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Kettlebridge Sports Ground

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Hi there, I have found a few things mentioned about Kettlebridge,  in Darnall on the forum, and believe at some point there was a sports ground in the area where a number of football teams played, a friend of mine has a ticket for the ground with Kings Head FC on it, which I assume was the one on Poole Road just behind Darnall station (about a mile down the Sheffield/Lincoln Line from kettlebridge. It probably dates from just after WWI and has the venue as Kettle Bridge Ground, I found a couple of articles relating to matches there in the early 1920s. Would anyone else have any info on the ground.

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I have here the excellent book " A History of Sheffield Football  1857 - 1889 " by Martin Westby.

The index unfortunately does not give reference to the Kettlebridge location or Kings Head FC, but I would have thought that somewhere within the book which contains a mass of information there is a reference to both Kettlebridge and Kings Head FC

 

Martin Westby can be contacted via  Martin@EnglandsOldestFootballclubs.com

 

Give him a try, I reckon he might know something of interest too you  

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Could this be a reference Darnall Stadium, although it was primarily a greyhound racing stadium.

 

Try looking on 'Wikipedia' for Darnall Stadium.  It does mention "Darnall Wellington Cricket and Football Ground (Wellington Grounds)" built on a plot of land on the south side railway at the turn of the 20th century and the "Darnall Cricket and Football Ground" which was nearby on the north side of the railway line.

 

I am sure I have seen a picture (or rather a painting) of a cricket match within High Hazels park

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On the north side of railway was a ground used by the wednesday cricket club this was pulled down for housing then a ground was built on the south side of railway where cricket and football was played in the 1900,s then this was used for the dog track in 1927 

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22 hours ago, Runningman said:

I have here the excellent book " A History of Sheffield Football  1857 - 1889 " by Martin Westby.

The index unfortunately does not give reference to the Kettlebridge location or Kings Head FC, but I would have thought that somewhere within the book which contains a mass of information there is a reference to both Kettlebridge and Kings Head FC

 

Martin Westby can be contacted via  Martin@EnglandsOldestFootballclubs.com

 

Give him a try, I reckon he might know something of interest too you  

Many thanks for your reply, I will do just that, I also have a copy of a book about the early years of sheffield football but as usual can't lay my hands on it 

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19 hours ago, Phili Buster said:

Could this be a reference Darnall Stadium, although it was primarily a greyhound racing stadium.

 

Try looking on 'Wikipedia' for Darnall Stadium.  It does mention "Darnall Wellington Cricket and Football Ground (Wellington Grounds)" built on a plot of land on the south side railway at the turn of the 20th century and the "Darnall Cricket and Football Ground" which was nearby on the north side of the railway line.

 

I am sure I have seen a picture (or rather a painting) of a cricket match within High Hazels park

Thank you for your reply. From what I understand, you are correct with regards to the two grounds, the greyhound track in all correspondence from post 1918 is always mentioned as the Darnall Wellington grounds, which in all probability was built on the site of what was called the Poole Road Grounds. (The Kings Head was situated on Poole Road, and believe this is where they probably originally played their home matches).  So, I think we can rule out the greyhound track site.

16 hours ago, Dun graftin said:

Thank you for your reply, that's a great map

14 hours ago, steve1953 said:

On the north side of railway was a ground used by the wednesday cricket club this was pulled down for housing then a ground was built on the south side of railway where cricket and football was played in the 1900,s then this was used for the dog track in 1927 

Thank you for your reply Steve, good info  there

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As i have mentioned thank you all for your replies, I have done a little research, from the study of aerial photographs to newspaper reports in the Green Un and morning telegraph.

 

In all probability Poole Road Grounds, was the original site before the dog track was built on the south side of the railway.

On the North side, there only appears to be the Darnall Cricket and football grounds in the early maps of that early 20th century era.

All correspondance and reports of cricket matches from 1850 onwards to the turn of the century always mention matches at the ground as the Darnall cricket grounds.

 

So what about the Kettle Bridge Grounds, 

The kettle bridge area is about a mile away down the railway line, and spans both sides of the track. 

Originally thought that perhaps the grounds, might be on the south side somewhere between the old Nunnery colliery and Darnall (the Kettle bridge itself would have been in the middle), this area appears to have been fields, and later allotments, but can find no maps or photos at any time, showing a sports ground in that particular area.

 

There are a number of reports mentioning the Kettle Bridge ground from roughly 1919 to 1930.

 

However, there is a report in one of the local newspaper, where it reports that the Variety Artists played Sheffield Tramways at the Kettle Bridge Grounds, Staniforth Road in october 1922. Given that none of the maps show another sports ground in or around that area, this could suggest that at some point the aforementioned Darnall Cricket and football grounds became known as the Kettle Bridge grounds at some point in the first couple of decades of the 20th century. 

 

No concrete evidence, as its only one report mentioning Staniforth Road, and you'd think that the grounds at darnall would still be labelled as such, unless of course at some point the cricket club moved away (there was mention of a new venue from 1905 in one report), and Kettle Bridge had a cricket or football team and moved in. Should mention I have not found any mention of a Kettle Bridge team, just the ground so far.

 

Will do some more research and give an update, once again thanks

 

 

 

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I would certainly contact Martin Westby via the e mail I quoted in post no 2

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