Goldington Road
Encyclopedia
Goldington Road is a rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 ground in Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is the home stadium of Bedford Blues
Bedford Blues
Bedford Blues is a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the largest towns in England without a league football club, and one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The...

. The stadium holds 6,000 people. The stadium also has two corporate boxes
Luxury box
A Luxury box is a special seating section located within stadiums, arenas and other sporting and entertainment venues. They are typically located in the midsection of a stadium grandstand, usually providing the best views of the event...

, "The Larry Web Room" and "The Lifesure Suite", which can cater for 12 to 20 people respectively in addition to "The Blues Marquee". There is one stand (the Charles Wells Stand) with the remaining areas being standing room - although temporary stands have been in place previously.

The History of Goldington Road

Following an amalgamation between Bedford Rovers (1876) and Bedford Swifts (1882) both with connections to Bedford School
Bedford School
Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...

 and Bedford Modern School
Bedford Modern School
Bedford Modern School is a British co-educational independent school in the Harpur area of Bedford, in the county of Bedfordshire, in England.Bedford Modern comprises a junior school and a senior school...

, There were two main sites where pitches could be made available. One was known as 'The House of Industry' ground in Goldington Road. This was the field in front of the House of Industry -now known as the North Wing Hospital. This is approximately where Bedford play now. The other site was known as Midland Road Ground, an area near the Queen's Park railway bridge.

The first matches in 1886-87 were in Goldington Road, where the Bedford Swifts had played, but during the next few seasons several pitches near the railway station were used. The railway and industry required this land and Bedford Rugby returned to the Goldington Road area before an agreement in 1895 was reached with Bedford Cricket Club who actually held the lease. The pitch was laid out in virtually the same spot as it is now.

The First World War threatened the club's existence when the ground was taken over by the Military Authorities for use as an Army Camp.

Things did improve very quickly and by the late-1920s and early-1930s further improvements had been made at the ground, the biggest being the stand opened in 1933 which is still in use today.

Following intervention by the RFU in October 1999 a consortium of Bedford businessmen headed by David Ledsom (SDC), Geoff Irvine (Irvine-Whitlock), and David Gunner with assistance from Bedford Borough Council and other professional people, the transfer of the club to Bedford Blues Ltd. was organised.

Several thousand supporters and businesses in the town bought shares and the club is now viable.

Bedford have been playing on virtually the same pitch for over 100 years and 32 players have gained International honours while they were actually playing for the club at the time of being honoured.

The Stands

Towards the end of the 2005-06 season, two new temporary stands were built for the big home tie against Harlequins, at one point these stands were made a long term part of the stadium, along with the grounds public house and original stand. As of the 2006-07 season the extra stands have been removed.

The future

With the introduction of the RFU Championship, clubs will benefit from financial input although it is unknown if Bedford will be in a financial situation to improve the ground or meet the entry requirements into the Premiership since its last entry in 2000.

The Pitch

The pitch at Goldington road features a dip in the eastern corner which causes difficulties to visiting teams who struggle to read the surface. Furthermore there is a gradient again going down from west to east.

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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