Stats ZoneGrounds › Burnden Park
Hello. Sign In
England
BURNDEN PARK
Ground Overview All Teams → Club Statistics →
Burnden Park - Bolton Wanderers (from Rockwell's 'Relegated to History' cards)

Burnden Park was a League ground for 103 seasons

from 1 Jul 1895 to 30 Aug 1997

The 47th ground used for a League game


Opened: 1895  •  Closed: 1997

TENANTS Teams that have used this ground as a home
Team From To Notes
Bolton Wanderers 10 Sep 1895 30 Aug 1997 The club moved here from Pikes Lane in 1895. A substitute player was used here in a Football League match for the first time ever when Keith Peacock of Charlton Athletic took the field in their 4-2 defeat against Bolton Wanderers on August 21st, 1965. The club was also involved in Football League Play Off Matches at the neutral venue of Wembley Stadium. The club moved to the Reebok Stadium in 1997.
 
PLAY OFF MATCHES
2-2 v. Aldershot [aet] (7,445) (May 17th, 1987)
1-1 v. Notts County (15,105) (May 13th, 1990)
1-0 v. Bury (19,198) (May 22nd, 1991).
2-0 v. Wolverhampton Wanderers (20,041) (May 17th, 1995)
LEAGUE EVENTS Promotions, relegations and ground moves associated with this ground
Date Team Event
9 Sep 1895 Bolton Wanderers Moved from Pikes Lane to Burnden Park
1 Sep 1997 Bolton Wanderers Moved from Burnden Park to University of Bolton Stadium
GROUND HISTORY adapted from "The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds"
Bolton Wanderers FC moved to Burnden Park, sited on industrial wasteland, from Pikes Lane in 1895 and opened it on August 15th with the town’s 9th Annual Athletics Festival. The pitch was surrounded by an oval cycle track and the facilities included a 1,600 seat stand on the east side, a standing enclosure for 5,000 on the west and embankments around the remainder of the ground. Further improvements in 1905 included the removal of the cycle track and construction of a main stand on the west side whilst, one year later, the south end was terraced and covered.

The club bought the freehold to the ground in 1914, added an angled extension to the main stand in 1915 and replaced the stand on the east side with the 2,750 seat Burnden Stand in 1928. Following these alterations the record attendance of 69,912 was set at the FA Cup 5th Round tie v. Manchester City (2-4) on February 18th, 1933.

Immediately after the end of WWII a major disaster occurred at the ground during the FA Cup 6th Round, 2nd Leg with Stoke City (0-0) on March 9th, 1946 when hundreds broke into the packed ground at the north end, resulting in the death of 33 people and injuries to 400. Apart from modernizing the north end in the wake of this event, the only other alterations to the ground over the next forty years or so involved the installation of seats at the south end.

In 1986 part of the north end of the ground was sold to a food retail chain, resulting in the demolition of the west end of the terracing and construction of a supermarket, the back wall of which extended for over half of the pitch width. As an interim measure when Bolton Wanderers FC was promoted to the Premier League in 1995 a temporary 252 seat stand was squeezed in between the wall and the pitch.
 
The club moved to the Reebok Stadium in 1997 and the site is now totally occupied by the supermarket.
MAP Burnden Park