Chorley Road
Manchester (Swinton), Greater Manchester, England
Chorley Road, Manchester (Swinton), England — opened 1886, 543 rugby league games hosted, home of None (Swinton relocated to Station Road, 1929).
Sourcing caveat: rugbyleagueproject.org's own recorded match data for Chorley Road begins only in 1896 (Lancashire Senior Competition fixtures), a full decade after Swinton's 1886 move there per both Wikipedia and the club's own history page — the site's earliest decade of use (1886–1896) isn't reflected in that dataset, so the 543-games figure likely understates total usage.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1886 |
| Home club | None (Swinton relocated to Station Road, 1929) |
| Closed | 1929 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 543 |
| Top recorded crowd | 6,000 |
| Years used | 1896–1929 |
| Location | Manchester (Swinton), Greater Manchester |
Name history
- Chorley Road — 1886–1929
Rugby league history
Swinton (now Swinton Lions) moved to Chorley Road in 1886, upgrading from an earlier, smaller ground to a site able to accommodate the much larger crowds the club was starting to draw. Over the following four decades it became one of Lancashire rugby league's leading venues, regularly staging county representative fixtures; crowds in excess of 20,000 were reportedly commonplace during the club's peak years in the 1920s. That era culminated in the 1927/28 season, when Swinton won all four trophies available to them (the Championship, the Challenge Cup, the Lancashire League and the Lancashire Cup) while playing out of Chorley Road — one of the code's rare 'All Four Cups' clean sweeps. A rent dispute with the ground's landlord broke down in 1928, forcing the club to find a new home; they reluctantly vacated Chorley Road in 1929 for a newly built stadium off Station Road, physically dismantling and taking the old stands with them for reuse at the new ground.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · World Cup · All competitions · Teams · Players