The Willows was a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

stadium in Weaste,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats.

History

In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abundance of willow trees in the area. They made their debut at the Willows on 21 December 1901, beating Swinton 2–0 in front of 16,981 fans. In the 1960s, the terrace was flattened at the Willows Road end to make way for the Salford Football and Social Club which was officially opened on 16 June 1966. The Willows switched on its floodlights for the first time in the match with

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

on Friday 11 March 1966. On 26 November 1989, Salford unveiled a new £50,000 electronic scoreboard above the Willows Variety Centre.

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

moved to the

Salford City Stadium Salford City Stadium (referred to as the AJ Bell Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a rugby stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell, England, built to replace Salford rugby league club's ground the Willows for the 2012 season. Sale Sharks rugby unio ...

Barton-upon-Irwell Barton upon Irwell (also known as Barton-on-Irwell or Barton) is a suburb of the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 12,462 in 2014. History Barton Old Hall, a brick-built house degraded to a farmhouse, was the se ...

at the start of the 2012 season. The last match at the Willows saw them lose to the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

18–44 in front of 10,146 fans, a record for a Salford City Reds home match in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

Redevelopment

In 2013, a proposal to redevelop the site for housing was put forward by

City West Housing Trust ForHousing formerly City West Housing Trust (CWHT) is a housing association in the City of Salford district. ForHousing is part of the Forviva Group with their head office in Eccles, Greater Manchester. Their homes were previously owned by Salfo ...

Rugby League Test matches

List of international rugby league matches played at The Willows.The Willows results @ Rugby League Project
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Rugby League Tour Matches

The Willows also saw Salford and the county team

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 ...

play host to various international touring teams from 1908–1978.

References

External links

The Willows on Worldstadia.comDirections to The WillowsPictures of The Willows
Salford Red Devils Defunct sports venues in Greater Manchester Defunct rugby league venues in England Rugby League World Cup stadiums Sports venues in Salford Demolished buildings and structures in Greater Manchester {{England-sports-venue-stub