Top Facts about Turf Moor, Burnley's home

Welcome to Sportmob's  Top facts about Turf Moor. Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, that has been home to Burnley Football Club since 1883. Turf Moor is the second-longest continually used ground in English professional football, with this unbroken service. The stadium, which has a capacity of 21,944, is located on Harry Potts Way, named for the manager who led the club to the First Division title in 1959–60.

Burnley Cricket Club moved to the Turf Moor location in 1843, and it has been used for athletic events ever then. Burnley F.C. was invited to use a pitch close to the cricket field in 1883. The first grandstand was not built until 1885, and in the same year, terraces were added to each end of the ground.

All of the stands were renovated between the mid-1950s and the mid-1970s. Turf Moor was refurbished again in the 1990s when the Longside and Bee Hole End terraces were rebuilt with all-seater stands in response to the Taylor Report's recommendations. The Bob Lord Stand, the Cricket Field Stand, the James Hargreaves Stand, and the Jimmy McIlroy Stand are the four stands at the stadium as of 2022.

When Prince Albert Victor attended a friendly match between Burnley and Bolton Wanderers in 1886, Turf Moor became the first football field to be visited by a member of the Royal Family. The stadium hosted its first Football League encounter in October 1888, with Fred Poland scoring the first league goal.

Turf Moor held its only FA Cup semi-final in 1922, and an international match between England and Wales took place there in 1927. The stadium's record attendance was 54,775 for an FA Cup third-round match between Burnley and Huddersfield Town in 1924. Of course, that's not all we have to say in our

Top facts about Turf Moor

; so...

Let's start! Top Facts about Turf Moor

Before we dive into Sportmob's

Top facts about Turf Moor

, we will take a look at some basic info about this stadium. Knowing this information will help us to reveal more secrets in paragraphs to come!

• Full name:

  Turf Moor

• Location:

  Burnley, Lancashire, England

• Owner:

  Burnley F.C

• Operator:

  Burnley F.C

• Capacity:

  21,944

• Field size:

  105 by 68 meters, 114.8 yds × 74.4 yd

• Surface:

  Desso GrassMaster

Turf Moor History

Burnley is a town in Lancashire, England, near the Pennines, where the River Brun drains the moors to the east. [1] Grass Moor was one of the town's commons during the Middle Ages, and the locals most likely cut turf for fuel.

Burnley Cricket Club made the Turf Moor location their home in 1843, and sports have been played there ever since. There was a brief attempt to host an annual horse race before 1840. Burnley Rovers played a team from Bacup in an evening match in 1878 to demonstrate the use of electric illumination.

Only three lamps, driven by a small engine, ringed the pitch; the experiment cost £39 (equivalent to £4,000 in 2022) but was unsuccessful since the darkness prompted many spectators to leave early. In January 1883, the cricket club leased seven acres of property to the east of the cricket field, between the cricket field and Bee Hole Colliery.

The next month, they invited Burnley Football Club to relocate from its original home at Calder Vale to the cricket field's pitch. Burnley contributed £65 (about £7,000 in 2022) to the setup costs. Burnley's first match at Turf Moor was against Rawtenstall on February 17th, although they lost 6–3; according to a local newspaper, "a high wind made precise play impossible." Charles Riley, a committee member, was later named Turf Moor's first groundskeeper.

Royal Blessing

The average attendance in the early years was roughly 2,000, while a throng of 12,000 watched Burnley face local rivals Padiham in March 1884. Spectators had to crowd around the pitch or watch from the hill at the rear of Turf Moor, so in 1885 the club built an 800-seater wooden grandstand along Brunshaw Road (as it was then known), as well as uncovered standing spaces (terraces) for 5,000 spectators at either end of the pitch.

In that year, a feud erupted between the cricketers and the footballers, who claimed that the footballers left the joint dressing room dirty and refused to pay for repairs. Prince Albert Victor, who was in town to open a new hospital, witnessed a friendly match between Burnley and Bolton Wanderers in October 1886, making Turf Moor the first football venue to be visited by a member of the Royal Family.

Turf Moor Football story

On October 6, 1888, Turf Moor hosted its first Football League fixture, a meeting between Burnley and Bolton Wanderers. After five minutes, Burnley forward Fred Poland scored the first league goal at the ground, and the club defeated Bolton 4–1.

Burnley split from the cricket club in 1889, agreeing to pay £77 per year (the equivalent of £9,000 in 2022) to rent the stadium, and then hiked ticket prices from four to sixpence (the equivalent of £2.83 in 2022), much to the displeasure of the supporters.

Burnley Union Star, another local football team, folded and abandoned its ground, which included a grandstand, in 1891. Burnley purchased the stand and relocated it to Turf Moor's north side, where it became known as the Stars Stand.

Burnley and Nelson played in the first floodlit football match at Turf Moor in March of that year; 16 creosote-fueled lights were mounted on poles at intervals along the edges of the ground. While the margins of the field were adequately lit, there was a dark region in the center, according to spectators.

