Linthorpe Road was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

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

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in England. It was the home ground of

Middlesbrough Cricket Club Middlesbrough Cricket Club plays at Acklam Park in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. The club currently plays in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League (NYSD). It currently has multiple teams: 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3 XI, under 19, ...

and Middlesbrough F.C.

History

Linthorpe Road opened as a cricket ground in 1875, and football began to be played there in 1880, with the football pitch at the northern end of the ground. In July 1882 a first class match was played at the ground, with

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 ...

lost to the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

.Yorkshire v Australians
Cricket Archive Middlesbrough Cricket Club left the ground in 1893. Middlesbrough F.C. were elected to the Second Division of the

English 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 Engl ...

in 1899. By this time the ground consisted of a grandstand on the northern touchline and narrow seated stands around the remainder of the pitch.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p77, The first Football League game was played at Linthorpe Road on 9 September 1899, with Middlesbrough losing 3–1 to Small Heath in front of 10,000 spectators. The ground's record League attendance was set on 6 September 1902 when 17,000 saw Middlesbrough defeat Everton 1–0. The club left Linthorpe Road at the end of the 1902–03 season to move to

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

, taking the grandstand with them. The final League match played at the ground was on 25 April 1903, with 8,000 spectators watching a 1–1 draw with

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

. The site was initially used to build St Aidan's church, but was later converted into housing.

References

{{Middlesbrough Defunct cricket grounds in England Sports venues in Middlesbrough Cricket grounds in North Yorkshire Defunct football venues in England Middlesbrough F.C. facilities Defunct sports venues in North Yorkshire Sports venues completed in 1875 English Football League venues 1875 establishments in England 1903 disestablishments in England