Charles Booth 1889 map - detail showing Lillie Bridge

The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and the

Lillie bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and ...

over the West London Line, that links

Old Brompton Road Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It starts from South Kensington tube station, South Kensington Underground station and runs south-west, through a ma ...

with Lillie Road. The grounds were adjacent to the railway on the south side of Lillie Road. Although geographically near to present day Stamford Bridge, there was never direct access, there being the 13-acre now defunct Western Hospital site between the two. The ground was the scene in its day of many sports including athletics, boxing, cricket, cycling and football, and hosted 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 ...

in 1873. It closed in 1888 following a riot reported in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

History

The London Athletic Club, founded in 1866, moved to the Grounds in 1869 where it stayed until 1876, prior to its transfer to Stamford Bridge. Meanwhile, the venue began hosting other sports including:

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

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 ...

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

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. There were also hot air balloon festivals and county fairs. It fell into disuse after a riot on 18 September 1888 following the cancellation of an athletics meeting at which 6,000 to 7,000 people had paid to watch and placed their bets. The ensuing riot destroyed the track and grandstand, leading to closure the following year. This coincided with the development on the north side of

Lillie Bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and ...

, of John Robinson Whitley's 1887 Earl's Court Exhibition Grounds. This was transformed in 1937 into the internationally famous venue, which hosted the indoor Volleyball competition of the 2012 Olympics before itself being consigned to demolition.

Athletics

Lillie Bridge was the home of the Amateur Athletic Club whose moving spirit was the

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

athlete, John Graham Chambers and who helped to organise the Amateur Championships before they were held under the auspices of the Amateur Athletic Association. From 1867 to 1887, the annual athletics Varsity match between

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and Cambridge Universities were held here before moving to Queen's Club on the ground's closure. Many World Records were set at ''Lillie Bridge'', including for example, 6' 2.5" in the high jump in 1876 by Marshall Brooks in front of a crowd of 12,000.

Boxing

The person to codify the Marquess of Queensberry Rules was John Graham Chambers. The ground held the first ever

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...

matches in 1867, cups being supplied by the Marquess of Queensberry.

Football

The Wanderers, after winning the first

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final in 1872, were allowed to defend the cup in the second final of 1873 with choice of venue. Not having a ground of their own, they chose Lillie Bridge and Oxford University were defeated 2–0. The attendance was over 1,000 higher than the previous final. Results of FA Cup Finals at ''Lillie Bridge''

Cricket

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

moved to Lillie Bridge in 1869. WG Grace scored several centuries here before the MCCC left in 1872 to find better quality turf at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. The club nearly folded at this time, a vote for continuing being won 7–6.

The grounds today

The LNWR opened its Brompton and Fulham Goods and Coal Station on the site in 1892. This was closed in the 1960s and the site was used for many years as a car park serving the

Earls Court Exhibition Centre Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue in London, England. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds, original ...

. From 2012–2017 the site was being redeveloped as part of the Lillie Square housing scheme.

References

External links

Lillie Bridge
TheFA.com
British Library image 1 of posters for events at Lillie Bridge

British Library image 2 of posters for events at Lillie Bridge

Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes (February 1870) – see page 191 for description of "The new grounds of the Amateur Athletic Club"
{{Authority control History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in England Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct football venues in England Defunct boxing venues Cricket in Middlesex Cricket grounds in London Sport in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Sports venues completed in 1867 Defunct sports venues in London 1867 establishments in England Fulham