In 1898, the Stars Stand was dismantled and replaced by a larger grandstand, which the fans continued to refer to as the Stars Stand. Burnley built a second tier on the Brunshaw Road Stand in 1903 to house club headquarters, and the club had its first annual general meeting at Turf Moor in September of that year.

In 1909, the Stars Stand was expanded with new turnstiles and barricades in advance of the FA Cup quarter-final match against reigning Football League winners

. The club presented plans for the renovation of the Brunshaw Road Stand in 1911, with former Burnley player Arthur Bell serving as the project's architect.

The delivery of steelwork for the new roof was delayed due to a railway strike, but supporters were still able to use the stand in time for

's first league game of the 1911–12 season against Leeds City. Because the dressing rooms were still being built, both teams changed in the adjacent cricket pavilion.

The stand cost the club £5,000 (equivalent to £521,000 in 2022) and could hold up to 5,500 spectators, with 2,200 seated seats. By this time, an L-shaped embankment had been built from the eastern goal around the northeast corner to the halfway line, presumably with spoil from the coal mine.

Turf Moor Development

Burnley directors chose to demolish the Stars Stand for the second time in 1913, opting to widen the unprotected embankment instead. The Brunshaw Road Stand was also enlarged to cover the entire pitch length. A roof was built to cover the terracing at the Cricket Field End in 1914.

The developments boosted the ground's capacity to roughly 50,000 people, which is nearly equal to the male population of the town. In the same year, Burnley won the FA Cup, and in 1920–21, they were crowned First Division champions. During that season, the squad went undefeated in 30 league games, an English record at the time, and won 18 straight games at Turf Moor.

At the time, the average home attendance was more than 30,000, which was a club record. Turf Moor hosted its sole FA Cup semi-final in 1922 when Huddersfield Town defeated Notts County 3–1 in front of about 46,000 fans.

For the match, the Football Association asked that the pitch be expanded to 115 yards (105 meters), but it was later returned to its original dimensions of 111 yards (101 m). Burnley defeated Huddersfield 1–0 in the FA Cup third round on February 23, 1924, in front of 54,775 fans, which is still a Turf Moor record.

One fan was killed in a human crush as a result of the big throng. When England met Wales in 1927, Turf Moor held its only senior international match. Burnley captain Jack Hill scored their own goal to give the visitors a 2–1 victory over the Englishmen.

With donations from Burnley's newly formed supporters' club, a hut and scoreboard were built at the Bee Hole End embankment—named after the Bee Hole Colliery—in 1932.

The club stated in 1938 that the old Stars Stand will be replaced with a covered terrace. The proposal was postponed due to the onset of World War II, but the rebuilt Longside terrace was finished in 1954. The roof alone cost £20,000 (equivalent to £560,000 in 2022) and was built on the four-decade-old embankment.

Burnley youth players assisted in the construction of the terrace. Burnley became one of the first clubs to establish a purpose-built training facility in 1955, when its new chairman, Bob Lord, purchased 80 acres of farmland at Gawthorpe Hall.

In 1957, the club erected permanent floodlights, which were used for the first time in a friendly against local rivals

. The banking at the Bee Hole End was terracing around this period. Turf Moor hosted its first-ever European Cup match on November 16, 1960, as a result of Burnley's 1959–60 First Division title success; Jimmy Robson and Jimmy McIlroy scored early in the first half as Burnley defeated French team 

2–0.

The Cricket Field Stand, which included the changing facilities and cost £180,000 in 1969 (the equivalent of £3.03 million in 2022), making Turf Moor one of the few English venues to feature the players' tunnel behind one of the goals.

It was the first time a supporter's stand had oil-fired heating, with hot air pumped through holes under the seats. Due to the high expenditures, the system was abandoned after two seasons. In 1970, the club expanded the open terrace at the Bee Hole End with the goal of boosting capacity to roughly 20,000 people.

The luck and the curse

In 1974, Lord commissioned Cambridge Soil Services to re-lay the pitch, as well as install modern drainage and under-soil heating technologies. Both were never put into service because Lord deemed them uneconomical, owing in part to a significant increase in oil costs. The pitch was also increased, while the existing slope was reduced.

The Brunshaw Road Structure was then replaced by a single-tier stand named for Lord, which was inaugurated in the same year by former Prime Minister Edward Heath. The Bob Lord Stand held 2,500 fans and cost £450,000 (equivalent to £4.79 million in 2022).

It was partially funded by Martin Dobson's transfer to

, prompting some fans to refer to it as the "Martin Dobson Stand." Celtic, a Scottish club, came to Turf Moor in 1978 for the opening leg of the Anglo-Scottish Cup quarter-final.

supporters rioted, throwing bottles, stones, and iron railings, injuring 60 fans. Burnley won the first leg 1–0 and the second leg 2–1; the squad won 3–1 on aggregate and went on to win the cup final that year.

Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, the team's fortunes plummeted due to a loss in home attendance and growing debt. Burnley was left with little money to invest in the reconstruction and safety improvements to the stadium.

