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Fulfordgate was an
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
ground in Fulford,
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, and was the home of
York City Football Club York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sy ...
from 1922 to 1932. The ground was located next to Heslington Lane, and was purchased by York for £2,000 following their formation in 1922. The club's first two home matches were played at another venue as Fulfordgate was not ready, and the ground hosted its first match against
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
in September 1922. The highest attendance at the ground was 12,721, which came against
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
in an
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
match in 1931. York decided to move to
Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station. York City leased land at B ...
, which had been vacated by York Cricket Club in 1932, as Fulfordgate was relatively inaccessible. The ground was sold and developed as a housing estate, and Eastward Avenue now lies at its former location.


History

Following
York City F.C. York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league ...
's formation in 1922, the club purchased of land for £2,000 in Heslington Lane, Fulford,
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 ...
. This was in the south-east of the city in a rural setting, which was surrounded by hawthorn hedges and was well drained. The land was known as Gate Fulford, which was reversed to become known as Fulfordgate. As the ground was not ready, York played their first two home matches at Mille Crux, Haxby Road, which was owned by Messrs Rowntree & Company Limited. The first match played at Fulfordgate was a 4–1 victory over
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
on 20 September 1922, which only went ahead after director John Fisher paid the requisite deposit of £180. When York applied for
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
into
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 1927, they stated that Fulfordgate was "splendidly drained, well equipped, spacious and capable of being extended to hold up to 40,000 spectators". By the time of the club's admission into the Football League in 1929, the ground was estimated hold a capacity of 17,000. When York set their then-record attendance of 12,583 against
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
in an
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
third round replay on 15 January 1930, approximately 4,000 supporters had to be turned away as the gates were closed an hour before kick-off. York finished the 1929–30 season with an average attendance of 5,247, higher than 17 other
Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
clubs. Concern was expressed at York's poor support towards the end of their third season in the Football League, and director G. W. Halliday believed the only solution was a change of ground. A major problem was the ground's relatively inaccessible location, and in early 1932, York held preliminary discussions about moving to
Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station. York City leased land at B ...
, which had been vacated by York Cricket Club. A special meeting of the shareholders was held, in which chairman Arthur Brown drew attention to gate receipts figures in Fulfordgate's three Football League seasons, which represented average crowds of 4,000 and a deficit on the balance sheet. It was pointed out by Halliday that within one mile (1.6 km) of Bootham Crescent the population was 30,000, whereas it was only 3,000 for a similar radius of Fulfordgate. The directors were satisfied that the new ground would fulfil all requirements, although there was some opposition to the move. Two former directors argued that attendances at many grounds had fallen during the Great Depression, and that the approaches and surrounds to Bootham Crescent were limited. Following much discussion, the decision to move to lease Bootham Crescent was approved by 115 votes to 37, and Fulfordgate was sold and developed as a housing estate. Today, Eastward Avenue occupies the area where the ground once stood.


Structure and facilities

Fulfordgate did not initially have any covered stands, and the dressing rooms consisted of an old army hut, before open stands were bought from York Race Committee. The ground was gradually built up and improved, and covered accommodation was available after two years. In 1927, new turnstiles were installed and stronger fencing was built around the pitch, which made it more difficult for spectators to surmount it and access the pitch. Nine-tier terracing replaced the old banking behind one of the goals, the covered Popular Stand was extended to hold 1,000 supporters and there a small seated stand was erected.


Transport

Fulfordgate was located in the south-east of York, away from the city centre. It was a large distance from
York railway station York railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of and on the main line it is situated between to the south and to the north. , the station is operated by London North Ea ...
, while the tram service to Fulford only had one track, and the loop system for tramcars passing each other further restricted the service. During the ground's existence, bus routes had not been fully developed and car ownership was not yet become common; it was not easy for the majority of supporters to reach.


Other uses

The ground hosted the Yorkshire Flower Show and Gala in June 1924, after the event had been held at Bootham Park for the previous 60 years. It annually hosted Faber Cup races for the York Harriers, which consisted of six-mile courses over grass with hurdles, on a number of occasions. An amateur international was held at the ground when
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 ...
played Ireland on 14 November 1931.


Records

The highest attendance at Fulfordgate before York's election into the Football League was 8,318 for a match between York Boys and Brighton Boys in an English Schools' Trophy semi-final on 12 May 1928. The record highest attendance at the ground was set on 14 January 1931, when 12,721 saw
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
play York in an FA Cup third round replay. The highest attendance in the Football League was 10,120, for a Third Division North match against
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
on 21 April 1930. The record lowest attendance for a Football League match was 1,735, when York played New Brighton on 25 April 1931 in the Third Division North. The lowest attendance at the ground for any first-team fixture was 1,500 for an FA Cup preliminary round match against Maltby Main on 23 September 1925. The highest seasonal average attendance at Fulfordgate whilst York were in the Football League was 5,279 in 1929–30. The lowest seasonal average attendance in the Football League was 3,906 in 1930–31. York's biggest margin of victory at Fulfordgate was by seven goals, when they recorded a 7–0 win over
Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...
in the
Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...
on 11 September 1926. Their biggest margin of defeat at the ground was by three goals, when they were beaten 6–3 by
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
reserves in the Midland League on 5 September 1928. The most goals scored in a match was 10 on 23 February 1929, when York defeated
Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...
8–2 in the Midland League.


References

{{York City F.C. York City F.C. Defunct football venues in England Sports venues in York Defunct sports venues in North Yorkshire Sports venues completed in 1922 Sports venues demolished in 1932 English Football League venues Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom