York Road is 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 ...

stadium in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, England. The home ground of

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously use ...

, it is acknowledged by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to be the oldest continuously-used senior

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

ground in the world by the same club, having been home to the club since 1871. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

commemorating this is placed just inside the home turnstiles on the York Road side of the ground.

History

The ground was initially the home of Maidenhead Cricket Club and it was with their permission that, shortly after their foundation in 1870, the football club played their first match at York Road on 16 February 1871 against Marlow. The Magpies have continued to play home matches here, without a break, to the present day. The current capacity of the ground is 4,500 (550 seated) and holds an "A" grading. The club's record attendance is 7,989 for the 1936

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

quarter-final against

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

. A further 2,000 spectators are estimated to have watched the match from the adjacent railway embankment. The ground record attendance was set on Easter Monday 1947 when 8,277 people paid total receipts of £494 to watch the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup Final between

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. The ground facilitates fans in a mixture of covered all-seater stands, covered and uncovered traditional terraces and flat concrete by the side of the pitch. As well as the normal facilities for lower-league football, the ground hosts ''Stripes Bar'' which can be hired out for functions. The ground is located just a few minutes walk away from the town centre and from

Maidenhead railway station Maidenhead railway station serves the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is down the line from and is situated between to the east and to the west. It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway and the Elizabeth l ...

References

Maidenhead United F.C. Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Football venues in England Maidenhead Sports venues completed in 1871 {{England-sports-venue-stub