The County Ground is a
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
venue on Wantage Road in the
Abington area of
Northampton
Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
, England. It is home to
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...
, and was used by
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in ...
from 1897 to 1994.
Cricket

Northamptonshire played their first match at the ground in 1886 before competing in the
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...
competition between 1895 and 1904, winning the title three times. They were accepted into the
County Championship
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
and played their first
first-class match at the ground on 5 June 1905. Northamptonshire drew with
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
in a rain-hit match that only permitted 75
overs of play.
The County Cricket Ground is known to be a venue which favours
spinners, and in the last
County Championship
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
game of
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, Northamptonshire's two spin bowlers
Jason Brown and
Monty Panesar
Mudhsuden Singh "Monty" Panesar (born 25 April 1982) is a former English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International debut for England in 2007. In ...
took all 20 wickets for Northamptonshire.
The County Ground hosted two
1999 Cricket World Cup
The 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, also branded as England '99, was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with selected matches also played in Wales, ...
matches:
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
's victory over
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
's first World Cup victory against eventual finalists
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
by 62 runs.
Football
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in ...
, also known as 'the Cobblers', played their home games at the County Ground for 97 years, between 1897 and 1994. The football ground only had three sides, with an open side being needed due to the size of the cricket field.
The team began in the Northants League, working upward through various leagues before being elected to
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
in 1920. The team played in all four main divisions during their tenure at the County Ground. Between 1958 and 1965 the team rose from
Division 4
''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes.
Synopsis
The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...
all the way to the top tier, the
First Division, where they stayed for only one season –
1965–66. Subsequently, the team fell into decline, being relegated to the Fourth Division in 1970 and have played in the third and fourth tiers of the English league ever since.
On 7 February 1970, Northampton Town hosted
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
fifth round at the County Ground and lost 8–2, with
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
scoring six goals.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, the team occupied
Division 3 and
Division 4
''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes.
Synopsis
The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...
, finishing at the bottom of the league in 1994. However, they stayed in the league because the stadium at
Kidderminster Harriers, the
Football Conference
The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...
winners, did not meet the standard required for promotion. By that stage, however, construction work on the new all-seater Sixfields Stadium had started. The new stadium was still under construction when the
1994–95 season began, and so the club began that season still at the County Ground.
The Cobblers played their last game there on 12 October 1994 (a 1–0 league defeat to
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system.
The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...
), and then moved to
Sixfields, a four-sided stadium more suitable for football.
Rugby Union
The county ground was previously used by
Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union.
It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...
on a couple of occasions in the early 1900s, as well as for the
East Midlands Rugby Union side, most notably in 1924 when they played the touring
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
side.
Trivia
Sir Elton John played the first ever concert at the County Ground on 25 June 2011. The show lasted for over two and a half hours. Sir Elton was supported by
Ed Drewett
Edward James Drewett (born 1 April 1988) is a British singer and songwriter who is best known for his contributions and collaborations with acts such as One Direction, Little Mix, Jonas Blue, The Wanted, Olly Murs, and SG Lewis.
Early life
D ...
.
Subsequent concerts have included
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
*Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
,
Olly Murs
Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence after participating on the sixth series of the television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2009, where he finished as runn ...
,
Little Mix
Little Mix are an English girl group that formed on the eighth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor.'' They are the first group and the only girl group to win the original UK series. The lineup consisted of Leigh-Anne Pin ...
and
Craig David
Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer. He rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, to great commercial success. In to ...
/
Rita Ora
Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...
.
While the two sports clubs shared the ground, the cricket club's address was 'Wantage Road' whereas the football club's address was 'Abington Avenue'.
See also
*
List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
References
{{Cricket in England
Sports venues in Northampton
Cricket grounds in Northamptonshire
Defunct football venues in England
Northampton Town F.C.
Sports venues completed in 1885
English Football League venues