Leeds Road was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the

Kirklees Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town A.F.C., Huddersfield Town A ...

was opened nearby for the 1994–95 season. It was the home of Huddersfield Town A.F.C. from 1908 to 1994 and was also the base for Huddersfield RLFC from 1992 to 1994.

History

The ground was opened in September 1908 with a friendly against Bradford Park Avenue. The record attendance was 67,037 in a 1–0 FA Cup 6th Round defeat against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 27 February 1932.

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

also played six home games at Leeds Road during the 1985–86 season, while its

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

home was rebuilt following the

Bradford City stadium fire The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...

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 ...

also played a home match at Leeds Road in the 1948 FA Cup run while

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

was being rebuilt following damage from German bombers in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A single international match took place at the ground, when

defeated the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

8–2 in a friendly on 27 November 1946. This was England's second home international match after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the first having been held at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

, Manchester two weeks earlier. In January 1990, the

Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...

required all clubs in the top two divisions of English football to have an all-seater stadium by the 1994–95 season. Huddersfield were in the Third Division at this stage, but were aiming for promotion – finally achieving it in 1995. The club's board decided to replace Leeds Road with a new all-seater stadium at a different location, and quickly settled on a new site opposite the original stadium. In 1991 the ground was the venue for Emley's first appearance 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 ...

first round proper, a crowd of 9,035 is a club record for the village team from the hills outside Huddersfield,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

won the game 3–0. Huddersfield Town played their 1,554th and final League game at the Leeds Road ground on 30 April 1994, beating

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

2–1, watched by a near capacity crowd of 16,195. Town's oldest-surviving ex-player, Joe Walter, was guest of honour at the match. The ground was demolished soon afterwards and the site was redeveloped as a retail park. The point once occupied by the centre spot is now marked by a plaque in the car park, outside B&Q. Meanwhile, Huddersfield moved to its new stadium – the Alfred McAlpine Stadium.

Notes

References

* ''Huddersfield Town – 75 years on – A History of Huddersfield Town'' by George S. Binns * ''Huddersfield Town – A Complete Record 1910–1990''

External links

* {{coord, 53, 39, 27.108, N, 1, 46, 02.4276, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Huddersfield Giants Defunct football venues in England Sports venues completed in 1908 1994 disestablishments in England Defunct rugby league venues in England English Football League venues 1908 establishments in England Sports venues in Huddersfield