Peter Kenny Jones
@PeterKennyJones
Great Yarmouth Town are not the biggest name in football. The Eastern Counties League Premier Division side have never reached any great footballing heights and are far from a household name. Their greatest claim to fame is within their Wellesley Recreation Ground. Much like the team that plays within it, the stadium is not a place of grandeur. The 3,600-seater is a humble home for the Bloaters but houses a stand that has a legacy greater than any other in the world.
The Wellesley Recreation Ground was opened in 1888, nine years before the club itself was formed. The opening of the ground was a fanfare day, a shilling to enter to watch the Mayor open the cycling track. The stadium later had three cricket pitches and a tennis pitch installed, the first football game was played in 1890. In that same year, there was a decision that a grandstand was needed to house more spectators to view the different sports on offer. The opening of the grandstand, described as 'perhaps the finest in East Anglia', in 1892 was a big event which was attended by 4,200.
The stand was now equipped with the capacity to hold sporting occasions and the knowledge that there was a sizeable amount of people that wanted to attend these events. Great Yarmouth Town were established in 1897, combining Yarmouth Fearnoughts and Yarmouth Royal Artillery and they were the founding members of the Norfolk and Suffolk League. They were establishing themselves as a football club and had their eyes set on the Wellesley Recreation Ground. After several seasons of attempting to move in, they were granted permission to play. This was on the understanding that 10% of the ticket revenue was given to the council and that from the end of April onwards, their games were played away so the pitch could be readied for the cricket season.
Turnstiles, toilets and barriers were added to the ground and the relationship between Great Yarmouth Town and the Wellesley Recreation Ground began for the 1901-02 season. The stand was further updated in 1923 as concrete seating and a shelter was added on the west side of the ground. The west stand is often overlooked from any visitor to the stadium but deserves a similar amount of respect as they both remain virtually aesthetically untouched since they were built. In 1951, minor improvements were completed on the grandstand which included fitting corrugated asbestos sheeting on the roof.
During the Second World War, baseball was played in the stadium. This was another in the, long list of sports and events that occurred in the ground, including horse-jumping, archery and flower shows. The record attendance at the Wellesley was during an FA Cup tie against Crystal Palace in 1953, where close to 9,000 were stuffed inside the ground. Some extra terracing was provided in the south stand in the form of fish boxes to help accommodate the large attendance.
Perhaps unsurprisingly due to the age of the ground, in 1967 a fire broke out which destroyed the dressing room and treatment room. During the repairs, spectators couldn't sit in the stand and the players had to get changed in the North Drive Bowls Pavilion. In 1979 further improvements were made to the ground, a Clubhouse was installed which could sell alcohol and was built entirely by club members. In 1981, attempts were made to build floodlights in the stadium. The request to install the floodlights was rejected but the Great Yarmouth Sports council aided the club with £10,000, the building process then went ahead. In 1983 they were used for the first time against Ipswich Town. The grandstand was closed during the 1990's to replace the flammable timber and asbestos sheeting, this was a substantial face lift to the famous grandstand.
Due to the historic nature of the stadium and the now over 125-year-old grandstand, it was added to the Grade 2 list of special architectural and historic interest buildings in 2000. This exemplifies the importance of the stand and the significance of it to the history of football. However, it does also provide some issues as listed buildings cannot be changed or updated without council permission and only if it is in keeping with the look of the building. Therefore, when the Bloaters wanted to extend their dugouts it was declined. Instead there are now two brick dugouts for each team, another quirk for this historic ground.
Any football fanatics may pride themselves on the stadiums they have visited across the world. Any British football fan should perhaps take time to travel to the seaside town of Great Yarmouth. Not for sand and sea but to visit the Wellesley Recreation Ground, the oldest grandstand still being used in football.
Special thanks to John Lewsley and Stuart Paterson from Great Yarmouth Town FC.
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