Baseball Ground
| BBG | |
Commemoration of the Baseball Ground
|
|
| Former names | Ley's Baseball Ground (until c. 1895) |
|---|---|
| Location | Derby |
| Coordinates | 52°54′17″N 1°28′7″W / 52.90472°N 1.46861°WCoordinates: 52°54′17″N 1°28′7″W / 52.90472°N 1.46861°W |
| Owner |
Sir Francis Ley (until 1924) Derby County F.C. (from 1924) |
| Operator |
Ley's Malleable Castings Vulcan Ironworks (until 1896) Derby County F.C. (from 1896) |
| Capacity | 4,000 (original capacity) 42,000 (highest capacity, 1969-1980) 18,300 (capacity at closure) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1889 |
| Opened | 1890 |
| Closed | 2003 |
| Demolished | 2003-2004 |
| Tenants | |
|
Derby County Baseball Club (1890-1898) Derby County F.C. (1895-1997) Derby County F.C. Reserves (1895-2003) |
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The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. The club's reserve and youth sides used it until 2003, when it finally closed as a sports stadium after 113 years (108 of them as a football stadium) and was demolished.
As the name suggests, the stadium was originally used for baseball. It was originally called Ley's Baseball Ground and was part of a complex of sports grounds (Ley's Recreation Ground) built and owned by businessman Sir Francis Ley for workers at his foundry, Ley's Malleable Castings Vulcan Ironworks. The stadium was the focal point of the complex and was part of a personal quest by Ley to introduce baseball to the UK.
The stadium was home to Derby County Baseball Club, which was allied to the more famous Derby County Football Club. The baseball club ran away with the first championship after the National Baseball League of Great Britain and Ireland was established in 1890. However, pressure from other teams in the league over the number of American players Derby used forced them to resign at the end of the league's first season, though the baseball club itself lasted until 1898.
Derby County Football Club was formed in 1884, as an offshoot of the Derbyshire County Cricket Club. The football club played on a pitch that was part of the Derby cricket ground, which at that time was in the middle of a racecourse. This site, which had minimal facilities, was chosen to host five FA Cup semi-finals, the replay of the 1886 FA Cup Final and an England international match in 1895. Derby had occasionally used Ley's Baseball Ground for their home matches due to horse racing meetings taking priority. With their partner baseball club in decline, Derby County FC made it their permanent home in 1895 and renamed it The Baseball Ground. A party of Gypsies were forced to move and legend has it that before leaving they put a curse on the ground preventing Derby County winning the FA Cup. The ground became the property of the club in 1924 when it was purchased from Ley's heirs for £10,000. The Baseball Ground was once used for an international match: England beat Ireland 2-1 in a British Home Championship match on 11 February 1911.
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