A GOOD INNINGS
P AUL C LAYDON LOOKS AT THE 125 YEAR HISTORY OF S WINDON ’ S C OUNTY G ROUND
This year marks a significant milestone in the history of Swindon Town as it is 125 years
since the site of their current home, the County Ground, opened. Although it was not until
a couple of years later that the football club took up residence, the opening of the County
Ground heralded a new era of sport in the Wiltshire town as it became, and still is, the cen-
tre of sporting activity in the area.
Recent research has revealed that Swindon Town were formed in 1879, not 1881 as once
thought, as Swindon Spartans. They quickly rose to prominence locally, winning the Wilt-
shire Cup every year from 1887 to 1892 and first entering the FA Cup in 1886 and the FA
Amateur Cup in 1893.
The club played their first ever game on The Wharf, adjacent to the Wilts and Bucks Canal,
a site very close to the current County Ground. This was followed by short spells at East-
cott Hill (also known as Globe Field) and then Bradford's Field (also known as the Quarry
Ground). In 1884 the club settled at The Croft in Devizes Road, where they stayed for
eleven seasons. Following election to the Southern League for the start of the 1894/95
season the club gave notice of their intention to leave The Croft as they were now in need
of an enclosed ground where a gate could be more easily taken.
Fortunately for Swindon Town a readymade venue was available. Local businessmen had
set up the Wiltshire County Ground Company in 1891 which had raised £4,000 by the sale
of shares to purchase a 25-acre site at the junction of Cricklade (now County) Road and
Stratton (now Shrivenham) Road, in the northern part of Swindon. In fact the desire of the
football club to move to the site, and promise to take shares, was mentioned in the pro-
spectus that was issued to raise the necessary capital. The prospectus also revealed that
the new ground would allocate space for a 9,000-capacity football ground, a first-class
cricket ground, a cycle track, running track, a racecourse and polo ground.
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