Clarence Street is a former rugby stadium in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England. From 1885 until 1989 it was the home of

York F.C. The York Wasps (known simply as York from 1868 to 1989, Ryedale-York from 1989 to 1996 and York Wasps from 1996 to 2002) was an English professional rugby league club based in York. At the start of the 2002 season, the club was dissolved. A ne ...

(later York R.L.F.C.) before being sold and demolished. The site is now housing.

History

York Football Club was formed in 1868 and played on a variety of grounds before moving to

Wigginton Road Cricket Ground Wigginton Road Cricket Ground in York is a former 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, ...

in the early 1880s. In 1883 due to financial difficulties the club was forced to leave Wigginton Road but in 1885 the club leased a patch of land from Bootham Asylum. This plot of land was bounded by Wigginton Road and Haxby Street and was virtually opposite Wigginton Road cricket ground. Despite the physical location of the ground it was almost always called after nearby Clarence Street with some mentions as either Wigginton Road or Haxby Road. The first game on the ground was between York's first XV and a team raised from the city on 19 September 1885 but the first competitive fixture was a week later against Thornes. There were no changing rooms and a local pub, the Castle Howard Ox served this purpose. Dressing rooms were added in 1896 when the club purchased the old Waterman's Mission hut and moved it from its previous location in

Fishergate Fishergate is a street and surrounding area of York, England. History Fishergate runs along a strip of slightly raised ground, east of the River Ouse. Archaeological investigations have found evidence of prehistoric occupation, before the ...

. York joined the Northern Union. A small stand existed on the Wigginton Road side of the ground but this was deemed unsafe by the local council and was rebuilt in 1902. The new stand was opened by local MP, John G. Butcher on 20 September 1902. This stand was destroyed by fire in 1922 and Sr John Butcher opened its replacement in October 1922. Fire again struck the ground when the pavilion and press box were destroyed in August 1926. In 1931 the club purchased the freehold of the stadium from Bootham Park hospital and also acquired some adjoining allotment land on the Haxby Road which became the club's training pitch. The record attendance for the ground was set on 10 February 1934 when 14,631 saw a 0–0 draw between York and Swinton in the first round of the

1933–34 Challenge Cup The 1933–34 Challenge Cup was the 34th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup during the 1933–34 Northern Rugby Football League season, 1933–34 season. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifina ...

. In 1938, the ground hosted baseball and the home fixtures of York City Maroons in the Yorkshire League. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the training pitch was returned to use as allotments while the main pitch was made available to the local

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club's use. By the 1980s the York club's finances were at a low point and in 1986 the training ground was sold for housing use, the money being used to stave off

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

of the club. However, this was not enough and in January 1989 the council ordered the club to improve ground safety or risk closure. Unable to afford the safety work, the ground was sold off and the club moved out of town to the

Huntington Stadium Huntington Stadium (formerly Ryedale Stadium) is the former stadium of England, English rugby league teams York Wasps, and York City Knights. History The stadium, which was financed by the Ryedale District Council and was initially named the R ...

. The last game at Clarence Street was on 26 March 1989 when 2,904 spectators saw York beat

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

26–17.

Tour matches

The ground played host to a number of games between York and touring teams from , or a combined

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

team and on two occasions between the representative sides and the Australian tourists. York also played an Italian national amateur team in 1954 during a tour by the Italians before an Italian governing body was recognised.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{cite book , last=Delaney , first=Trevor , title=The Grounds of Rugby League , year=1991 , publisher=Thornton and Pearson , isbn=0-9509982-2-2 York Wasps 1885 establishments in England 1989 disestablishments in England Rugby league in Yorkshire Defunct rugby league venues in England

Sports venues in York