Post by Budleigh on Mar 23, 2009 12:28:21 GMT
There is a building in Leicester that many people see every summer either in reality or on the television that may have an historical link to Leicester City Football Club's early days.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club play their matches at Grace Road at which there is a building known as the Meet sitting to the left of the pavilion when looking from the pitch. This building houses corporate facilities on the lower floor and a 'Long Room' on the upper storey.
But it didn't always look like this, look closely at the structure and it becomes apparent that this was originally a barrel roofed grandstand built very much in the late Victorian style and has been modified at some point.
This picture shows it in it's form on arrival at Grace Road in the early 1950's, the pillars later becoming the white concrete supports shown in the earlier picture between which the windows are placed.
The interesting point about this stand is that it originally came from the Aylestone Road cricket ground which is still in use today just a short distance from other various sporting grounds in Leicester as can be seen in the Google Earth image below and which, for some time, was the County cricket club's home turf between stints at Grace Road.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club bought the land bordered by Grace Road in 1878 and set about making it into a ground fit for first class county cricket, but the general public didn't take to it's position so far removed from the city centre and in 1900 they up-rooted to Aylestone Road (shown centre in the Google picture above), a ground that the club must've owned and must've laid out some years previously. The reason being is that in the mid 1890's when Leicester Fosse, then playing football in the Midland league, found themselves without a ground Leicestershire CCC rented Aylestone Road to them, meaning it was already in the cricket club's ownership, as well as Grace Road. Quite possibly it was used for the cricket club's 'second team' or they already had plans to move there and had purchased the land some years previously with this in mind. Whatever the reason the ground was already established and being used as a cricket venue.
As it was, a number of friendlies were played by the Fosse followed by their Midland league games. But the most interesting match from the historians point of view was an FA cup qualifying game against Small Heath (later Birmingham City) which was lost 6-2.
But attendances proved inadequate at the ground with none every reaching the 300 mark and for a progressive club such as Leicester Fosse this was problematic. The cricket club members were also complaining that the football club was upsetting the balance and that the playing surface was causing problems with the cricket pitch and they were looking to have the football club out. So with the Fosse having been offered a site of their own a few hundred yards away they decided to leave and built their new ground at Walnut Road (name changed later to Filbert Street) leaving Aylestone Road to become the new County Cricket Club's headquarters. Leicestershire CCC themselves then felt the inadequecy of the ground after the war when an electricity station was build right next door and made the playing of county cricket there very uncomfortable and at this point they decided to move back to Grace Road taking the grandstand with them where it has been ever since.
This Google earth picture shows the known position of the football pitch (and that of the grandstand as seen by the pictures following on.)
These next two pictures show the Aylestone Road ground in the early quarter of the last century with the first showing the pavilion very much as it is today, with the second, and the more interesting photograph, showing the grandstand being discussed here and clearly laid out in the lower right hand side of the ground at an angle and position that would sit well if to be used as a football stand, with that corner of the ground squared off to take a pitch. Was this stand here in Leicester Fosse's time? Was it built by them in anticipation of a longer stay and higher attendances? It certainly has the look and feel of a football stand of that era and is positioned within the ground, in the squared off corner away from the main cricket facilities, that would be difficult to fathom if it was purely a cricket facility.
This picture below shows the grandstand viewed from the pavilion in a game against Nottinghamshire in the 1930's.
Therefore is this building, now being used at Grace Road cricket ground, the original football stand used by Leicester Fosse in the 1890's when both they and the stand were at Aylestone Road and the one in front of which they played that FA cup game?
A sad sight of the grandstand still at Aylestone Road after the Second World War and before it's removal to Grace Road five years later.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club play their matches at Grace Road at which there is a building known as the Meet sitting to the left of the pavilion when looking from the pitch. This building houses corporate facilities on the lower floor and a 'Long Room' on the upper storey.
But it didn't always look like this, look closely at the structure and it becomes apparent that this was originally a barrel roofed grandstand built very much in the late Victorian style and has been modified at some point.
This picture shows it in it's form on arrival at Grace Road in the early 1950's, the pillars later becoming the white concrete supports shown in the earlier picture between which the windows are placed.
The interesting point about this stand is that it originally came from the Aylestone Road cricket ground which is still in use today just a short distance from other various sporting grounds in Leicester as can be seen in the Google Earth image below and which, for some time, was the County cricket club's home turf between stints at Grace Road.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club bought the land bordered by Grace Road in 1878 and set about making it into a ground fit for first class county cricket, but the general public didn't take to it's position so far removed from the city centre and in 1900 they up-rooted to Aylestone Road (shown centre in the Google picture above), a ground that the club must've owned and must've laid out some years previously. The reason being is that in the mid 1890's when Leicester Fosse, then playing football in the Midland league, found themselves without a ground Leicestershire CCC rented Aylestone Road to them, meaning it was already in the cricket club's ownership, as well as Grace Road. Quite possibly it was used for the cricket club's 'second team' or they already had plans to move there and had purchased the land some years previously with this in mind. Whatever the reason the ground was already established and being used as a cricket venue.
As it was, a number of friendlies were played by the Fosse followed by their Midland league games. But the most interesting match from the historians point of view was an FA cup qualifying game against Small Heath (later Birmingham City) which was lost 6-2.
But attendances proved inadequate at the ground with none every reaching the 300 mark and for a progressive club such as Leicester Fosse this was problematic. The cricket club members were also complaining that the football club was upsetting the balance and that the playing surface was causing problems with the cricket pitch and they were looking to have the football club out. So with the Fosse having been offered a site of their own a few hundred yards away they decided to leave and built their new ground at Walnut Road (name changed later to Filbert Street) leaving Aylestone Road to become the new County Cricket Club's headquarters. Leicestershire CCC themselves then felt the inadequecy of the ground after the war when an electricity station was build right next door and made the playing of county cricket there very uncomfortable and at this point they decided to move back to Grace Road taking the grandstand with them where it has been ever since.
This Google earth picture shows the known position of the football pitch (and that of the grandstand as seen by the pictures following on.)
These next two pictures show the Aylestone Road ground in the early quarter of the last century with the first showing the pavilion very much as it is today, with the second, and the more interesting photograph, showing the grandstand being discussed here and clearly laid out in the lower right hand side of the ground at an angle and position that would sit well if to be used as a football stand, with that corner of the ground squared off to take a pitch. Was this stand here in Leicester Fosse's time? Was it built by them in anticipation of a longer stay and higher attendances? It certainly has the look and feel of a football stand of that era and is positioned within the ground, in the squared off corner away from the main cricket facilities, that would be difficult to fathom if it was purely a cricket facility.
This picture below shows the grandstand viewed from the pavilion in a game against Nottinghamshire in the 1930's.
Therefore is this building, now being used at Grace Road cricket ground, the original football stand used by Leicester Fosse in the 1890's when both they and the stand were at Aylestone Road and the one in front of which they played that FA cup game?
A sad sight of the grandstand still at Aylestone Road after the Second World War and before it's removal to Grace Road five years later.
Having never been to the Walkers, only to Filbert Street in the dark; and driven past Welford Road whilst never even having seen Grace Road I was fascinated just how close they all are to one another...............................another TFF gem! 
