The Tower Athletic Ground was a sports ground in

New Brighton, Merseyside New Brighton is a seaside resort and suburb of Wallasey, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England, at the northeastern tip of the Wirral peninsula. It has sandy beaches which line the Irish Sea and mouth of the Mersey, and t ...

, England. It was the home ground of both New Brighton Tower and

New Brighton A.F.C. New Brighton Association Football Club is the name of two Association football, football clubs from the seaside resort of New Brighton, Merseyside, New Brighton, in Wallasey, Merseyside in England. The original club founded in 1921 were members ...

History

The Tower Athletic Ground was built by the New Brighton Tower company, and consisted of a football pitch surrounded by running and cycling tracks. There were covered seated stands on either side of the pitch and standing areas at each end.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p128, It was the biggest sporting and motorcycling track in the North of England. The Tower company set up a football club to play at the ground, and the club was elected to the Second Division 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 1898. The first Football League match was played at the ground on 10 September 1898, with New Brighton Tower beating Gainsborough Trinity 3–2 in front of 2,000 spectators. Later in the same season New Brighton Tower's record league attendance was set when 10,000 watched a 1–0 defeat to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 14 January 1899.

20th Century

Despite finishing fourth in the Second Division in 1900–01, financial problems led the directors of the club to make a decision to withdraw from the League in September 1901. New Brighton Tower's last match at the Tower Athletic Ground was a 1–0 win over Woolwich Arsenal on 27 April 1901 in front of 2,000 spectators. The ground was subsequently used by Harrowby A.F.C., but gradually fell into decline. However, it continued to be used for other sports. It hosted the

World Cycling championships The UCI World Championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winn ...

in July 1922. In 1933, the athletics track was replaced for use every Saturday by

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

racing. It was also used for stock car racing in the 1970s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the site was used as a depot, and by the end of the war the pitch was covered in bricks and the stands were in a state of decay. However, due to the bomb damage to

Sandheys Park Sandheys Park was a association football, football ground in New Brighton, Merseyside, New Brighton, England. It was the home ground of New Brighton A.F.C. from 1921 until World War II. History In 1921 the football club purchased a 3.5-acre site ...

ground and its subsequent requisitioning by the Wallasey Corporation to build temporary housing,

moved to the Tower Athletic Ground in 1946. A new stand was built on the southern touchline, the terrace behind the western goal was renovated and the pitch was returfed. Later improvements saw some covered areas installed. New Brighton's first League match at the Tower Athletic Ground on 4 September 1946 was a Third Division North game against Bradford City watched by 7,500 spectators, which finished 0–0. A derby match against Tranmere Rovers later in September saw the ground's record league attendance of 14,291 set. At the end of the 1950–51 season New Brighton were voted out of the Football League. Their last League game at the Tower Athletic Ground was a 1–0 win over

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

on 2 May. In 1954 the club was forced to leave the ground, but were returned a year later after being granted joint tenancy of the site alongside Wallasey Borough Council. The ground's overall record attendance of 16,000 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

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on 5 January 1957. The football club bought the ground in 1958, remaining there until 1977 when it was sold to the Wallasey Housing Corporation. It is now the site of a housing estate.

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct football venues in England Defunct velodromes in the United Kingdom Defunct athletics (track and field) venues in England Defunct speedway venues in England New Brighton A.F.C. English Football League venues New Brighton, Merseyside Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral