College Grove (Sports Ground)
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| Full name | College Grove |
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| Location | Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England |
| Owner | Wakefield Sports Club (College Grove) Ltd. |
| Capacity | 3,000 |
| Opened | 1848 |
| Tenants | |
| Wakefield F.C. Wakefield Hockey Club | |
College Grove sports ground is a multi sport facility in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It is owned and run by Wakefield Sports Club (College Grove) Ltd.
The current main users of the ground and Wakefield Hockey Club, Wakefield Bowls Club and Wakefield Squash Club.
The sports ground is located on the edge of Wakefield city centre on Eastmoor Road.[1]
The ground is enclosed on the north side by Eastmoor Road, the south by Smirthwaite Street, houses on Pinderfields Road on the east and houses on College Grove view on the west. The Ordnance Survey map reference is SE3321NW.
In 1847 a bowling club started playing on the Smirthwaite Street green. A year later Wakefield Cricket Club was formed to play on Grove Hall grounds – which neighbour the existing ground. A new club was formed under the title of Wakefield Cricket and Bowling Club.
In July 1873, a united South of England side played a game against a local 22 and in 1878 Yorkshire played a game there. However the ground proved to be too small for first class cricket, although Yorkshire's second 11 continued to play on the ground until the 1960s.
In 1896 tennis joined the club – probably with the addition of two grass courts. The current bowling greens were added in 1921. The clubhouse covers the original green. The grounds were leased for £65 per annum. In 1928 the club purchased the grounds for £3,000 and a limited company – Wakefield Cricket and Athletic Club was formed. The playing area was extended in 1934 to Smirthwaite Street, covering a rubbish tip.
In May 1935, Wakefield RFC moved to the ground. For the next fifty-four years – until the demise of the cricket club, the two sports shared the pitch (the rugby pitch overlapping the edge of the cricket field), with no rugby access before mid September and after the first weekend in April.
Wakefield Harriers athletic club were based at the ground between 1937 and 1949. In July 1938 one of their meetings attracted 3,000 spectators.
In 1947 the Cricket club celebrated its centenary by holding a week long festival of sport which attracted 30,000 people including 7000 for an athletic meeting – "So great was the in rush of spectators shortly after the start of the meeting that the gates had twice to be temporary closed pending a more equitable distribution of people inside the enclosure".
In 1950, QEGS were allowed access to the ground for one afternoon per week.
The tennis club added two shale courts in 1953. In the early 1990s, the club sold the area by the tennis courts for housing. In 1955 the rugby club built a 220-seat stand, which remained in place until the current stand replaced it in 1984. The current structure originally seated 500 on wooden benches but these were later replaced by plastic tip up seats lowering the capacity. A year later lights for rugby use were installed and in 1959 the clubhouse was extended – the current lounge.
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