27 thoughts on “Victoria Football Ground”

  2. What are the small flags for along the touch line? There appear to be a number of ladies and girls in the stand and, an awful lot of straw boaters! Not a typical footie mob. Is that a table of judges? Whether it is, or it isn’t the Victoria ground, I don’t think there was a football game that day.

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    • The Victoria Ground held athletic meetings & other events as well as football, the Stockton Junior School Sportsday was held on this ground, with the flags layed out it looks like an athletic meeting.

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      • Agreed Anon. This is a typical marking of an athletics meeting on a cricket ground or good football pitch. Stockton Secondary Schools championships on Stockton cricket ground had flags in addition to the white line marking prior to the revolution of having lanes for the short distances on the 5 laps to the mile layout! I know because I did the markings as I had the AAA handbook and also was familiar with the club’s equipment! In the Coronation year I needed to do it 3 times as rain washed it all out.

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  3. I played for Arthur Head school football team in 1954-55 and we played the final of the Durham County school on that ground. We lost that game 2-1 to Annfield Plain school, indeed , it was the only game we lost that year in all competetions.

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    • One of the best Stockton Schoolboy teams played the semi-final of the English School Shield on the Victoria Ground against the East London Boys in the 1959-60 season, four of that team became professional footballers.

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  4. Another blooper in my previous comments I said Ground when I meant Stand, the stand that was burnt down was a more solid built structure, with dressing rooms and a tiered front with a seating, I would think it would seat about 300.

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  5. To clear up my previous comments I mentioned that the ground on the opposite side of the ground was a much later addition and backed onto the Oxbridge Cemetary. The Stand in Question must have been a very early stand maybe about 1900 when Stockton were a force to be reckoned with in the English Amateur Cup having won the cup on a few occasions around 1900.. My Grand Father Tom (Fanny) Lakey played in this Cup which was played at the Clairville Common field Middlesbrough, before a record Crowd. Stockton Won 1-0 with a very late goal , In think their opponents where Harwich and Parkston I am Sure Anon will put me right if I am in error.

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  6. It probably is the Victoria Ground, but the stand doesn’t look the same as the one shown here:
    https://picturestocktonarchive.wordpress.com/2004/09/24/photos-from-the-past-5/

    In this 1949 image there are stands on both sides of the ground, but the one in the location of this picture only has 6 bays:
    http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw024095
    (if you register, for free, you can zoom in)

    Images for the following year show the only the stand is on the cemetery side of the ground.
    http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw033957

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  7. The Victoria Ground features in a Britain from Above image (dating from 1949) available at http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw024095 . Unfortunately the resolution is not too good when zoomed in to look at the stand on the east side of the ground. There is enough detail to see that at this time that stand only possessed six bays and an irregularity in the roof of the second bay. The stand in the photograph above clearly had eight bays – were two of them removed at some time?

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  8. If this is the Victoria ground the stand shown in this photo would be a stand that was in place before the old stand that was burnt down by local youngsters was in the same position. the position of this stand was to the right of the main entrance and dressing room which would have been to the left of this stand. d on the opposite side of the ground backed on to Oxbridge Cemetery as stated previously . I think I have mentioned in other comments that I have met up with one of the culprits who burned the old stand down over seventy years ago, when he was a very young scallywag and I think he may now regret his actions in this affair .

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    • I agree with Benny the stand in the photo was replaced with a stand that was burned down by local boys from Wren street area which was at the back of the stand it had a round top roof , the visiting team dressing rooms to the left of the stand with the home team dressing rooms to the right of the stand near the main gate entrance , the houses in the photo were Suffolk and Norfolk street ,I remember from the age of five in 1925 my dad taking me to all the home and some away games , he used to push me under the turn stiles so he didn’t have to pay for me, I was a very keen supporter of the ancients for many years and looked forward to seeing Marky Pass who lived in Wren street Bullet Smith and the rest of the team at that time, I played for the Oxbridge working mans club for a fun day on the ground the men playing in overcoats and wellingtons V a ladies team it was interrupted by a bomb scare in the stand on the Cemetery side which was evacuated till the all clear sounded.

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      • Harry is right about the shape of the stand that was burned down. It was well furnishd with individual tip-up seats. It backed on to Elsdon St. . Harry is also correct in saying local boys set it alight, they did in fact live in Elsdon St. and New Wren St.. Just to correct Harry on one point ,Marky Pass lived with his brothers in the terraced houses of Elsdon St. Wren St (old) was the next Street along running parallel.I was one of the local kids who used the ground as our playground during the war, and I could name the boys who burned it down and there are quite a few others still around who could do the same but do not use computers.
        I must congratulate Harry on his memory and ability.

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  9. this is not victoria ground. the reason being is that there were no houses behind the stand as it backed on to oxbridge cemetery . also the stand itself was higher up than the one shown here

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    • Bill this is the Victoria ground in the Photo , The stand with the round top is the one I mentioned at the back of Elsdon Street houses the other stand did back on to the Cemetery with no houses , I was corrected by Gran Cooper regarding Mark Pass he did live in Elsdon Street, a lapse of memory

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  10. Yes, the Victoria Ground appears most likely.The O.S. map of 1897 shows a structure along the east side of the ground, so the houses in the distance would have been in Suffolk Street and Norfolk Street. The photograph may have been taken at one of the town’s Cherry Fairs, as some of the races were staged at the football ground.

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  14. If it is Victoria ground then it is not the stand that backed on to the cemetary because there are houses on the other side of the wall to the right of the stand, where you should only have seen more of the cemetary. I believe though that at an earlier time there was also a stand on the other side of the ground which was the same side as the main gate into the ground. Back in the 60s my grandad, John Callender had the keys to the ground as he looked after the place, and in later years along with my dad was responsible for building a small wall around the outside of the pitch. Needless to say that while he was doing his stuff in the ground me and my mates when we were young would get to have a kick about on a real pitch.

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    • My dad was Bart Gardner who used to do the ground his best mate was John Calendar. I remember the changing room with a big sunken bath, he also worked with Mark Pass on the bins at Thornaby and was a founder member of Oxbridge club in Light Pipe Hall Road.

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  15. This is not Stockton Football Ground. The reason being is that Oxbridge Cemetery was at the back, not houses of which are showing on the right.

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    • The stand on the Cemetery side was very slim. Only 3 or 4 rows. This is definitely at the Victoria Ground. Was often full when the schools cup semis and finals were played at end of 40’s & in the 50’s.
      Another building at the SE corner was the clubroom & changing rooms..

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