Castleford Sports Stadium 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 ...

, greyhound racing,

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and multi sports stadium located on the east side of Lock Lane in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. It is not to be confused with the Castleford Whitwood Stadium or the Sandy Desert ground used by

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

, which was on the west side of Lock Lane.

Origins

The stadium was built on the north bank of the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...

and on the east side of Lock Lane and was known as the Lock Lane ground in its early days. The ground hosted an early Castleford rugby football team that played Leeds Parish Church RFC in 1888. The team was probably

Castleford RFC (1896) Castleford RFC was a semi-professional rugby league club based in Castleford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. They joined the Northern Union in 1896–97 for its second season and remained in the ranks of the (semi) professionals unti ...

Athletics and cycling

The ground hosted cycling, athletic and charity sports events up until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Rugby Union

With the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) in 1895 the ground was used by both the Castleford rugby league team and Castleford rugby union team. The following year in 1896 the Northern Union team moved east to west to a new ground across the opposite side of Lock Lane. In 1928 a newly formed rugby union team played fixtures at the ground.

Rugby league

The ground continued to be used as a rugby league ground by Castleford RFC, up until when they folded in c.1906.

Football

By 1907

Castleford Town F.C. Castleford Town F.C. was an English football club based in Castleford, West Yorkshire. History The team played at Castleford Sports Stadium in 1907 and participated in the FA Cup for the first time in 1907–08, but were defeated by Worksop To ...

were using the ground to play their football matches. Castleford and Allerton United football club also used the ground at a later date. Castleford Town moved out to play at

Wheldon Road Wheldon Road (known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship purposes) is the home ground of Castleford Tigers Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. It is on Wheldon Road, just outside Castleford town centre. The record att ...

but disbanded in 1928 but reformed in 1933 and played at the Lock Lane ground again. After they disbanded for a second time in 1937 redevelopment plans as a greyhound track were proposed.

Greyhound racing

The stadium was duly redeveloped as a greyhound stadium and lasted from c.1939 to c.1950. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the ...

) With a capacity of 1,500 it is known to have traded up until 1950 and possibly beyond.

Closure

The stadium was demolished and became a sports ground by 1960. The sports ground was then redeveloped into the Castleford Lock Lane Sports Centre and Hicksons Arena now used by

Castleford Lock Lane Lock Lane ARLFC are an amateur Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire. Their home ground is the Hicksons Arena, part of the Lock Lane Sports Centre. The first team currently play in the National Conference Division One and the Acad ...

References

{{English greyhound tracks Sports venues in Yorkshire Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct rugby union venues in England Defunct rugby league venues in England Defunct football venues in England Sport in Castleford Buildings in Castleford, West Yorkshire