Hawthorne Road was a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

ground in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was the home ground of Bootle F.C. between 1884 and 1893.

History

Hawthorne Road was originally a cricket ground, but began to be used for football in 1884 when Bootle F.C. moved to the site. At the time the only spectator facility was a cricket pavilion on the east side of the ground, with football being played at the southern end of the site. In 1889 the football club opened a seated stand behind the western goal and a covered stand flanked by two open terraces on the southern touchline.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p63, The ground's record attendance was set on 26 December 1889 when 20,000 saw Bootle play Everton in a friendly match. Bootle joined the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

in 1889, and in 1892 were elected into the Second Division of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. The first League match played at the ground on 10 September 1892 saw Bootle beat

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

2–0 in front of 4,000 spectators. However, crowds rapidly dwindled, and dropped below 1,000 by December. Although Bootle finishing eighth in the Second Division, financial constraints forced them to resign from the league, with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

elected to replace them. The last Football League match was played at Hawthorne Road on 15 April 1893, with 2,000 watching Bootle beat Lincoln City 4–1. The ground remained open for cricket, and was briefly home to Bootle Athletic. However, housing was later built over the part of the site where the football ground was located when Wadham Road was extended.

References

Football Alliance venues Defunct sports venues in Merseyside Defunct football venues in England Cricket grounds in Merseyside Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Sports venues completed in 1884 {{England-sports-venue-stub