Clifton Grove was a

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

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

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 the original Rotherham Town club.

History

The ground was opened on 26 September 1891 for a

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

game between Rotherham and Grantham Rovers.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p38, It was located to the east of Rotherham town centre and consisted of a covered seated stand on the northern touchline, which had been moved from the club's previous Clifton Lane cricket ground and an open seated stand behind the eastern goal. In 1893 the club was elected to

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 ...

, and the first League match at Clifton Grove was played on 9 September 1893, with Rotherham defeating

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

in front of 3,000 spectators. This was also the highest League attendance recorded at the ground, and was equalled on 1 September 1894 for a 3–1 defeat by

Burton Wanderers Burton Wanderers Football Club was a football club based in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The club were members of the Football League for three seasons in the mid-1890s. In 1901 they merged with Burton Swifts to form Burton Unit ...

. In 1896 the club was voted out of the Football League and subsequently folded. The last League game at Clifton Grove was played on 16 March 1896 with just 300 watching a 2–2 draw against Lincoln City. After the club folded, the ground was subsequently used for housing.

References

{{reflist Defunct football venues in England Sports venues in Rotherham Sports venues completed in 1891 English Football League venues Defunct football venues in South Yorkshire