Rockingham 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 ...
stadium in
Kettering
Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...
,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
,
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 ...
. It was home to
Kettering Town F.C.
Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...
from 1897 until 2011.
At the time of its closure, the ground had a capacity of 6,264, of which 1,800 was seated.
In September 2017, the land was sold by the owner, Ben Pickering Limited. The site was first identified as a potential site for
housing
Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...
in 2005 by the
local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
, and press reports indicated that the new owner was likely to use the land for a housing development.
During November 2017, the entire stadium and associated structures were demolished and the site cleared for redevelopment.
Repossession
On 4 August 2011, Kettering Town Club moved into
Nene Park
Nene Park was a sports stadium situated at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, which could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. It formerly hosted football matches but at ...
after agreeing to a long-term-lease with the landlord.
On 19 December 2011, the ground was repossessed by bailiffs acting on behalf of the owner, Ben Pickering. A notice on the entry to the ground read,
Despite football being no longer played at the grounds, its social club was still in use by the supporters-trust and was also being used for storage of club stock which is still there.
External links
Kettering Town – Rockinghan Road (archived)
References
Kettering Town F.C.
Defunct football venues in England
Sports venues in Northamptonshire
Kettering
Sports venues completed in 1897
Sports venues demolished in 2017
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