The story behind the picture – Back to Lonsdale Park
If you think our beloved Borough Park is a continuous hindrance to the club, let me assure you it was no different back in the mid eighties.
Borough Park was actually closed in mid-season on safety grounds so Reds were unable to play home matches there, between mid November and mid February, during the 1986-87 season.
It resulted in a reluctant return to Lonsdale Park with Reds playing five matches at the then greyhound stadium which had been our home between 1921and 1937.
The picture shows the first of those games staged on Lonsdale which was situated two hundred yards to the east of Borough Park. Burton Albion were the visitors for a NPL President’s Cup tie and Mark Dobie appears to be evading Steve Essex’s challenge.
Albion’s Alan Kamara, Reds’ Wayne Harrison and Kevin Rowntree are also featured in the photograph.
It finished 1-1 with Kevin Rowntree scoring Reds first goal at our temporary home with the attendance announced as 151.
The players used the changing facilities at Borough Park but we had to transport the match officials and the visiting team the short distance between the grounds in a mini bus.
Other matches staged at Lonsdale Park included Hyde United (2-5), Barrow (2-0), Rhyl (3-1) and Gainsborough Trinity (0-0). A strange chapter in the club’s history.
