Dallow Lane

Last updated

Dallow Lane
Dallow Lane
Full nameDallow Lane
Location Luton, Bedfordshire, England
Coordinates 51°52′54.35″N0°25′36.07″W / 51.8817639°N 0.4266861°W / 51.8817639; -0.4266861
OwnerExcelsior F.C. (1880–85)
Luton Town F.C. (1885–97)
OperatorExcelsior F.C. (1880–85)
Luton Town F.C. (1885–97)
Capacity ca. 7,000
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Built1880
Opened1880
Closed1897
Demolishedca. 1950

Dallow Lane was a football ground in Luton, England. It was the home ground of Luton Town from its formation in 1885 until a move to Dunstable Road in 1897.

History

The first organised match of association football in Luton took place at Dallow Lane on 23 October 1880 – a fifteen-a-side match between Excelsior and Luton Rovers. [1] Excelsior, a local works team, emerged as 2–0 victors and remained at the ground until the merger with Luton Town Wanderers in 1885 to become Luton Town Football Club. [1] [2] The new club decided to base itself at Excelsior's Dallow Lane. [2]

Dallow Lane, also known as the Excelsior Ground, [2] had a capacity of about 7,000 [3] – most spectators would simply stand behind a rope close to the pitch, [4] and there was a seated grandstand constructed in 1894. The stand was "120 feet long, 18 feet high, 13 feet deep and [had] five tiers of seats". [5] Due to Dallow Lane's close proximity to the Luton to Dunstable railway line, players claimed to have trouble playing due to smoke from the engines. [4] The club made a damaging financial loss during 1896–97 and was forced to sell the ground to stay afloat. [6] Luton Town left Dallow Lane in April to play at Dunstable Road. [7] The Dallow Lane grandstand remained on the site until the mid-20th century, used as a store shed. [4]

Related Research Articles

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

Luton Town Football Club is a professional football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football pyramid, following relegation from the 2023–24 Premier League. Nicknamed "The Hatters", Luton Town have played their home games at Kenilworth Road, since 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenilworth Road</span> Football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England

Kenilworth Road, known affectionately as The Kenny, is an association football stadium in Bury Park, Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town since 1905. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international matches, including the second leg of the 1984 European Competition for Women's Football final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muirton Park</span> Football ground in Perth, Scotland, UK

Muirton Park (1924–1989) was the second of three football grounds the football club St Johnstone from Perth, Scotland, have occupied in their history. It was preceded by the Recreation Grounds (1885–1924) and succeeded by McDiarmid Park (1989–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunstable</span> Market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

Dunstable is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fourth largest town in Bedfordshire and along with Houghton Regis forms the westernmost part of the Luton/Dunstable urban area.

Cressing Road, also known as the Rare Breed Meat Co. Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Braintree, Essex, and the home ground of Braintree Town, and formally their reserve side. It currently has a capacity of 4,222.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Luton Town F.C. (1885–1970)</span>

Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire. Founded in 1885, Luton Town were the first professional team in the south of England, fully professional by 1891. Luton were also one of the first southern Football League clubs, joining in 1897 before leaving again in 1900 due to financial instability. The club rejoined the League for the 1920–21 season. George Thompson became the club's first manager four years later, but only lasted eight months before leaving, and wasn't replaced until 1927. 1936–37 saw Luton promoted to the Second Division, and the first post-war seasons saw a strong Luton team begin to emerge. Record goalscorer Gordon Turner's arrival into the first team in 1950 helped Luton to promotion to the First Division for the first time in 1954–55, and the team remained there until relegation in the 1959–60 season. Luton also reached the 1959 FA Cup Final, where Turner's absence and the team's questionable preparation for the game meant that Luton lost 2–1 to Nottingham Forest. The club was subsequently relegated three times in six seasons, reaching the Fourth Division by 1965–66. However, players such as Malcolm Macdonald ensured that the club was then promoted twice in three years and was back in the Second Division by 1970.

This is an outline of Sport in Bedfordshire, a county in England.

South-eastern English football clubs Luton Town and Watford have been rivals since their respective formations in the late 19th century. The clubs are respectively from Luton, Bedfordshire, and Watford, Hertfordshire, and for this reason a match between the two teams is sometimes called a "Beds–Herts Derby". Another name occasionally used in the press is "M1 Derby", which comes from the M1 motorway, which passes both towns.

Ernest Simms was an English footballer, who was best known as a Luton Town centre forward. He was the first forward to play for England while playing for a Third Division club.

The 1987–88 season was the 103rd season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. It was Luton Town's 68th consecutive season in the Football League, and their 71st overall. It was also their sixth successive season in the First Division, and their 12th overall. The season is one of the club's most successful of all time, as Luton Town achieved a ninth-place finish in the league, won the Football League Cup, and reached the FA Cup semi-final and Full Members' Cup final. As League Cup winners, they would normally have qualified for the UEFA Cup, but were denied a first foray into European competition due to the ban on English clubs as a result of the 1985 Heysel disaster continuing for a fourth season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Rennie (Scottish footballer)</span> Scottish footballer

Andrew Rennie was a Scottish footballer, best known as a player for Luton Town. He is Luton Town's second top goalscorer of all time, with 162 goals between 1925 and 1934, 147 of which came in the league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 Luton riot</span> 1985 football riot in England

The 1985 Luton riot occurred before, during and after a 1984–85 FA Cup sixth-round football match between Luton Town and Millwall on 13 March 1985 at Luton Town's Kenilworth Road ground in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It was one of the worst incidents of football hooliganism during the 1980s, and led to a ban on away supporters by Luton Town which lasted for four seasons. This itself led to Luton's expulsion from the Football League Cup during the 1986–87 season. The club also began to enforce a membership card scheme, which Margaret Thatcher's government attempted to have adopted at grounds across England. Kenilworth Road was damaged, along with the surrounding area, and a year later was converted to an all-seater stadium.

The 1885–86 season was the first season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. The club had been in existence for less than three months on the season's start, and as Luton did not enter any league competition the team's first competitive match came on 31 October, an FA Cup tie against Great Marlow which was lost 3–0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luton Town F.C. league record by opponent</span>

Luton Town Football Club is an English football club based in Luton, Bedfordshire, which competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football, for the 2020–21 season. Formed in 1885 as the product of a merger, Luton Town became the first professional team in the south of England six years later and joined the Football League in 1897. After leaving the League in 1900 because of financial difficulties, Luton Town settled at their Kenilworth Road ground in 1905 and competed in the Southern League until 1920, when the club rejoined the Football League. The team was relegated to the Football Conference in 2009, after 89 consecutive years of League membership, following a 30-point deduction imposed by the football authorities. Five seasons later, the club won promotion back to the Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunstable Road</span> 19th-century association football stadium in Luton, England

Dunstable Road, also known as Bury Park, was a football ground in Luton, England. It was the home ground of Luton Town between 1897 and 1905.

Luton Wanderers Football Club was one of the first English football clubs from the town of Luton in Bedfordshire and the first from the town to enter the FA Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 Bailey, Steve (December 1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. Soccerdata. p. 7. ISBN   1-899468-10-2.
  2. 1 2 3 Collings, Timothy (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. Luton Town F.C. pp. 1–2. ISBN   0-951067-90-7.
  3. Bailey, p90
  4. 1 2 3 Collings, pp. 3–4
  5. Collings, p8
  6. Collings, p11
  7. Collings, p12