King George V Playing Fields
Widnes, Cheshire, England
King George V Playing Fields, Widnes, England — opened Not confirmed (in use for senior rugby league by 1897, per Rugby League Project match records), 77 rugby league games hosted, home of Haydock A.R.L.F.C. (amateur, most recently identified home side, per Challenge Cup qualifying fixtures 1998-2017); a King George V Playing Fields at Widnes, Cheshire (WA8 8DB) is confirmed by a UK sports-facilities directory to host senior rugby league on a pay-and-play basis.
Sourcing caveat: We could not confirm with confidence that the ground recorded by Rugby League Project under this exact name is the same physical site as the King George V Playing Fields in Widnes, Cheshire named in our own venues directory -- the RLP match list is dominated by a West Yorkshire amateur club (Liversedge) in its earliest years. Given how common this ground name is across England, opening date, capacity and a firm identification with Widnes specifically remain unconfirmed; this write-up is deliberately thin rather than risk stating invented specifics.
Ground facts
| Opened | Not confirmed (in use for senior rugby league by 1897, per Rugby League Project match records) (Our own venues directory tags this ground's location as Widnes, Cheshire, but the Rugby League Project results page for this exact venue name/slug opens with a long run of 1897/98 Yorkshire Senior Competition home matches for Liversedge (West Yorkshire), before later results (Challenge Cup qualifying ties in 1998, 2005 and 2017) show Haydock, a Merseyside amateur club near Widnes, as the home side. 'King George V Playing Fields' is an extremely common name for English municipal recreation grounds (hundreds exist nationwide, endowed by the King George's Fields charity/memorial scheme after 1936), so it is plausible Rugby League Project has merged results from two or more distinct grounds that share the identical name under one database entry, or that the venue changed hands/location designation over its long span of use. We could not independently confirm which specific ground, if either, corresponds to the Widnes, Cheshire location — see caveat.) |
| Home club | Haydock A.R.L.F.C. (amateur, most recently identified home side, per Challenge Cup qualifying fixtures 1998-2017); a King George V Playing Fields at Widnes, Cheshire (WA8 8DB) is confirmed by a UK sports-facilities directory to host senior rugby league on a pay-and-play basis |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 77 |
| Top recorded crowd | 0 |
| First rugby league match | Earliest match on record (per Rugby League Project) is a Liversedge home fixture in the 1897/98 Yorkshire Senior Competition, though see opened_caveat on whether this is the same physical ground as the Widnes venue |
| Years used | 1897–2017 |
| Location | Widnes, Cheshire |
Name history
- King George V Playing Fields — in use for rugby league by 1897 (per Rugby League Project match listing); still in generic use
Rugby league history
A modest, largely amateur-level ground whose Rugby League Project match record spans an unusually long period -- from Yorkshire Senior Competition fixtures in the 1890s through to Challenge Cup qualifying-round ties involving Haydock A.R.L.F.C. as recently as 2017. Unlike Widnes RLFC's own long-standing home (Naughton Park, later Halton Stadium/Select Security Stadium), nothing in the sources found ties this specific ground to the professional Widnes club; a separate King George V Playing Fields sports site in Widnes, Cheshire (postcode WA8 8DB) is independently confirmed to offer senior rugby league grass pitches on a public pay-and-play basis today, consistent with this being a community/amateur venue rather than a first-class stadium.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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