Dallow Lane 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

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

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

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

from its formation in 1885 until a move to

Dunstable Road Dunstable Road, also known as Bury Park, was a football ground in Luton, England. It was the home ground of Luton Town between 1897 and 1905. History The ground was located between Dunstable Road and the now-closed railway line between Luton an ...

in 1897.

History

The first organised match of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

took place at Dallow Lane on 23 October 1880 – a fifteen-a-side match between Excelsior and Luton Rovers. Excelsior, a local works team, emerged as 2–0 victors and remained at the ground until the merger with Luton Town Wanderers in 1885 to become Luton Town Football Club. The new club decided to base itself at Excelsior's Dallow Lane. Dallow Lane, also known as the Excelsior Ground, had a capacity of about 7,000Bailey, p90 – most spectators would simply stand behind a rope close to the pitch, and there was a seated

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

constructed in 1894. The stand was "120 feet long, 18 feet high, 13 feet deep and adfive tiers of seats".Collings, p8 Due to Dallow Lane's close proximity to the Luton to

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

railway line, players claimed to have trouble playing due to smoke from the engines.Collings, pp. 3–4 The club made a damaging financial loss during 1896–97 and was forced to sell the ground to stay afloat.Collings, p11 Luton Town left Dallow Lane in April to play at Dunstable Road.Collings, p12 The Dallow Lane grandstand remained on the site until the mid-20th century, used as a store shed.

References

{{Luton Town F.C. Luton Town F.C. Sports venues in Bedfordshire Defunct football venues in England Culture in Luton