Pike's Lane 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

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, England. It was the home ground 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 ...

between 1880 and 1895, and the venue of the first goal scored in league football anywhere in the world.

History

Pike's Lane opened in 1880, with the first match played against

Great Lever Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses running to Bolton town centre, Farnwo ...

on 10September. The ground initially had embankments on both sides of the pitch, and later developments included a grandstand on the northern touchline and wooden terracing behind the eastern goal.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p101 Bolton were founder members of

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 1888, the world's first

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 ...

league. The first League match was played at Pike's Lane on 8 September 1888, with Bolton losing 6–3 to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in front of 5,000 spectators. Bolton's

Kenny Davenport James Kenyon "Kenny" Davenport (23 March 1862 – 27 September 1908) was an English international footballer who played as an inside right. Career Born in the Deane area of Bolton, Davenport played for Bolton Wanderers, after joining them ...

scored the first goal after two minutes, the first goal scored in the Football League.Solving the mystery of the first goal in league football
BBC Football, 29 July 2013 The first Football League

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

was also scored at Pike's Lane a week later by Burnley's William Tait in a match that Burnley won 4–3. The ground's record attendance of 20,000 was set for 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 match against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on 24 February 1894. The highest attendance for a League match was 14,000 for a game against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

on 28 March 1891. Pike's Lane hosted the first "inter-league" match between

The Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

and the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

, in April 1892.Bob Crampsey (1990)''The First 100 Years. Scottish Football League'', p245 At the end of the 1894–95 season the club moved to

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

. Pike's Lane was unpopular with players and supporters due to a poor pitch and inadequate spectator facilities. The last match at the ground was played on 13April 1895, as Bolton beat

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

5–0 with 10,200 spectators in attendance. The site was later used to build terraced housing.

References

{{Bolton Wanderers F.C. Defunct football venues in England Buildings and structures in Bolton Defunct sports venues in Greater Manchester Bolton Wanderers F.C. Sports venues completed in 1880 English Football League venues