Dudley Road 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 ...

ground in Wolverhampton in England. It was the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers between 1881 and 1889, and was used during the first season of the Football League.

History

The ground began to be used in 1881, but had sparse facilities consisting of only a lean-to shelter on the southern touchline and a small standing area with

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 ...

.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p47, It was located to the south of Wolverhampton town centre and to the east of Dudley Road. Wolves were founder members of the Football League in 1888, and the first League match played at Dudley Road on 8 September 1888 was a 1–1 draw with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

watched by 2,500 spectators. The first League goal at the ground was an own goal by Villa's

Gershom Cox Gershom Cox (28 September 1863 – October–December 1918) was an English professional footballer who played as a full-back for Aston Villa from 1887 to 1893. Early career Gershom Cox was first signed for Birmingham Excelsior in 1886. The cl ...

, and was thought for many years to have been the first-ever goal scored in the Football League, although modern research revealed it was actually scored at Pike's Lane by Kenny Davenport of

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 ...

.King Kenny crowned first goalscorer
The Football League The ground's record attendance of 10,000 was set on 2 March 1889 for an FA Cup match against The Wednesday. This was also the last match played at Dudley Road, as Wolves moved to

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889. The first stadium built for use by a Football League club, it was one of the first British grounds ...

for the start of the 1889–90 season. The site was later used for housing, with the main road through the estate named "Wanderers Avenue".

References

{{Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Defunct football venues in England Buildings and structures in Wolverhampton Defunct sports venues in the West Midlands (county) Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Sports venues completed in 1881 1881 establishments in England English Football League venues