Cressing Road, also known as the Dunmow Group Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in

Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town and former civil parish in Essex, England. The principal settlement of Braintree District, it is located northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester. According to the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 41,634, ...

, and the home ground of Braintree Town, and formally their reserve side. It currently has a capacity of 4,222.

History

The stadium was built as a general sports ground by the Crittall Windows Company, the parent company of the club, then known as Crittall Athletic.Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume II'' It was opened on 25 August 1923 by the fourth annual Crittall Sports and Show, which had previously taken place the club's old ground on Panfield Lane, with an attendance of 6,000. At the time the ground had a cinder track a quarter of a mile long. The first football match was played on 15 September 1923, with Crittall beating Great Leighs 4–0. A 400-seat grandstand was opened in December 1924 and the ground became the regular venue for the Essex Junior Cup, with a record football crowd of 6,000 attending for the 1926 final between Rayleigh Athletic and

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

. This was equalled in the 1928 final between Leigh Ramblers and Wimpole Road Wesleyans and an

Essex Senior Cup The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although lea ...

semi-final between

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

and Colchester Town in 1931. A non-football record of 8,000 was set for the Crittall Sport and Show in 1926. A second grandstand was opened during the 1932–33 season. A record attendance for the home club was set during the 1935–36 season when 4,000 watched an

match against

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

; this was equalled on 8 May 1952 when they played

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in a friendly, with Spurs winning 8–1. Floodlights were installed in 1967 and inaugurated with a friendly match against

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

. Greyhound racing also began to be held at the ground in the same year. In the mid-1970s the ground had fallen into a state of disrepair and the club was forced to play at other venues for a time due to problems with the pitch. Half of the main stand was removed in the early 1970s and in January 1974 the rest of the stand which was badly damaged in a storm. With the ground being in such poor condition the club had to play at alternative venues These included Heybridge Swifts' Scraley Road (a single match on 26 April 1975 arranged at such short notice that many fans arrived at Cressing Road for the match and only 50 attended the game), Braintree Rugby Club's Tabor Avenue (at the start of the 1975–76 season) and the Courtaulds Sports Ground in Church Street in Bocking (a single match against

Gorleston Gorleston-on-Sea (), known colloquially as Gorleston, is a town in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, to the south of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Bo ...

on 6 September 1975 with a crowd of 73). However, after winning the

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

in 1983–84 the club began to upgrade the ground, building a new 292-seat grandstand at the end of the 1980s. New terracing was installed in 2011–12.

Current format

The ground currently consists of four stands: *Main Stand, a 553-seat covered stand *Clubhouse End, two uncovered terraces with a capacity of 1,131 *Quag End, with an uncovered terrace with a capacity of 1,408 *Cressing Road side, a 1,130-capacity terrace (of which 755 is covered)

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing took place around the pitch from 1967 until an unknown date. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the ...

). As a result, it was known as a flapping track, a nickname given to independent tracks.

References

{{English greyhound tracks Braintree Town F.C. Football venues in England Football venues in Essex Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in England Braintree District Sports venues completed in 1923 1923 establishments in England