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| Middlefield Lane : 1946 - 2005 | |||||||||
| The History | |||||||||
| Middlefield Lane had been home to Hinckley Athletic, and then Hinckley United, since 1946 up till 2005. After the Second World War, Hinckley United found themselves without a home as their previous ground, the Holywell, was no longer available. The Club purchased the Middlefield Lane site in 1946 for £500, and with the new ground came a new name in the form of Hinckley Athletic. The club played for one season in South Leicestershire League, but resumed playing in the Birmingham Combination in the 1947-1948 season. Southern League football came to Middlefield Lane in 1959 as Athletic were promoted to Southern League division 1. One brief season of Southern Premier in season 1963-1964 was followed with financial difficulties and eventually Hinckley Athletic joined the West Midlands league in 1967. Middlefield Lane was host to West Midlands league football for 27 years before Athletic became founder members of the Midland Alliance league in 1994. The merger with Hinckley Town in 1997 saw the new club, Hinckley United, play their home games at Middlefield Lane and once again Southern League football returned. Hinckley United were promoted to the Southern Premier in 2001 and were then founder members of the Conference North division in 2004. By now Middlefield Lane was nearly 60 years old and the playing standard had long since by-passed the ground standard. A new stadium was required and the Middlefield Lane site was sold for £3.5 million, a huge increase on the £500 payed for it, to fund the new home for football in Hinckley. | |||||||||
| The first game played at Middlefield Lane was against Croft, in the South Leicestershire League divison 1, on 14th September 1946, which Hinckley Athletic lost 3-4. The final game played at Middlefield Lane was against Bradford Park Avenue, the the Conference North league, on 26th February 2005, which Hinckley United won 4-0. | |||||||||
| The record attendance for Middlefield Lane was 5410, set on Boxing Day 1949, in the Birmingham Combination, against Nuneaton Borough. | |||||||||
| The record victory for Middlefield Lane was 13-0, set on 21st September 1946, in the Nuneaton Combination Section B, against LMS Sports & Social Weddington. | |||||||||
| The Ground | |||||||||
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- view image of Turnstile The ground had one main turnstile situated by the front gate. Directly infront of the turnstile, towards the pitch, were the changing rooms and the snack bar. To the left of the changing rooms was the pathway to the toilets, Supporters cabin, Directors box and the Main Stand. The Supporters cabin was where the Merchandise Shop was. To the right of the changing rooms were the entrance to the Clubhouse and the pathway to the Ron Holtham Stand, known by the fans as the Chicken Shed. The Clubhouse was erected in 1977 and at the time was one of the best facilities in the local non league scene, however it was clearly showing it's age towards the end in 2005. The original floodlights were installed in 1979 and were upgraded to Conference standard lighting in 1991 when a set was purchased from West Bromwich Albion's training ground. |
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| The Main Stand | |||||||||
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- view image of Main Stand The Main Stand was covered seating for 350 people, situated on the South side. It includes a section for visiting officials and press agencies. Built originally in 1950 the seating was wooden benches but was upgraded to plastic seating when Leicester City replaced their old Filbert Street West Stand in 1993, and the club purchased some of these seats. |
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| The Ron Holtham Stand | |||||||||
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- view image of Ron Holtham Stand The Ron Holtham Stand was covered terracing for 1000 people, and extended for two thirds the length of the pitch, on the North side. The original covered stand, built in 1959, was a rusty corrigated ramshackle affair which blew down in the strong winds of 1985 and was replaced with the current structure in 1986, posthumously named after clubmember and Hinckley Athletic stalwart Ron Holtham, for his services to the club. The stand was always been affectionaly known as the Chicken Shed. |
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| Richmond Park - Temporary Away End | |||||||||
| For those very rare games that needed segregating, the Richmond Park End was allocated to away supporters. Temporary Turnstile, Food and Toilet facilities were arranged behind the Ron Holtham Stand with the away supporters having the hard standing area behind the goal and around the corners. This was quite small and not the best viewing position due to there being the rarest of things at a football ground, that is a grass bank, albeit now fenced off for safety reasons. The bank was originally used for spectating but as Hinckley rose up the league pyramid, ground grading became more stringent and the grass bank was fenced off. | |||||||||
| A rather tacky looking Ground Plan | |||||||||
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| February 26th 2005, the final day memories of Middlefield Lane | |||||||||
| A selection of pictures taken by fans on the final match day at Middlefield Lane. To view the pictures click on the thumbnail images. | |||||||||
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| Middlefield Lane | |||||||||
| A selection of pictures of Middlefield Lane as the demolition flattens the 'old lady'. To view the pictures click on the thumbnail images. | |||||||||
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| click link to continue to: history of hinckley united >> |
| click link to continue to: history of the football club crest >> |
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