Clarence Street
York, North Yorkshire, England
Clarence Street, York, England — opened 1885, after York Football Club leased land from the York (Bootham) Lunatic Asylum following financial difficulties at its previous ground in 1883, 25 rugby league games hosted, home of York Football Club / York RLFC (predecessor of today's York City Knights), throughout its 1885-1989 existence.
Sourcing caveat: A search result title suggested possible greyhound racing use of a 'York Rugby League Grd' venue, but this could not be confirmed and is not stated as fact here.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1885, after York Football Club leased land from the York (Bootham) Lunatic Asylum following financial difficulties at its previous ground in 1883 (First grandstand built 1895, converted from the Waterman's Mission Hut purchased from Fishergate for £85. Sources differ slightly on the exact first-match date, 19 or 26 September 1885.) |
| Home club | York Football Club / York RLFC (predecessor of today's York City Knights), throughout its 1885-1989 existence |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 25 |
| Top recorded crowd | 6,197 |
| Capacity | Record attendance 14,689, set 10 Feb 1934 for a 0-0 Challenge Cup draw v Swinton |
| Test matches hosted | 2 |
| Years used | 1906–1986 |
| Location | York, North Yorkshire |
Name history
- Clarence Street — 1885-1989, the ground's only name
Rugby league history
York's home ground for over a century, hosting County Championship and Yorkshire Cup fixtures alongside league and Challenge Cup matches, including a well-attended block of 1985-86 season fixtures (Challenge Cup ties v Wigan, attendance 6,197, and v Hull KR, attendance 5,694). The training pitch was sold for around £200,000 in 1986 amid financial difficulties, and the remaining ground was sold to a housing developer in 1989 for £705,000, described at the time as less than half its true worth, forcing the club's move to Huntington Stadium (Monks Cross). The final match at Clarence Street was on 26 March 1989 (York 26-17 Hunslet, attendance 2,904), after the ground's own 25-match RLP results log (used for this site's directory) closes in 1986. The site is now housing, marked with a commemorative plaque.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 1 Nov 1933 — English League v Australia, Kangaroos Tour, attendance 3,158
- 28 Sep 1935 — English League v Lyon-Villeurbanne, European representative fixture, attendance 4,200
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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