View source for Athletic Grounds, Rochdale

{{Short description|Stadium in Greater Manchester, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name        = Athletic Grounds
| nickname            =
| logo_image          =
| logo_caption        =
| image               =
| caption             =
| fullname            = Athletic Grounds
| former_names        =
| location            = Milnrow Road, Rochdale
| coordinates         = {{coord|53|36|46|N|2|08|07|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| broke_ground        =
| built               = 1894
| opened              = 1894
| renovated           =
| expanded            = 1954
| closed              = 1988
| demolished          = 1988
| owner               =
| operator            =
| surface             = Grass
| scoreboard          =
| construction cost   =
| suites              =
| architect           =
| project_manager     =
| structural engineer =
| services engineer   =
| general_contractor  =
| main_contractors    =
| capacity            =
| record_attendance   = 41,831
| Suites              =
| dimensions          =
| acreage             =
| tenants             = [[Rochdale Hornets]] (1894–1988)<br>Greyhound racing (1932–1969)<br>Speedway (1928–30 & 1970–71)
}}
The '''Athletic Grounds''' was a [[stadium]] in [[Rochdale]], [[Greater Manchester]], [[England]]. It was the home of [[Rochdale Hornets]] Rugby League Football Club for over 90 years until 1988. It has also been used for [[Motorcycle speedway|speedway]], [[BriSCA F1 Stock Cars]] and [[Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom|greyhound racing]].
==Origins==
The Athletic Grounds east of Rochdale opened in 1894 and the new stadium soon became the home of the [[Rochdale Hornets]] rugby league club. Situated alongside the Oldham & Rochdale branch railway on its south side the stadium could be accessed from Milnrow Road.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/391122/412877/12/101104|title=OS County Series Lancashire and Furness 1930|publisher=old-maps.co.uk}}</ref>
==Rugby league==
{{main|Rochdale Hornets}}
Rochdale Hornets moved to the Athletic Grounds in 1894, their first game took place in September 1894 against Crompton. Between 1896 and 1900, [[Rochdale A.F.C.|Rochdale Association Football Club]] played at the Athletics Grounds. Hornets became tenants of the ground in 1900, incidents from the game played on 22 March 1901 resulted in the ground being suspended by the [[Rugby Football League|Northern Union]].
In the 1911–12 season, the railway stand was covered and a new covered side on the enclosure side was built. Rochdale Hornets purchased the ground in 1913.
The highest attendance at the Athletic Grounds was the 1924 Challenge Cup final between [[Oldham R.L.F.C.|Oldham]] and [[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]] when 41,831 saw Wigan win 21–4.
A fire destroyed the main stand, dressing rooms and offices on 18 September 1935. A new stand built over the ashes of the old was opened on Saturday 7 March 1936 for the match against [[Liverpool Stanley#Liverpool Stanley – 1934–1950 and the second Liverpool City – 1951–1968|Liverpool Stanley]].
On 1 April 1939, seventeen spectators were taken to the hospital and two were killed, following the collapse of part of the centre railway stand roof during the [[Salford Red Devils|Salford]] versus Wigan Challenge Cup semi-final.
In January 1947, a Supporters' Club bar opened under the main stand. This was followed by a Supporters' Club tea bar on 24 September 1949. A food licence was granted on appeal. This was the first tea bar since before the [[Second World War]]. Later, a small tea bar was set up on the railway side of the ground, but was destroyed by vandalism.
Hornets borrowed £3,000 from the [[Rugby Football League]] in 1954 to build a new covered outer boundary wall and new turnstiles for the main entrance and Waithlands. The highest attendance for a league match was set on Saturday 16 October 1954, Hornets lost 4–18 to local rivals Oldham in front of 19,654 spectators.
A new popular side stand was built by the Supporters' Club in 1958–59 which increased the covered areas to a capacity of 5,000 spectators and the old railway stand, which had been damaged by vandals, was rebuilt in 1970 with the Supporters' Club contributing £1,400 towards the repairs.
===Martin Hodgson===
The Athletic Grounds holds the distinction of being the scene of the world record for the longest goal kick in rugby league when [[Swinton Lions|Swinton]], [[Cumberland]] and Great Britain second rower [[Martin Hodgson]] landed a penalty goal from 77¾ yards in a Hornets v Swinton match played in gale force conditions on 13 April 1940.
===Rugby league Test matches===
The list of international rugby league matches played at the Athletic Grounds is:<ref>[http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/venues/athletic-grounds--rochdale-/results.html Rochdale Athletic Grounds at Rugby League Project]</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#bdb76b;"
! Game# !! Date !! Result !! Attendance !! Notes
|-
|1 || 15 February 1908 || {{rl|NZL}} def. {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Great Britain Lions|England]] 8–5 || 4,013 || [[1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain|1907–08]] England vs New Zealand series
|-
|2 || 15 January 1930 || {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Great Britain Lions|The Lions]] def. {{rl|AUS}} 3–0 || 16,743 || [[1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain|1929–30]] [[The Ashes (rugby league)|Ashes series]]
|}
===Rugby league tour matches===
The Athletic Grounds also saw the Rochdale Hornets play host to various international touring teams from [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] (sometimes playing as [[Australasia rugby league team|Australasia]]) and [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] from 1907 to 1967. Rochdale never won a match against a touring team.
