Parkside was 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

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

, Leeds, England. It was home to Hunslet F.C. rugby league club and the source of their nickname, the Parksiders.

now play at the

South Leeds Stadium The John Charles Centre for Sport is a multi-purpose sports facility in South Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It consists of the South Leeds Stadium (a rugby league, football, and athletics stadium), an aquatics centre, indoor athletics centre, ...

which is less than half a mile from the former site of Parkside.

The stadium

Adjacent to the rugby pitch, there was a bowling green and a cricket ground. Parkside's surface had the reputation as being the best in the game and was often used by touring Australian teams as a training ground. The Mother Benson's End was named after the old lady who washed the players' kit and lived in one of the Low Fold farm cottages which were situated at that end of the ground.

History

Hunslet purchased at little cost of waste land at Hunslet Carr from the

Low Moor Iron and Coal Company The Low Moor Ironworks was a wrought iron foundry established in 1791 in the village of Low Moor about south of Bradford in Yorkshire, England. The works were built to exploit the high-quality iron ore and low-sulphur coal found in the area. Low ...

and had to shift 2,000 tons of rubbish to create what would become Parkside, which they moved to in 1888. The first game at Parkside was played on 11 February 1888, when they played and beat Mirfield. The stand from Woodhouse Hill was re-erected at Parkside. A pavilion was built in 1901. In 1959 Hunslet Cricket Club left Parkside and the cricket pitch became Hunslet's training ground. Parkside's stand was burned down by vandals in 1971. Parkside was sold off to an industrial developer for around £300,000 in 1972. The last game at Parkside was on 21 April 1973 against

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. Hunslet F.C. was dissolved a few months afterwards. Parkside was demolished and New Hunslet became tenants at the

Elland Road Greyhound Stadium Elland Road Greyhound Stadium also known as Leeds Greyhound Stadium was a Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing stadium in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The stadium is not to be confused with the football ground Elland Road or Full ...

Rugby League Tour Matches

Other than Hunslet club games, Parkside also saw Hunslet play host to international touring teams from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(sometimes playing as

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

) from 1908 to 1963.Parkside at Rugby League Project
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References

{{Hunslet R.L.F.C. Defunct rugby league venues in England Buildings and structures in Leeds