Mount Pleasant Stadium, officially known for sponsorship purposes as Fox's Biscuits Stadium, is a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
stadium in
Batley
Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
,
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 is the home of the
Batley Bulldogs and amateur club Batley ARLFC.
The Mount Pleasant pitch is sloped and is on a hill overlooking Batley. The end of the ground at the top of the hill has three grandstands. Behind the rugby posts is a terraced stand, which houses the players changing rooms and executive boxes.
At the opposite end at the bottom of the hill is an open terraced stand. The bottom corner of the pitch has a pronounced dip.
History
Batley Cricket Club played at the foot of Howley Hill, more commonly known as "Owd Billy Wood’s Cloise". The cricket club decided to merge with Batley Athletic rugby football club in 1880. The new rugby club played at Mount Pleasant at the top of the hill. The first game on the new ground was on 2 October 1880 when the hosts beat Bradford Zingari. Captain, Jacob Parker, scored the first
try.
In 1886–87, there was just one small covered stand, under which poultry were kept. This was situated where the current main stand is now. The ground was used to host a Yorkshire v Surrey county cricket match at around this time.
The 1893–94 season saw the erection of a huge open grandstand purchased by Batley's football committee following its use at the
Great Yorkshire Show held at nearby Dewsbury. It cost £141–10
s-0d. Once erected, it covered the whole side of one length of the Mount Pleasant playing area.
In 1901, Mount Pleasant was nearly lost and used for building land until the club's first president, serving from 1880 to 1890. Alderman John W. Blackburn stepped in and bought the land along with
Sir Mark Oldroyd, MP. This was then offered back to the club for £2,300. A company was formed to raise the sum, helped greatly by Alderman Joseph Auty, who agreed to donate money on the basis that "no intoxicating liquor was to be sold" at the ground.
The ground's record attendance of 23,989 was set for the visit of Leeds for a third round Challenge Cup match on 14 March 1925.
Local rivals
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...
played their home games at Mount Pleasant from 1991 until 1994, while their new stadium was being built.
On 19 December 2014, Batley announced a two-year sponsorship deal with
Fox's Biscuits, including the renaming of Mount Pleasant to Fox's Biscuits Stadium.
The naming rights of the stadium were later extended.
At the end of the 2023 season, local amateur club Batley Boys announced they would move into Mount Pleasant and rebrand as Batley ARLFC.
Sponsors
References
Bibliography
*
{{Hunslet R.L.F.C.
Sports venues in West Yorkshire
Sport in Kirklees
Rugby league stadiums in England
Batley
Batley Bulldogs