The County Ground is a football stadium in Leyland, Lancashire, England, which is owned and operated by Lancashire County Football Association (Lancashire FA). It is the home ground of Burnley under-21s, Blackburn Rovers under-21s, Bolton Wanderers reserves and both the Lancashire FA representative team and the Lancashire FA youth team.
 View towards the stands | |
  The County Ground Location in the Borough of South Ribble | |
| Full name | The County Ground |
|---|---|
| Location | Thurston Road, Leyland Lancashire PR25 2LF |
| Coordinates | 53°41′35″N 2°41′40″W / 53.69306°N 2.69444°W |
| Owner | Lancashire County Football Association |
| Capacity | ~2,300 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Opened | 19?? |
| Tenants | |
| 1933–2001 200?–present 1998–present 1998–present 2016–present | |
History
editThe County Ground is located next to the Motor Vehicle Museum and was originally home to Leyland Motors FC who played in the Lancashire Combination from 1933 until 1980 when they joined the Cheshire County League, where they played for two seasons, before becoming founder members of the North West Counties Football League in 1982.[1] In 1990 they changed name to Leyland DAF-SGL and in 1992 were demoted to the West Lancashire Football League,[2] before another name change to Leyland Motors Athletic in 1993. In 2001 they left the league altogether.[3]
The Lancashire FA moved their headquarters to the County Ground in 1998 from Blackburn.[4]
The County Ground is the current home of Bolton Wanderers reserve team, who play in the Premier Reserve League and who, in the 2008-09 season, play in the North Division.[5] The club also uses the ground for all their home matches in the Manchester Senior Cup.
The County Ground is also the current home of the Blackburn Rovers Under-21s team, who play in the Premier League 2.
Both the Lancashire FA representative team and the counties youth team play their home matches at the County Ground. The Lancashire FA currently organises nineteen County Cups and the final of each competition is played at the County Ground.[6] It is also the headquarters of the Lancashire FA.[7]
Facilities
editThe stadium has a 500-seater covered stand with "LFA" imprinted in white lettering on the seats.[4][8] The offices of the Lancashire FA are located at the ground which also has six corporate rooms.[6] There is also one full size artificial 3G sports pitch and a smaller 7v7 3G sports pitch that are used for training and community use, these artificial sports pitches are maintained by Global Maintenance Ltd and Lancashire FA Grounds Team that are also based on site. [9]
References
edit- ^ "Leyland Motors". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "Leyland DAF-SGL". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "Leyland Motors Athletic". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ a b "Local football league chiefs move to Leyland". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 27 August 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Fixture List 2008/2009". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 23 October 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
- ^ a b "Facilities". Lancashire County Football Association. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "About Us – A Brief History". Lancashire County Football Association. Archived from the original on 10 November 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "Directions". Lancashire County Football Association. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "All Weather Pitch". Lancashire County Football Association. Retrieved 19 November 2008. [dead link]