Muntz Street
Coventry Road | |
Small Heath, Birmingham, England | |
Coordinates | 52°28′13″N 1°51′18″W / 52.47028°N 1.85500°W |
---|---|
Owner | Gessey family |
Capacity | ~30,000 |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Opened | 11 September 1877 |
Closed | 22 December 1906 |
Demolished | 1907 |
Tenants | |
Small Heath F.C. (1877–1906) Small Heath A.C. (1891–1906) |
Muntz Street is the popular name of a former
The Muntz Street ground, then situated on Birmingham's eastern edge and bordered on two sides by farmland, opened in 1877. It was a field with terracing round it which provided standing accommodation for roughly 10,000 spectators. A wooden stand was built and the terracing raised to expand the capacity to around 30,000, but eventually it proved too small for the football club's needs. They built a new stadium nearer the city centre, St Andrew's, which hosted its first game in December 1906. Muntz Street, by then in a heavily built-up area, was demolished in 1907 and the land used for housing. The street of the same name remains.
Location and facilities
Small Heath Alliance Football Club, founded in 1875, played their first home games on waste ground off Arthur Street, in the
Muntz Street was readily accessible by public transport. In the early years, horse-drawn buses ran along the Coventry Road, linking Small Heath with the city centre and with other nearby districts. In 1882, the building of a tramline along the Coventry Road to Small Heath Park was authorised, and four years later, the Coventry Road steam tramway route was opened to a terminus near Dora Road, a few yards past the ground. In the early years of the 20th century, this line was converted for use by electric trams.[5]
Contemporary reports referred to the ground throughout its lifetime as Coventry Road.[B] Writer and researcher Steve Beauchampé suggests that the Muntz Street name may have been adopted to distinguish it from St Andrew's, which was also built just off the Coventry Road.[1][6]
Club matches
Events surrounding the February 1905
Move to St Andrew's
The rent had risen to £300 a year, and the landlords refused to sell the
The last game at Muntz Street was played on 22 December 1906. Birmingham beat Bury 3–1 in the First Division in front of some 10,000 spectators. The last goal was scored by Arthur Mounteney, and the Birmingham Daily Post described how
At the conclusion of the match the band played "Auld Lang Syne", and the crowd silently left the ground which has been the home of the club for so many years and the scene of many brilliant victories and many heartbreaking defeats, and of an uphill struggle from which the club, thanks to the courage of the directors, has at length emerged triumphant.[19]
Within months the ground had been demolished, the land cleared and housing built in what became Swanage Road;[12] no plaque commemorates the site.[1][20]
Other uses
Despite the apparently poor quality of pitch and facilities the Birmingham County Football Association XI, comprising players from teams in the Birmingham area, played several representative football matches at Muntz Street. The ground twice hosted matches against the London Football Association, and between 1898 and 1906 four matches were played against teams representing the Scottish Football Association.[4][21]
Small Heath Athletic Club (later called Small Heath Harriers) established its headquarters at the Muntz Street ground from the club's foundation in 1891. Though primarily a
Notes
A. a b At the very bottom centre of the 1883 map linked here, Muntz Street leaves the Coventry Road heading north-east, crossed by Wright Street. Gessey's field is on the south-eastern side of Muntz St, adjacent to the north-eastern side of the short part of Wright St, and with open country to the other two sides. At the centre left of the map, above the words "Small Heath", and bounded by Coventry Road, Cattell Road, Kelynge Street (now Tilton Road), Garrison Lane and the railway, is the site of the future St Andrew's stadium. Lower down, parallel and very close to the left edge of the map, is Arthur Street, where Small Heath Alliance first played their matches.[23]
B.
C. ^ Aston Villa F.C. played in the municipal borough of Aston Manor, which did not become part of the city of Birmingham until 1911.[26]
References
- General
- ISBN 0-00-218426-5.
- Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-010-2.
- Matthews, Tony (October 2000). The Encyclopedia of Birmingham City Football Club 1875–2000. Cradley Heath: Britespot. ISBN 0-9539288-0-2.
- Specific
- ^ a b c d e f g Beauchampé, Steve (26 December 2006). "100 years of St. Andrews – Part One". The Stirrer. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
- ^ a b Matthews, Complete Record, p. 57.
- ISBN 978-1-905266-16-6.
- ^ a b c Matthews, Encyclopedia, "Muntz Street", p. 160.
- ^ Hardy, P. L. (1972). "A transport history of Yardley". Acocks Green Historical Society. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
- ^ "Played in Britain: Authors". Played in Britain. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- ^ Marsden, Bob (March 1987). A.B.C. of Small Heath and Bordesley Green Past and Present. Small Heath Local History Society. p. 5.
- ^ Matthews, Encyclopedia, "Aston Villa", p. 17.
- ^ Matthews, Complete Record, p. 8.
- ^ Matthews, Complete Record, p. 9.
- ^ Birmingham Daily Mail. 25 February 1905. p. 4.
- ^ a b c d Inglis, p. 44.
- Birmingham Daily Mail. p. 4.
- Birmingham Daily Mail. 27 February 1905. p. 4.
- ^ Matthews, Complete Record, p. 12.
- ^ "News summary". Birmingham Daily Post. 27 December 1906. p. 4.
- ^ "Cup Memories. When Small Heath Alliance Made History". Birmingham Mail. 27 February 1931. p. 13.
- ^ Matthews, Encyclopedia, "St Andrew's", p. 193.
- ^ "Birmingham Again Victorious". Birmingham Daily Post. 24 December 1905.
- ^ "Historical plaques in Birmingham, United Kingdom". Open Plaques. Open Heritage C.I.C. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ^ Clives, Stanley W. (1975). The Centenary Book of the Birmingham County Football Association 1875–1975. Birmingham County Football Association. p. 108.
- ^ "History: Small Heath Harriers". Solihull & Small Heath Athletic Club. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
- ^ Map from New Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles, with large-scale plans of towns... by G.W. Bacon. London: George W. Bacon. 1883., hosted at "Old Town Plan of Birmingham 1883". Mapseeker Historical Maps Online. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010.
- ^ "The Association Challenge Cup. Small Heath Alliance v Davenham". The Times. 18 January 1886. p. 7.
The number of clubs left in the competition for the National Cup is rapidly becoming smaller, and as a natural consequence the interest taken in the matches increases. It was not surprising, therefore, that between 5,000 and 6,000 spectators were present on Saturday at the ground of the Small Heath Alliance in the Coventry-road, Birmingham, to witness their tie in the fifth round with Davenham. A keenly contested game was won by the Small Heath Alliance by two goals to one.
- ^ "Heath Only Draw". Birmingham Evening Despatch. 3 April 1905. p. 5.
- ^ "History of Aston – early period". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
External links