1996 and York Wasps from 1996 to 2002) was an English professional rugby league club based in York. At the start of the 2002 season, the club was dissolved. A ne ...

(later York R.L.F.C.) before being sold and demolished. The site is now housing.

History

York Football Club was formed in 1868 and played on a variety of grounds before moving to

Wigginton Road Cricket Ground Wigginton Road Cricket Ground in York is a former cricket ground. Its one and only first-class match was held in June 1890 between Yorkshire and Kent. The ground was then known as the Yorkshire Gentlemen Cricket Club Ground, having been used b ...

in the early 1880s. In 1883 due to financial difficulties the club was forced to leave Wigginton Road but in 1885 the club leased a patch of land from Bootham Asylum. This plot of land was bounded by Wigginton Road and Haxby Street and was virtually opposite Wigginton Road cricket ground. Despite the physical location of the ground it was almost always called after nearby Clarence Street with some mentions as either Wigginton Road or Haxby Road. The first game on the ground was between York's first XV and a team raised from the city on 19 September 1885 but the first competitive fixture was a week later against Thornes. There were no changing rooms and a local pub, the Castle Howard Ox served this purpose. Dressing rooms were added in 1896 when the club purchased the old Waterman's Mission hut and moved it from its previous location in

Fishergate Fishergate is a street and surrounding area of York, England. History Fishergate runs along a strip of slightly raised ground, east of the River Ouse. Archaeological investigations have found evidence of prehistoric occupation, before the ...

. York joined the Northern Union. A small stand existed on the Wigginton Road side of the ground but this was deemed unsafe by the local council and was rebuilt in 1902. The new stand was opened by local MP, John G. Butcher on 20 September 1902. This stand was destroyed by fire in 1922 and Sr John Butcher opened its replacement in October 1922. Fire again struck the ground when the pavilion and press box were destroyed in August 1926. In 1931 the club purchased the

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...

of the stadium from Bootham Park hospital and also acquire some adjoining allotment land on the Haxby Road which became the club's training pitch. The record attendance for the ground was set on 10 February 1934 when 14,631 saw a 0–0 draw between York and Swinton in the first round of the 1933–34 Challenge Cup. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the training pitch was returned to use as allotments while the main pitch was made available to the local

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club's use. By the 1980s the York club's finances were at a low point and in 1986 the training ground was sold for housing use, the money being used to stave off

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

of the club. However, this was not enough and in January 1989 the council ordered the club to improve ground safety or risk closure. Unable to afford the safety work, the ground was sold off and the club moved out of town to the

Huntington Stadium Huntington Stadium (formerly Ryedale Stadium) is the former stadium of England, English rugby league teams York Wasps, and York City Knights. History The stadium, which was financed by Ryedale District Council and was initially named the Ryedal ...

. The last game at Clarence Street was on 26 March 1989 when 2,904 spectators saw York beat

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

26–17.

Tour matches

The ground played host to a number of games between York and touring teams from and or a combined

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

team and on two occasions between the representative sides and the Australian tourists. On 1 November 1933 the Northern Rugby League XIII beat Australia 16–9 before a crown of 3,158 during the 1933–34 Kangaroo Tour. On 28 September 1959

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

beat Australia 47–15 in a game watched by 7,338 during

1959–60 Kangaroo Tour The 1959–60 Kangaroo tour was the tenth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team traveled to Europe and played thirty-seven matches against British, French and Italian teams, including the Ashes series (rugby league), Ash ...

References

Notes

Sources

* {{cite book , last=Delaney , first=Trevor , title=The Grounds of Rugby League , year=1991 , publisher=Thornton and Pearson , isbn=0-9509982-2-2 York Wasps 1885 establishments in England 1989 disestablishments in England Rugby league in Yorkshire Defunct rugby league venues in England

Sports venues in York