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Raikes Hall 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
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, England. It was the home ground of
Blackpool F.C. Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, th ...
between 1888 and 1899.


History

The Raikes Hall ground was located in Raikes Hall Park, a pleasure ground. It consisted of a covered seated stand on the northern touchline, but the remainder of the ground was undeveloped as the pitch was also used for cricket.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p18, Blackpool moved to the ground in 1888, and were elected to the
Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
in 1896. The first League match at the ground was a 5–0 win against
Burton Wanderers Burton Wanderers Football Club was a football club based in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The club were members of the Football League for three seasons in the mid 1890s. In 1901 they merged with Burton Swifts to form Burton Unite ...
on 19 September 1896, in the 1896–97 season, with 3,000 spectators present. The record League crowd of 5,000 was set for a game against
Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...
on 17 October 1896, and equalled for games against Grimsby Town on 1 January 1897 and Darwen on 16 April in the same year. During that first season in 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 ...
, it became clear that Raikes Hall needed to be upgraded. The club moved to the
Athletic Grounds The Athletic Grounds ( ga, Páirc Lúthchleasaíochta) is a GAA stadium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA and is used for both Gaelic football and hurling. Uses The stadium i ...
for the start of the 1897–98 season to allow works to be undertaken at Raikes Hall. However, with the development works delayed and the Athletic Grounds being unpopular with supporters, due to the distance between the stands and the pitch, Blackpool returned to Raikes Hall midway through the 1898–99 season. Blackpool were voted out of the Football League at the end of the 1898–99 season. Later in 1899 the club merged with South Shore and moved to their Bloomfield Road ground. After playing their first home game of the 1900–01 season at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool played the remainder of their home fixtures back at Raikes Hall. They would have played the opening home fixture there too, were it not for the fact that the Pleasure Gardens was still hosting holiday-makers at the tail end of the summer season."Seasiders.net - A MOMENTOUS DATE - 23 DECEMBER 1899"
/ref> The entire Raikes Hall Park was later turned into housing. Leicester and Longton Roads are located on the original pitch. The Raikes Hall public house, on Liverpool Road, preserves the name.


References


External links


Raikes Hall
at Doing The 92

at Amounderness.co.uk {{Blackpool F.C. Defunct football venues in England Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in Lancashire Blackpool F.C. Sports venues in Blackpool English Football League venues