Groves Field was a football ground in the Ashbrooke area of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, England. It was the third home of

Sunderland A.F.C Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six ...

, hosting the club between 1882 and 1883, and was Sunderland's last home South of the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...

. Sunderland played at least five games at Groves Field, two

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

and three competitive games in the ''Northumberland and Durham Challenge Cup'', a precursor to the Durham Challenge Cup, and the only opportunity for competitive football for teams in the North East at the time. The first game at Groves Field was on 7 October 1882 and was a friendly against North Eastern, a team based in Heaton in Newcastle upon Tyne. The match was abandoned with Sunderland 2 - 1 ahead; North Eastern disputed both of Sunderland's goals and left the field in protest. The first competitive game was in January 1883, a 12 - 1 victory over Stanley Star, a team from Stanley, County Durham. Sunderland AFC left Grove Field in the summer of 1883, moving to Horatio Street in Roker. The site of Groves Field, and the surrounding land became Ashbrooke Sports Club, a multi-purpose sports ground. Sunderland

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Club relocated to the site in 1887, and the site still remains the home of Sunderland C.C and Sunderland R.F.C. ( Rugby union).

References

Defunct football venues in England Home Grounds of Sunderland A.F.C. Sports venues in Tyne and Wear {{England-sports-venue-stub