Inside abandoned World Cup rugby stadium which once held 60,000 fans demolished after vandalism and turned into homes

STATION ROAD was once considered one of the finest rugby League grounds in England.

The ground was located in Pendlebury near Manchester and was built in 1929.

Wikipedia

Station Road used to be a massive Rugby League stadium[/caption]

Google Earth

It has now been turned into a housing estate[/caption]

It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club for its entire history between 1929 and 1992.

Swinton moved into the ground when it opened and they were at the peak of their powers.

The club had won four major trophies the season before the move into Station Road.

They had been hoping to stay in their previous ground, Chorley Road, but were unable to due to a breakdown in negotiations with he landlord.

Station Road was able to host up to 60,000 fans at maximum capacity.

However, the full capabilities of the ground were never really tested.

The biggest attendance at the ground ever recorded is 44,261 for Warrington vs Wigan in the 1951 Challenge Cup semi-final.

The ground was often used for notable domestic and international matches.

As an international venue, it’s biggest win was the Australia victory over Great Britain.

It was also used in the 1960 and 1970 Rugby League World Cups as for Great Britain’s wins over France and New Zealand.

The visitors won the clash 50-12 during their 1963 Kangaroo Tour.

The stadium’s time came to an end after a fire damaged the main stand and function rooms in 1992.

This had followed on from a series of vandalism cases at the ground and it was sold at the end of the 1991/92 season.

The new owners redeveloped the ground into a housing estate.

Its last ever game was a local derby between Swinton and Salford and was watched by 3,487 spectators on April 20 1992.