The Paradise Ground was a football ground in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

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 the home ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis.

History

The Paradise Ground was initially a field behind Oldgate Farm to the south-west of Middlesbrough town centre. When Middlesbrough Ironopolis began using the ground in 1889, there were no spectator facilities. However, later developments included small covered stands being built on three sides of the pitch and some uncovered seating. However, players and officials had to change at the County Hotel, which was far enough away to require transport to be provided to reach the ground.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p98, The ground's record attendance of 14,000 was set on 18 February 1893 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 ...

match against Preston North End. Later in the year Ironopolis were elected to the Second Division of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, and the first Football League game was played at the Paradise Ground on 2 September 1893, with Ironopolis losing 2–0 to

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 populat ...

in front of 2,000 spectators. However, attendances began to drop rapidly, with only around 200 watching the 25 November match against

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

, well below the official lowest Football League attendance of 469 set by

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

in 1930.Attendances
The Football League Ironopolis resigned from the league at the end of the season and subsequently folded. The last Football League game at the ground was played on 3 March 1894, with Ironopolis beating

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

2–1 in front of 2,000 spectators. The north-west corner of the site was used to build

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

's Ayresome Park ground in the early 1900s, whilst the rest of the site was used for housing.

References

{{Middlesbrough Defunct football venues in England Sports venues in Middlesbrough Defunct sports venues in North Yorkshire Sports venues completed in 1889 English Football League venues