Marston Road (Stafford)
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| Full name | Marston Road |
|---|---|
| Location | Marston Road, Stafford, Staffordshire. ST16 3BX |
| Coordinates | 52°49′06.75″N 2°07′00.69″W / 52.8185417°N 2.1168583°W |
| Operator | Stafford Rangers F.C. |
| Capacity | 3,000 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1896 |
| Renovated | 1946 |
| Expanded | 2007 |
| Tenants | |
| Stafford Rangers F.C. | |
Marston Road is a football ground in Stafford, England. It is the home ground of Stafford Rangers F.C., a semi-professional team who play in the Northern Premier League.
Stafford Rangers have played at Marston Road for over 110 years. The first competitive game at the ground was on Saturday 5 September 1896, a North Staffordshire League fixture against Dresden United Reserves. Players changed in an upstairs club room at the Albion Hotel before crossing the road to what was then referred to as the Albion Ground. During 1920 the ground was purchased when Rangers became a limited company, and soon banking appeared around the pitch and four huts were bought from Cannock Chase War Training Group. The first Supporters' Club built a stand on the Lotus site which is quite possibly the structure in use today, and work also commenced on dressing rooms, offices and turnstiles ready for the 1921 season. Two years later the club hit financial difficulties and the ground was mortgaged for £500, but worse followed, for in 1929 fire destroyed part of it.
During the war Marston Road fell into disrepair but was renovated by Supporters Club members ready for use at the start of the 1946/47 season. It remained more or less unchanged until an upturn in playing fortunes during the late sixties saw the launch of a floodlighting fund. £6,000 was raised and on Monday 5 September 1969 a crowd of 3,045 watched the official opener against Port Vale. The seventies saw the ground develop to its current status with a new seated stand to replace the ramshackle old stand which stood along the Marston Road side. Considerable delays were experienced following planning permission for the 450-seater and the old stand was still in place when Rotherham United's visit in the FA Cup 3rd Round on 4 January 1975 brought in the record gate of 8,536. The stand was used for the last time the following month and volunteer work helped create the new one in time for the start of the following season.
The next significant work at Marston Road was the building of the new dressing room block and office complex which was officially opened in December 1977 following a match with Stoke City. New terrace steps were constructed at the Social Club end of the ground during the 1988 close season. When the new Board of Directors took over in 1997, work was carried out to tidy up the ground and the Social Club was extended. During the 2005/06 season, the floodlights were replaced and the seating capacity of the stand was increased to over 500 seats.
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