Station Road
Manchester (Swinton), Greater Manchester, England
Station Road, Manchester (Swinton), England — opened 1929, 1,230 rugby league games hosted, home of Swinton (1929-1992; demolished).
Sourcing caveat: Rugby League Project's own results listing for this venue shows its earliest recorded fixture as a Lancashire v Cumberland County Championship match on 17 November 1928, a year before Swinton's own first match there (30 November 1929) as given by Wikipedia. This is plausible — the ground could have hosted non-Swinton representative fixtures before the club's own tenancy began — but could not be independently corroborated with a second source, so it is flagged here rather than presented as Swinton's own first match.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1929 |
| Home club | Swinton (1929-1992; demolished) |
| Closed | 1992 |
| Demolished | 1992 (the Main Stand was destroyed by fire in July 1992, shortly after the club's departure) |
| Site today | A housing estate, built by David McLean Homes |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 1,230 |
| Top recorded crowd | 44,621 |
| Capacity | 60,000 (peak historical capacity) |
| Test matches hosted | 1 |
| Challenge Cup Finals hosted | 1 |
| First rugby league match | Swinton 9-5 Australia (1929-30 Kangaroo Tour), 30 November 1929, attendance 9,000 |
| Last rugby league match | Salford 26-18 Swinton (local derby), 20 April 1992, attendance 3,487 |
| Years used | 1928–1994 |
| Location | Manchester (Swinton), Greater Manchester |
Name history
- Station Road — 1929-1992, no sponsor-name changes recorded
Rugby league history
Swinton moved to Station Road in 1928/29 after a breakdown in lease negotiations at their previous ground, Chorley Road (their home since 1887), having just completed a clean sweep of all four major trophies. Station Road went on to host 15 full international Test matches plus further touring fixtures (19 internationals in total), 5 Championship finals, 17 Lancashire County Cup finals, 4 Premiership finals and 30 Challenge Cup semi-finals, as well as 2 Rugby League World Cup matches. Its most notorious international fixture was the 1963 "Swinton Massacre," a 50-12 rout of Great Britain by Australia. The ground's rugby league attendance record, 44,621, was set for a 1951 Challenge Cup semi-final between Warrington and Wigan. Swinton's last match there was a 26-18 derby defeat to Salford on 20 April 1992; the club sold the site at the end of that season and the Main Stand burned down that July. The site is now a housing estate. Swinton (now Swinton Lions) have since played at several grounds and have called Heywood Road ("Morson Stadium"), shared with Sale F.C., their home since 2016 — a separate, already-listed venue.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 30 Challenge Cup semi-finals over the ground's history, including the 1951 semi-final Warrington v Wigan, attendance 44,621 (the ground's rugby league attendance record)
- 1963 — Australia 50-12 Great Britain, the so-called "Swinton Massacre"
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Notable games played here
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| World Cup Table, 31 Oct 1970 | 1970 Rugby League World Cup | Great Britain 27-17 New Zealand |
| World Cup Table, 1 Oct 1960 | 1960 Rugby League World Cup | Great Britain 33-7 France |
Only matches we have full, sourced records for are listed here — other historic games mentioned above may not have a dedicated match page built yet (World Cup coverage in particular is still expanding tournament by tournament).
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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