Boundary Park
Oldham, Greater Manchester, England
Boundary Park, Oldham, England — opened 1896, 303 rugby league games hosted, home of Oldham Athletic AFC (football, since 1906/1899); Oldham RLFC (rugby league, 1997-2001, 2003-2009, since 2024).
Sourcing caveat: Floodlight installation year and pitch surface details for rugby league use specifically were not identified in sources found and are omitted rather than guessed.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1896 (Boundary Park opened in 1896 as a football ground; the earliest rugby league fixture recorded by Rugby League Project is a Challenge Cup qualifier on 24 February 1906 (Chadderton v Leigh Shamrocks) — rugby league use of the ground began well after it opened for football, and predates Oldham RLFC's own tenancy by decades.) |
| Home club | Oldham Athletic AFC (football, since 1906/1899); Oldham RLFC (rugby league, 1997-2001, 2003-2009, since 2024) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 303 |
| Top recorded crowd | 11,284 |
| Capacity | 13,186 (current all-seated capacity, shared football/rugby league configuration) |
| First rugby league match | 24 February 1906 — Challenge Cup qualifier, Chadderton v Leigh Shamrocks (earliest rugby league fixture recorded by Rugby League Project; not necessarily involving Oldham RLFC) |
| Years used | 1906–2026 |
| Location | Oldham, Greater Manchester |
Name history
- Boundary Park — since 1896 (named for its location at the northwestern boundary of Oldham)
Rugby league history
Boundary Park is primarily and historically a football ground — home of Oldham Athletic AFC since the club's formation from Pine Villa in 1899 — but it has repeatedly also hosted Oldham RLFC's rugby league fixtures when the rugby club needed a larger or better-appointed ground than its own. Oldham RLFC moved in from their previous Watersheddings ground in 1997 and played their Super League debut there on 30 March 1996 (a 16-56 loss to Wigan); they left in 2001, returned from 2003 to 2009, and — after a £1 million pitch investment announced in March 2023 — returned again from the 2024 season. The ground's highest attendance for any sport is 47,671, set at a 1930 FA Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday; its most notable rugby league occasion was the 2001 Premiership Final between Oldham and Widnes, played there on 28 July 2001 before a crowd of 8,974.
Primarily a football ground: Oldham Athletic AFC's home since 1899/1906, and anecdotally known as the coldest ground in the Football League, nicknamed "Ice Station Zebra."
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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