Pike's 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

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, England. It was the home ground of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

between 1880 and 1895, and the venue of the first goal scored in league football anywhere in the world.

History

Pike's Lane opened in 1880, with the first match played against

Great Lever Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses runnin ...

on 10September. The ground initially had embankments on both sides of the pitch, and later developments included a grandstand on the northern touchline and wooden terracing behind the eastern goal.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p101 Bolton were founder members of

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 ...

in 1888, the world's first

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 ...

league. The first League match was played at Pike's Lane on 8 September 1888, with Bolton losing 6–3 to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in front of 5,000 spectators. Bolton's Kenny Davenport scored the first goal after two minutes, the first goal scored in the Football League.Solving the mystery of the first goal in league football
BBC Football, 29 July 2013 The first Football League

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

was also scored at Pike's Lane a week later by Burnley's William Tait in a match that Burnley won 4–3. The ground's record attendance of 20,000 was set for an

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 ...

third round match against

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 ...

on 24 February 1894. The highest attendance for a League match was 14,000 for a game against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 28 March 1891. Pike's Lane hosted the first "inter-league" match between The Football League XI and the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

, in April 1892.Bob Crampsey (1990)''The First 100 Years. Scottish Football League'', p245 At the end of the 1894–95 season the club moved to

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

. Pike's Lane was unpopular with players and supporters due to a poor pitch and inadequate spectator facilities. The last match at the ground was played on 13April 1895, as Bolton beat

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

5–0 with 10,200 spectators in attendance. The site was later used to build terraced housing.

References

{{Bolton Wanderers F.C. Defunct football venues in England Buildings and structures in Bolton Defunct sports venues in Greater Manchester Bolton Wanderers F.C. Sports venues completed in 1880 English Football League venues