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| Wantage Road | |||||
 County Ground in September 2014 | |||||
| Ground information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Northampton | ||||
| Coordinates | 52°14′53.37″N0°52′16.34″W / 52.2481583°N 0.8712056°W /52.2481583; -0.8712056 | ||||
| Establishment | 1885 | ||||
| Capacity | 6,500[1] | ||||
| End names | |||||
Lynn Wilson End David Capel End | |||||
| International information | |||||
| First ODI | 19 May 1999: South Africa v Sri Lanka | ||||
| Last ODI | 31 May 1999: Bangladesh v Pakistan | ||||
| Only women's Test | 12–15 June 1937: England v Australia | ||||
| First WODI | 9 July 1999: England v India | ||||
| Last WODI | 12 September 2023: England v Sri Lanka | ||||
| First WT20I | 22 August 2008: England v South Africa | ||||
| Last WT20I | 17 May 2024: England v Pakistan | ||||
| Team information | |||||
| |||||
| As of 17 May 2024 Source:CricketArchive | |||||
TheCounty Ground is acricket venue on Wantage Road in theAbington area ofNorthampton, England. It is home toNorthamptonshire County Cricket Club, and was used byNorthampton Town F.C. from 1897 to 1994.
Northamptonshire played their first match at the ground in 1886 before competing in theMinor Counties Championship competition between 1895 and 1904, winning the title three times. They were accepted into theCounty Championship and played their firstfirst-class match at the ground on 5 June 1905. Northamptonshire drew withLeicestershire in a rain-hit match that only permitted 75overs of play.
The County Cricket Ground is known to be a venue which favoursspinners, and in the lastCounty Championship game of2005, Northamptonshire's two spin bowlersJason Brown andMonty Panesar took all 20 wickets for Northamptonshire.
The County Ground hosted two1999 Cricket World Cup matches:South Africa's victory overSri Lanka andBangladesh's first World Cup victory against eventual finalistsPakistan by 62 runs.
Northampton Town F.C., also known as 'the Cobblers', played their home games at the County Ground for 97 years, between 1897 and 1994. The football ground only had three sides, with an open side being needed due to the size of the cricket field.
The team began in the Northants League, working upward through various leagues before being elected toThe Football League in 1920. The team played in all four main divisions during their tenure at the County Ground. Between 1958 and 1965 the team rose fromDivision 4 all the way to the top tier, theFirst Division, where they stayed for only one season –1965–66. Subsequently, the team fell into decline, being relegated to the Fourth Division in 1970 and have played in the third and fourth tiers of the English league ever since.
On 7 February 1970, Northampton Town hostedManchester United in theFA Cup fifth round at the County Ground and lost 8–2, withGeorge Best scoring six goals.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, the team occupiedDivision 3 andDivision 4, finishing at the bottom of the league in 1994. However, they stayed in the league because the stadium atKidderminster Harriers, theFootball Conference winners, did not meet the standard required for promotion. By that stage, however, construction work on the new all-seater Sixfields Stadium had started. The new stadium was still under construction when the1994–95 season began, and so the club began that season still at the County Ground.
The Cobblers played their last game there on 12 October 1994 (a 1–0 league defeat toMansfield Town),[2] and then moved toSixfields, a four-sided stadium more suitable for football.[3]
The county ground was previously used byNorthampton Saints on a couple of occasions in the early 1900s, as well as for theEast Midlands Rugby Union side, most notably in 1924 when they played the touringAll Blacks side.
Sir Elton John played the first ever concert at the County Ground on 25 June 2011. The show lasted for over two and a half hours. Sir Elton was supported byEd Drewett.[4] Subsequent concerts have includedTom Jones,Olly Murs,Little Mix andCraig David/Rita Ora.
While the two sports clubs shared the ground, the cricket club's address was 'Wantage Road' whereas the football club's address was 'Abington Avenue'.
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