The Chuckery was a

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

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 the

Chuckery Chuckery is a small suburb of Walsall located a mile from the town centre. Name The name "Chuckery" is believed to originate from the common medieval word to describe a poultry farming area. Demographics Chuckery has a diverse ethnic mix, wit ...

area of

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

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 Walsall Swifts and Walsall Town football clubs until they merged in 1888, after which it was used by the new Walsall Town Swifts club.

History

The Chuckery was located to the east of Walsall town centre, and had several different pitches which were used by Walsall Swifts and Walsall Town. When the two clubs merged in 1888, they continued playing at the Chuckery on the Town pitch. The Town pitch was chosen as it was located closer to the cricket pavilion, the only facility at the ground.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p35, In 1892 Walsall Town Swifts were 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 the ground was played on 3 September 1892, with Walsall losing 2–1 to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

in front of 4,000 spectators, also the highest League crowd recorded at the ground. Following complaints from local residents, the club left the ground to move to West Bromwich Road at the end of the 1892–93 season.Fellows Park
Football Grounds Guide However, the first two matches of the 1893–94 season were played at

the Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

Wednesbury Wednesbury ( ) is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and ...

as the new ground was not yet ready. The final League match at the Chuckery was played on 15 April 1893, with 2,000 spectators seeing a 1–1 draw with Sheffield United. The site was later used to build housing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chuckery Defunct football venues in England Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in the West Midlands (county) Walsall F.C. Cricket grounds in the West Midlands (county) Football venues in the West Midlands (county) Football Alliance venues