Woodlands Memorial Ground is a rugby stadium in

Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population of the built-up area at the 2021 United Kingdom census, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. It is the home of

Fylde Rugby Club Fylde Rugby Union Club is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugby's Natio ...

and was the home of the

Blackpool Panthers Blackpool Panthers RLFC was an English professional rugby league club based in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire. They played at Bloomfield Road, between 2005 and 2007, then moved to the Woodlands Memorial Ground owned by Fylde rugby union club. They ...

between 2006 and 2010. The

Northern Rail Nines The Northern Rail Nines was a one-off rugby league nines tournament held in Lytham St Annes and Blackpool, England as part of a celebration weekend encompassing the Northern Rail Cup Final. Held over the weekend of 11 and 12 July 2009, it was w ...

group matches, quarter and semi finals were held at the ground in July 2009, with the finals taking place at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

, Blackpool.

History

Fylde Rugby Club was founded in 1919 and first used the Woodlands for rugby union in May 1920. During the Second World War, the Army took over the ground. In 1946, the President, G.W. Parkes, welcomed back members from the forces, and the ground was purchased for £7,000. It was named the Woodlands Memorial Ground in recognition of those members who gave their lives during World War II. In the 1950s, the dressing rooms were erected. In 1964, the second England trial was held at Fylde, and Sir Laurie Edwards opened the new pavilion extension. In 1970, the North West Counties played the Fijian Tourists at the Woodlands attracting a record gate of 7,600. Fylde Rugby Club ran up significant debts in trying to compete in National One in 1997-9 and had to sell a small portion of the Woodlands grounds to re-establish financial health. With the receipts of the sale, a period of redevelopment of facilities of all kinds at the Woodlands began in January 2005. The new clubhouse opened in October 2005 and houses 500 people. In June and July,

played three

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 ...

games at Woodlands while

was being reseeded. The Blackpool Panthers beat Keighley Cougars and Workington Town and lost to

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: * Gateshead Thunder (1999), a rugby league team formed in 1999 and then merged with Hull Sharks * Gateshead Thunder (2000), a rugby league team formed in 2000, which became Newcastle Thunder in 2015 {{Disambigu ...

. In October 2006, a contract was signed between the Blackpool Panthers and Fylde R.F.C. for an initial period of six years, covering the seasons 2007–2012. The administrative and commercial base of the Blackpool Panthers, as well as the National League games, moved to the Woodlands Memorial Ground. International rugby union returned to the ground in February 2015 when the

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

played the

Scotland Club XV The Scotland national Club XV rugby union team is one of several national rugby union teams behind the Scottish national side. The national Club XV takes the best players from club rugby in Scotland to form a side that regularly competes with a ...

for the first time.

References

External links

Fylde Rugby Club official siteBlackpool Panthers official site
Defunct rugby league venues in England Rugby union stadiums in England Sport in the Borough of Fylde Lytham St Annes Sports venues completed in 1920 Rugby union in Lancashire {{England-sports-venue-stub

History

See also

References

External links