The County Ground is 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 ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in Leyland,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England which is owned and operated by

Lancashire County Football Association The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

(Lancashire FA). It is the home ground of Burnley under-21s, Blackburn Rovers under-21s, Bolton Wanderers reserves and both the Lancashire FA representative team and the Lancashire FA youth team.

History

The County Ground is located next to the Motor Vehicle Museum and was originally home to Leyland Motors FC who played in the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

from 1933 until 1980 when they joined the Cheshire County League, where they played for two seasons, before becoming founder members of the

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

in 1982. In 1990 they changed name to Leyland DAF-SGL and in 1992 were demoted to the

West Lancashire Football League The West Lancashire Football League is a football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The league is currently sponsored by Lancaster- ...

, before another name change to Leyland Motors Athletic in 1993. In 2001 they left the league altogether. The Lancashire FA moved their headquarters to the County Ground in 1998 from

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

. The County Ground is the current home of Bolton Wanderers reserve team, who play in the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

and who, in the 2008-09 season, play in the North Division. The club also uses the ground for all their home matches in the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885; ...

. The County Ground is also the current home of the Blackburn Rovers Under-21s team, who play in the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...

. Both the Lancashire FA representative team and the counties youth team play their home matches at the County Ground. The Lancashire FA currently organises nineteen County Cups and the final of each competition is played at the County Ground. It is also the headquarters of the Lancashire FA.

Facilities

The stadium has a 500-seater covered stand with "LFA" imprinted in white lettering on the seats. The offices of the Lancashire FA are located at the ground which also has six corporate rooms. There is also an all-weather pitch, which is used for

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

matches as well as football.

References

External links

Lancashire FA official website
{{Borough of South Ribble culture Sport in South Ribble Football venues in England Leyland, Lancashire Buildings and structures in South Ribble