Highbury Stadium

Highbury Stadium stands in Fleetwood, Lancashire, on the south-west corner of Memorial Park. It is the home ground of Fleetwood Town football club and was also used by Blackpool reserves until 2014. The stadium opened in 1939 after the club won three Lancashire Combination Cups in a row. It replaced a ground next to the North Euston Hotel and takes its name from nearby Highbury Avenue. An unusual feature was the gap between the pitch and the main stand, created when speedway raced here from 1948 to 1952. The ground’s history includes speedway meets under promoter Mr J Waxman, who paid £225 a year to use the pitch. The Fleetwood Flyers rode in Division Two, and the track left behind five thousand tonnes of cinders that had to be cleared in 2008. Redevelopment began in 2007 with the Percy Ronson Stand, a 621-capacity terrace at the south side. A later plan added two more terraces and a new main stand, costing over £2 million in total. Visitors now find three new stands: the Highbury Stand on the west, the Memorial Stand at the Park end, and the Parkside Stand on the east. The Parkside Stand holds two thousand seats across three levels, with seven executive boxes and a function suite. The pitch has drainage improved after wet seasons forced postponements. The stadium sits inside Memorial Park, close to Highbury Avenue, with Wyre Borough Council as landlord.