Fallowfield Stadium was an
athletics stadium and
velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...
in
Fallowfield
Fallowfield is a bustling area of Manchester with a population of 14,869 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east&n ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
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 opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to
Old Trafford Cricket Ground
Old Trafford is a cricket ground in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1857 as the home of Manchester Cricket Club and has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1864. From 2013 onwards it has been known ...
.
Fallowfield was most regularly used for cycling by the
Manchester Wheelers' Club
Manchester Wheelers' Club is a cycling club in Manchester, in north-west England.
Formation and early history
The club was formed on 7 July 1883, as Manchester Athletic Bicycle Club, the name being changed to Manchester Wheelers' Club in 1890. Th ...
, who held their annual competition there until 1976.

The stadium came to national attention on 26 March 1893 during the
FA Cup final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
between
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
and
Everton which Wolverhampton Wanderers won 1–0. With a capacity of 15,000 the attendance of 45,000 meant the majority of spectators had no view of the match.
The stadium hosted the second 1899 FA Cup semi-final replay between
Sheffield United and
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 ...
, the match had to be abandoned due to a crush in the crowd.
The cycle track was originally of shale, later resurfaced with concrete, 509 yards in circumference with 30-degree bankings. The stadium hosted cycling events for the
1934 British Empire Games and the 1919 national championships.
In 1955 sprint cyclist
Reg Harris bought the stadium and it was for a period renamed the Reg Harris Stadium.
The stadium hosted the
AAA championships in 1897 and 1907.
Sydney Wooderson set a world 3/4-mile athletics record at the stadium on 6 June 1939 with 2:59.5.
In
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 ...
, the last
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 ...
home international versus
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
held outside London was hosted in 1897.
In
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
, two Northern Union
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
finals were held in 1899 and 1900.
Manchester University
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
bought Fallowfield Stadium in the early 1960s. It was demolished in 1994
and the site is now the Richmond Park Halls of Residence, part of the
Fallowfield Campus
The Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus of the University of Manchester. It is located in Fallowfield, Manchester, 2 miles (3 km) south of the main university site, to which it is connected by Wilmslow Road and the A34 road (E ...
.
Results of FA Cup Finals at Fallowfield Stadium
Results of
Rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
Finals at Fallowfield Stadium
Sources
*
References
External links
Manchester Wheelers' Club
{{s-end
Defunct sports venues in Manchester
Defunct football venues in England
Demolished buildings and structures in Manchester
Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom
Sports venues completed in 1892
Sports venues demolished in 1994
1892 establishments in England
1994 disestablishments in England
Defunct football venues in Manchester
Defunct rugby league venues in England
Defunct rugby union venues in England
Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in England
Defunct velodromes in the United Kingdom
Cycling in Greater Manchester
Stadiums of the Commonwealth Games