Cressing Road, also known as the Amlin Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Braintree, Essex

Braintree, Essex

Braintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.Braintree has grown contiguous...

 and the home ground of Braintree Town

Braintree Town F.C.

Braintree Town F.C. is an English football club based in Braintree, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference National and play their home matches at Cressing Road.-History:...

. It currently has a capacity of 4,151.

History

The stadium was built as a general sports ground by the Crittall Windows Company

Crittall Windows Ltd

Crittall Windows Ltd is a notable English manufacturer of steel-framed windows, today based in Witham, Essex, close to its historic roots in the county...

, the parent company of the club, then known as Crittall Athletic. It was opened in 1923 by the fourth annual Crittall Sports and Show, which had previously taken place the club's old groundon Panfield Lane, with an attendance of 6,000. At the time the ground had a cinder track

Cinder track

A cinder track is type of race track, generally purposed for athletics or horse racing, whose surface is composed of cinders. For running tracks, most cinder surfaces have been replaced by all-weather synthetic surfaces, which provide greater durability, more consistent results, and are less...

 a quarter of a mile long.

The first football match was played on 15 September 1923, with Crittall beating Great Leighs 4–0. A 400-seat grandstand was opened in December 1924 and the ground became the regular venue for the Essex Junior Cup, with a record football crowd of 6,000 attending for the 1926 final between Rayleigh Athletic and Saffron Walden

Saffron Walden Town F.C.

Saffron Walden Town F.C. is an English football club based in Saffron Walden, Essex. The club are currently without a league after withdrawing from the Eastern Counties League in August 2011. They play at Catons Lane.-History:...

. This was equalled in the 1928 final between Leigh Ramblers and Wimpole Road Wesleyans and an Essex Senior Cup

Essex Senior Cup

The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for non-league clubs in the region, although league sides have been known to enter the competition,...

 semi-final between Chelmsford

Chelmsford City F.C.

Chelmsford City F.C. is an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Chelmsford, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Melbourne Stadium.-Chelmsford:...

 and Colchester Town

Colchester Town F.C.

Colchester Town F.C. was an English amateur football club based in Colchester, Essex. Established in 1873, the club folded in 1937 after the formation of Colchester United.-History:...

 in 1931. A non-football record of 8,000 was set for the Crittall Sport and Show in 1926.

A second grandstand was opened during the 1932–33 season. A record attendance for the home club was set on 8 May 1952 when they played Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

 in a friendly, with 4,000 watching Spurs win 8–1. Floodlights were installed in 1967, the same year in which greyhound racing

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....

 also began to be held at the ground.

In the mid-1970s the ground had fallen into a state of disrepair and the club was forced to play at other venues for a time due to problems with the pitch. These included Heybridge Swifts

Heybridge Swifts F.C.

Heybridge Swifts are a non-league football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex. They were established in 1880 and were founding members of the Essex Senior League in 1971...

' Scraley Road (a single match on 26 April 1975 arranged at such short notice that many fans arrived at Cressing Road for the match and only 50 attended the game), Braintree Rugby Club's Tabor Avenue (at the start of the 1975–76 season) and the Courtaulds Sports Ground in Church Street in Bocking

Bocking

Bocking can refer to:*Bocking, a village near Braintree, Essex*Bocking 14, a cultivated strain of the plant Comfrey*Powerbocking, the use of powered stilts patented by Alexander Böck...

 (a single match against Gorleston

Gorleston F.C.

Gorleston F.C. is an English football club based in Gorleston, Norfolk. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at Emerald Park.The club is affiliated to the Norfolk County FA.-History:...

 on 6 September 1975 with a crowd of 73). However, after winning the Eastern Counties League

Eastern Counties Football League

The Eastern Counties Football League is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suffolk, northern Essex and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is a feeder to the regional divisions of the Isthmian League and Southern...

in 1983–84 the club began to upgrade the ground, building a new 292-seat grandstand at the end of the 1980s.

Current format

The ground currently consists of four stands:

• The Main Stand, a 553-seat covered stand with uncovered terrace on either side with a capacity of 735.
• The Clubhouse End, an 803-capacity uncovered terrace.
• The Quag End, with a 761-capacity terrace (of which 357 is covered)
• The Cressing Road side, a 1,296-capacity terrace (of which 862 is covered).