{| class="wikitable"
! game !! Date !! Result !! Attendance !! Notes
|-
|1 || 7 December 1907 || {{leagueicon|Kiwis|16}} [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 19–0 ||  || [[1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain|1907–08 All Golds tour]]
|-
|2 || 10 October 1908 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 5–0 || 3,000 || [[1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain|1908–09 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|3 || 23 December 1911 || [[Australasia rugby league team|Australasia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 18–6 || 4,500 || [[1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain|1911–12 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|4 || 12 November 1921 || [[Australasia rugby league team|Australasia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 16–2 || 12,000 || [[1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain|1921–22 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|5 || 7 December 1926 || {{leagueicon|Kiwis|16}} [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 11–9 || 7,590 || [[1926–27 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain|1926–27 New Zealand Kiwis tour]]
|-
|6 || 7 September 1929 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 36–3 || 6,521 || [[1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain|1929–30 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|7 || 5 December 1933 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 26–4 || 3,603 || [[1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain|1933–34 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|8 || 13 October 1937 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 6–0 || 2,400 || [[1937–38 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|9 || 15 September 1959 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 27–14 || 10,155 || [[1959–60 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France|1959–60 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|10 || 19 October 1963 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 26–4 || 8,637 || [[1963–64 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France|1963–64 Kangaroo tour]]
|-
|11 || 16 October 1967 || {{leagueicon|Australia|16}} [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]] def. {{leagueicon|Rochdale|16}} [[Rochdale Hornets|Rochdale]] 25–2 || 2,676 || [[1967–68 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France|1967–68 Kangaroo tour]]
|}
== Speedway ==
{{main|Rochdale Hornets (speedway)}}
[[Motorcycle speedway|Speedway]] was first held at the Athletic Grounds on 4 August 1928. The first speedway death in Britain occurred at the track, when Clifford Mawson was fatally injured on 21 October 1928.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000699/19281024/045/0003 |title=Injured Bradford Rider Dies in Hospital |website=Burnley News  |date=24 October 1928 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 October 2024 }}</ref>
The last meeting took place on 12 July 1930, Rochdale Speedway Limited was wound up on 1 August 1930 with "waning interest in the sport" being cited as the reason for failure. There was a revival of the sport on 16 August under new management but this was short-lived.
On Sunday 29 March 1970, speedway returned to the Athletics Grounds as [[Rochdale Hornets (speedway)|Rochdale Hornets speedway team]] took on [[Crewe]]. The team moved to [[Ellesmere Port]] at the end of the 1972 season.
== Greyhound racing ==
A greyhound racing syndicate brought greyhound racing to the stadium in 1932 with the opening meeting held on 18 June 1932 under British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS) rules, the BGTCS were the main rival to the [[National Greyhound Racing Club]] (NGRC) at the time.<ref name=DM>{{cite book|last=Barnes|first=Julia|title=Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File|year=1988|publisher=Ringpress Books|isbn=0-948955-15-5}}</ref>
In 1935 the BGTCS disbanded and the track switched to the NGRC and in 1938 the company failed in an attempt to purchase the ground from the rugby league club. Rochdale Greyhounds Ltd had earned significant profits from their [[Tote board|tote]] deductions alone putting them in a strong financial position as the [[World War II|war]] approached.<ref name=HT>{{cite book|last=Tarter|first=P Howard|title=Greyhound Racing Encyclopedia|year=1949|publisher=Fleet Publishing Company Ltd}}</ref>
The track had a 450-yard circumference and the racing kennels and paddock were set well behind the main grandstand with the 120 resident kennels further behind these quite near to housing that had been constructed since the opening of the stadium. Race distances were 319, 500 and 530 yards in addition to a 465-yard [[Handicapping|handicap]]. The Racing Manager during the 1950s was T H Mitchell assisted by J Edden.<ref name=HT/>
In December 1962 the track decided to leave the NGRC due to falling profits and they went independent (unaffiliated to a governing body), J
Dickinson was the Racing Manager but Mitchell & Edden remained at the track. However, during December 1969 the greyhound racing stopped with the Rochdale Greyhounds Ltd citing unsustainable losses <ref name=RG>{{cite book|last=Genders|first=Roy|title=The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing|year=1981|publisher=Pelham Books Ltd|isbn=0-7207-1106-1}}</ref><ref name=DM/> and the landlords refusing to renew the lease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://greyhoundstar.co.uk/remember-when-november-3/|title=Remember When - November|website=Greyhound Star|date=3 November 2019 }}</ref>
==Stock car racing==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2024}}
[[BriSCA F1 Stock Cars]] racing was introduced to Rochdale in May 1970. The track was used until 1972, the big criticism being the height of the inner granite kerb stones. designed to protect the rugby pitch. It returned in 1974 under the promotion of Mike Parker Promotions until 1984 when it finally closed. It was a big fast shale track, 440 yds in length. Rochdale also produced 2 of the sports biggest stars, 391 Stuart Smith and 396 Doug Cronshaw.
==Closure==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2024}}
In 1987, both Rochdale Hornets and Rochdale A.F.C. were in financial trouble. First to receive an offer for their ground, Hornets accepted Morrison's £2.6m offer for the Athletic Grounds and, following the sale of the land bought a half share in [[Rochdale A.F.C.]]'s [[Spotland Stadium]], thus saving both clubs. A [[Morrisons]] supermarket now stands on the site.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070922130431/http://www.onwardhornetsonward.co.uk/centen/page1.htm Hornets centenary booklet]
{{English greyhound tracks}}
{{Motorcycle speedway tracks}}
[[Category:Defunct sports venues in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Defunct rugby league venues in England]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Rochdale]]
[[Category:Rochdale Hornets]]
[[Category:Sport in Rochdale]]
[[Category:Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct speedway venues in England]]