 Leeds Road in 1990 | |
 | |
| Full name | Leeds Road |
|---|---|
| Location | Leeds Road,Huddersfield, England |
| Owner | Huddersfield Town A.F.C. |
| Operator | Huddersfield Town A.F.C. |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1908 |
| Closed | 1994 |
| Architect | Archibald Leitch |
| Tenants | |
| Huddersfield Town A.F.C. (1908–1994) Huddersfield Giants (1992–1994) Bradford City (1985) | |
Leeds Road was afootball stadium inHuddersfield,England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until theKirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the1994–95 season. It was the home ofHuddersfield Town A.F.C. from 1908 to 1994 and was also the base forHuddersfield RLFC from 1992 to 1994.
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The ground was opened in September 1908 with afriendly againstBradford Park Avenue.
The record attendance was 67,037 in a 1–0 FA Cup 6th Round defeat againstArsenal on 27 February 1932.
Bradford City also played six home games at Leeds Road during the1985–86 season, while itsValley Parade home was rebuilt following theBradford City stadium fire.
Manchester United also played a home match at Leeds Road in the 1948 FA Cup run whileOld Trafford was being rebuilt following damage from German bombers in theSecond World War.[1] A single international match took place at the ground, whenEngland defeated theNetherlands 8–2 in a friendly on 27 November 1946. This was England's second home international match afterWorld War II, the first having been held atMaine Road, Manchester two weeks earlier.
In January 1990, theTaylor Report required all clubs in the top two divisions of English football to have an all-seater stadium by the1994–95 season. Huddersfield were in the Third Division at this stage, but were aiming for promotion - finally achieving it in 1995. The club's board decided to replace Leeds Road with a new all-seater stadium at a different location, and quickly settled on a new site opposite the original stadium.
In 1991 the ground was the venue forEmley's first appearance in theFA Cup first round proper, a crowd of 9,035 is a club record for the village team from the hills outside Huddersfield,Bolton Wanderers won the game 3-0.
Huddersfield Town played their 1,554th and final League game at the Leeds Road ground on 30 April 1994, beatingBlackpool 2–1, watched by a near capacity crowd of 16,195.[2] Town's oldest-surviving ex-player,Joe Walter, was guest of honour at the match.[2]
The ground was demolished soon afterwards and the site was redeveloped as a retail park. The point once occupied by the centre spot is now marked by aplaque in the car park, outsideB&Q.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield moved to its new stadium – theAlfred McAlpine Stadium.
53°39′27.108″N1°46′02.4276″W / 53.65753000°N 1.767341000°W /53.65753000; -1.767341000