Canal Street (Runcorn)

Last updated

Canal Street was a sports stadium used by Runcorn RFC and later Runcorn FC, in Canal Street, Runcorn, a town now within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, and on the southern bank of the River Mersey. It was also used for other sports.

Contents

History

Rugby league

The first owners of the Canal Street ground were Runcorn RFC, a rugby union club formed sometime before 1886. In 1895 the club were one of the founders of the Northern Union, which later became the Rugby League. [1]

The club suffered badly during World War I and failed to return to the league after hostilities ended.

Football

At this point the ground was purchased by a R H Posnett, the owner of a local tannery company and was used by the Highfield and Camden Tanneries Recreation Club, who became known as Runcorn FC from 1918). The club continued to be run under the overall control of the tanneries until the football club became a limited company in 1953. [2]

Rugby league returns in ground share

Huyton Rugby League Club moved to Canal Street under a ground sharing agreement with the football club from 1984–85 to 1989–90, changing their name to Runcorn Highfield RLFC.

Decline

The football club had mixed success on the field, but in later years had problems with the ground, which by the 1990s was in need of major works. Disaster struck three times off the field during the 1993–94 season.

A first round FA Cup tie against Hull City, attracted a larger crowd than expected. A terrace wall collapsed following a Hull goal causing minor injuries to spectators. [3]

Later in the season, the roof blew off a stand in high winds, and the main stand was gutted by fire. [4]

With the club's precarious financial position, and the cost of rebuilding their Canal Street home, Runcorn suffered on the pitch, resulting in relegation, which was to be the start of a downhill spiral.

Closure

The last competitive game to be played at Canal Street was on 5 May 2001 and resulted in a defeat 2–1 by Gateshead. Runcorn player Liam Watson scored the club's final goal in this match.

At the end of the 2000–01 season, the football club, struggling with large debts and dwindling attendances, sold the ground and moved to Halton Stadium, home of Widnes Vikings Rugby League Club, where they stayed for several years before again struggling financially and ground sharing with Southport at Haig Avenue and Prescot Cables at Valerie Park, before finally folding at the end of the 2005–06 season. [5]

The ground itself, by now in a dilapidated and a dangerous condition, was sold to developers and is now a housing development, the Linnets Park housing estate

Note

A brief scribbled note on an old programme mentions the name "Pavillions" as being the home of Runcorn RFC. This error is repeated in several books and websites. This ground is not related to Runcorn RFC or Canal Street.

It is in fact a recreation area on which sports are played and was used by Runcorn ARLFC, a junior team from the early 2000s, and who moved there from the start of the 2009-10 summer season (their 5th in the Summer Conference). It is on the Eastern end of Sandy Lane (between Western Point Expressway and Picow Farm Road), Runcorn.

Prior to that Runcorn ARLFC had played at various grounds including at Moore, and moved to Pavilions from the fields to the rear of The Heath School, off Clifton Road, where they had played the previous season (2008–09). The club website became static during season 2009-10 and the club appeared to fold.

See also

Runcorn RFC
Runcorn Highfield RLFC
British rugby league system
1985–86 Rugby Football League season

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Runcorn</span> Town in England

Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Its population in 2021 was 62,100. Runcorn is on the southern bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It lies on the southern shore of the River Mersey 15 miles upstream from the port of Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Widnes Vikings</span> English rugby league club

The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. Their historic nickname is "The Chemics" after the main industry in Widnes, but now they use their modern nickname, "The Vikings".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitehaven R.L.F.C.</span> English professional rugby league club

Whitehaven 2010 R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club, from Whitehaven, Cumbria. They currently play in the RFL Championship after winning promotion from the League 1 in 2019. They currently play their games at the Recreation Ground.

Runcorn F.C. Halton was an English football club that played in Runcorn, Widnes and Prescot at various points during its existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halton Stadium</span> Sports stadium in Widnes

The Halton Stadium is a multi-purpose rugby league, football and American football stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, football team Widnes Football Club of the Northern Premier League who play their home games at the stadium, and also the American football side Halton Spartans of the BAFA National Leagues, the Halton Spartans having competed in the BAFANL national American football league since 2015. The stadium is all seater and has a total capacity of 13,350.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Runcorn Linnets F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Runcorn Linnets F.C. are an English football club based in Runcorn, Cheshire. The club currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One West, and is a full member of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club is run by a trust which is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, and is registered with the Financial Services Authority.

Liverpool Stanley was a semi-professional rugby league club from Liverpool, England. It was renamed Liverpool City in 1951, but was otherwise unrelated to the original Liverpool club of the same name. The club's origins date back to 1880 when it was founded as Wigan Highfield. Although the club was best known for its years in Liverpool, the club relocated numerous times, and were known as London Highfield, Huyton, Runcorn Highfield, Highfield, and eventually Prescot Panthers throughout their existence before being eventually wound up in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Widnes</span> Town in Cheshire, England

Widnes is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021 census had a population of 62,400.

Runcorn RLC are a rugby league club based in Runcorn, Cheshire, England. They play in the North West Men's League.

Paul Woods was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and rugby union coach. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Oakdale RFC, Tredegar RFC and Pontypool RFC, and representative rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for Widnes, Rochdale Hornets, Hull FC, Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons and Runcorn Highfield, as a fullback, stand-off or scrum-half, and coached club level rugby union (RU) for Tredegar RFC and Margam RFC.

Lancaster RFC was a semi-professional rugby league club based in Lancaster, Lancashire, England.

Stockport RFC was a Rugby League club in Stockport, Cheshire, England.

Liversedge RFC were a semi-professional rugby league club from Liversedge, Yorkshire, England. They were a founder member of the Northern Rugby Football Union, precursor to the Rugby Football League.

Runcorn FC was a rugby league club. Having formed in 1876 and played rugby union as members of the RFU, they joined the Northern Union in 1895, just several days after it was founded, and played in the league from 1895–96 to 1917–18.

This was the fourteenth season for the League Cup, which was again known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

The 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy was the eighteenth season for the competition.

Relocation of professional sports teams in the United Kingdom is a practice that involves a sports team moving from one metropolitan area to another, although occasionally moves between municipalities in the same conurbation are also included. For relocations in other part of the world see Relocation of professional sports teams.

Jack Johnson is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback or on the wing for Oldham RLFC in the RFL League 1.

Owen Buckley is an English professional rugby league footballer who last played as a winger for Widnes Vikings in the Championship.

Peter Murphy is a Scottish-born former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at club level for South Newington ARLFC, Hull Kingston Rovers, Wakefield Trinity (Trial), Dee Street Recreation ARLFC and Castleford, as a wing, or more usually as a prop or second-row.

References

  1. ↑ Sterry, David. Temperance in Victorian Halton, Runcorn and Widnes. The Runcorn and District Historical Society.
  2. ↑ "History of Runcorn FC/Runcorn FC Halton".
  3. ↑ Buckingham, Phillip (10 May 2020). "How Hull City fans escaped tragedy with 'mini-Hillsborough' away to Runcorn". hulldailymail.co.uk. Reach plc. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  4. ↑ Darlington, Chris. "Gone But Not Forgotten: Memories of Canal Street".
  5. ↑ "Runcorn FC".

53°20′31″N2°43′21″W / 53.342°N 2.7224°W / 53.342; -2.7224

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.