No, not Boothferry Park, the other, even older one. Our abandoned sports grounds correspondent Angus Young investigates.
It’s 25 years since Hull City Council briefly became the most cash-rich local authority in the country by selling a 55 per stake in its wholly-owned telephone company Kingston Communications. The resulting £255m windfall was subsequently spent on new heating and double glazing in 25,000 council properties, carrying out a citywide programme of repairs to schools as well as building a new one in the shape of Endeavour High, laying new pavements in Spring Bank and Anlaby Road and contributing £5.4m towards the construction of The Deep. However, the biggest headline-grabbing item on the spending list was the £45m redevelopment of West Park featuring a new state-of-the-art sports stadium for Hull City and Hull FC to share.
City’s previous Boothferry Park had been built by its chairman and owner Harold Needler, who also ran a successful local construction business. As well as Boothferry Park, he was also responsible for most of the housing in Sutton Park while, after his death, his family-owned company has gone on to develop Kingswood. But who was responsible for building the club’s first-ever ground on Anlaby Road?
A surviving section of the old ground could soon be unearthed if the volunteer-run Hull City Supporters Trust manages to secure a Heritage Lottery grant to help create a new attraction in the shadow of what is now the MKM Stadium. One end of an original terrace currently lies partially buried by an overgrowth of bushes and trees with some steps and a supporting wall still just about visible. Opened in 1906, City played there until the Second World War. In that period, the record crowd was 32,000 for an FA Cup tie against Newcastle United.
City fan and author Nick Turner charts those far off days in his excellent book Now Tigers! The Early History of Hull City. He discovered the ground – or at least the main stands and terraces – was the work of G.H.Carr, a builder whose business was based in Alexandra Road, off Beverley Road. The premises is still in use today as a motor repair garage. An advert featured in a 1908 match programme found by Nick describes the company as a “house & ship joiner, builder and contractor.”
He’s also come across recent information suggesting some of the building materials used might have come from the construction of Hull City Hall, which was being built at the same time. Either way, the surviving terrace is thought to be the oldest surviving Edwardian football structure of its kind in the country. The trust recently launched a £100,000 fund-raising campaign. The aim is to provide match-funding towards a potential Heritage Lottery grant.
The Anlaby Road ground continued to be used by City’s A-team and for junior fixtures until the 1960s when British Rail created a new service loop between the railway lines running to Selby and Scarborough, effectively slicing the old ground in two. The new railway line opened in 1965 and since then Mother Nature has gradually hidden what remains of the club’s original home.
Ironically, because the site is wedged between railway lines it was largely untouched during the construction of the new stadium back in 2001/2. With sufficient funding support, the lost terrace built by G.H. Carr over a century ago could soon have fans standing on it once again.
Angus Young