Ben Lee, a 17-year-old apprentice footballer, was murdered in 1992 when he fell through the roof of the deteriorating Longside terrace while attempting to retrieve a football during practice. The Longside, according to author Simon Inglis, "symbolized how much Turf Moor, long regarded as so modern, had fallen behind."

Turf Moor facilities

The Bob Lord Stand, the Cricket Field Stand, the James Hargreaves Stand, and the Jimmy McIlroy Stand surround the Turf Moor pitch, which spans 105 by 68 meters 114.8 yds 74.4 yds. The James Hargreaves and Jimmy McIlroy are the two newest stands, with two tiers apiece, while the Bob Lord and Cricket Field are single-tiered.

Burnley spent £750,000 (equivalent to £980,000 as of 2022) on a hybrid grass (Desso GrassMaster) surface in 2010, which was paid for with earnings from their

stay. It took the place of the natural grass surface, which was frequently mowed down during the winter months. The stadium holds 21,944 people, or roughly one seat for every three people in the town—one of the greatest ratios in English football.

In 1996, the James Hargreaves Stand was built. It has a capacity of 8,000 spectators and runs parallel to the pitch's length. The press box and the television gantry are both located at the back of the James Hargreaves.

The suite at the stand has been licensed to host civil wedding ceremonies since 2005, and it can also be rented for banqueting events. The

Stand, which has a capacity of 6,000, was built in 1996 and is located on the eastern side of the pitch. The corporate hospitality boxes are located in the James Hargreaves and Jimmy McIlroy Stands.

The upper deck of the Jimmy McIlroy is designated as a family area. Behind the stand is a memorial garden with a dugout replica and an image of former manager Brian Miller with his hands raised, taken before Burnley's match against Orient in 1987; Burnley defeated their opponents in the final game of the season and avoided relegation from the Football League. The Jimmy McIlroy Stand was renamed the Utilita Jimmy McIlroy Stand for the 2021–22 season due to sponsorship considerations.

The Bob Lord Stand, built in 1974, seats roughly 4,000 people and sits next to Harry Potts Way, named after Harry Potts, the manager who led Burnley to the First Division title in 1959–60. It houses the trophy room, the directors' box, and a corporate space for the club.

Between the Bob Lord and Jimmy McIlroy Stands lies the Burnley club shop. The Cricket Field is Turf Moor's oldest stand, having opened in 1969. It has a capacity of roughly 4,000 people and can accommodate both home and away spectators.

The stand, which faces Burnley Cricket Club's pavilion, houses the changing rooms for both teams as well as the officials' lounge. Because of sponsorship reasons, the Cricket Field Stand has been called the David Fishwick Stand, the Ladbrokes Stand, and the Barnfield Construction Stand since the 2000s.

Turf Moor Other uses

In 1914, the stadium hosted a match between the Football League XI and the Scottish Football League XI, with the Scots winning 3–2. Teddy Hodgson, Eddie Mosscrop, and Tommy Boyle all played for the Football League team, with the latter scoring from a penalty kick.

Turf Moor hosted its first

semi-final in 1922, and its only senior international match in 1927, when England faced Wales. At the stadium,

and England's juvenile sides have played on multiple occasions, at the under-21, under-20, and schoolboy levels.

Turf Moor hosted the group stage match between Czechoslovakia and West Germany during the 1983 UEFA European Under-18 Championship. In September 2003, the England women's team played Australia in the stadium's inaugural international women's match.

In the early 1920s, the pitch hosted a number of women's charity matches, the first of which took place in March 1920, when Dick Kerr's Ladies took against Liverpool Ladies in aid of the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers.

Other football clubs have played "home" matches at the stadium than Burnley. Due to financial troubles, the club shared Turf Moor with Burnley Belvedere of the Lancashire Amateur League from 1902 to 1904. The stadium hosted the FA Cup first-round match between Accrington Stanley and Scunthorpe United in 1993.

Colne Dynamoes, a local team, was fast ascending through the English non-league system in the late 1980s. Graham White, Colne's chairman-manager, had a groundshare proposal rejected by the Burnley board, and he even tried to buy the club in 1989. Other sports than football have been played on the field, including an exhibition lacrosse match in 1912 and an American football game in 1987.

Turf Moor Interesting facts

In 2011, Burnley became the first higher education institution in the world to offer university degrees in football and the sports industry. The University Campus of Football Business was established at Turf Moor and was given the name University Campus of Football Business. Other campus locations have now opened in London's Wembley Stadium and Manchester's City of Manchester Stadium.

Since the First World War, "Béné & Hot," a combination of the French liqueur Bénédictine and hot water, has been a favorite drink at Turf Moor. During the war, the East Lancashire Regiment soldiers developed a love for the liqueur while stationed at Fécamp, Normandy, the birthplace of the beverage.

They mixed it with hot water to stay warm in the trenches, and the liqueur was eventually returned to the East Lancashire area by the surviving soldiers. Every game, more than 30 bottles of Bénédictine are sold, making the club one of the world's largest Bénédictine sellers; Turf Moor is the only British football venue that sells it. Thanks for reading Sportmob's

Top facts about Turf Moor

.

Read more

Follow 

 for the