Park Hall (Oswestry)
Location | Oswestry, Shropshire, England |
---|---|
Capacity | 3,000 (3,000 seated)[1] |
Construction | |
Built | 1993 |
Renovated | 2007 |
Tenants | |
Oswestry Town (1993–2003) The New Saints (2007–present) FC Oswestry Town (2013–2020) St Martins (2012–2022) |
Park Hall Stadium is a football stadium to the north-east of
Following a short period of abandonment, the site was purchased from the council by Mike Harris with a view to redevelopment and The New Saints moving back to the ground. The New Saints started to use Park Hall as their home ground again in 2007, and the ground was further improved so that it was able to host matches in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. It has since been used to host youth international fixtures for both England and Wales while also hosting Non-League football for community teams in Oswestry.
Park Hall is also the name of the surrounding area, in Whittington civil parish, which has housing and some light industries.[2]
Oswestry Town and 2003 merger
The stadium was originally the site of an army ground.
In 2003, Oswestry Town and
The move was initially blocked by UEFA because the two teams were in different countries. The two clubs appealed, and UEFA took into account Oswestry Town's historic membership of the Football Association of Wales.[7] TNS director Richard Hann also argued the precedence of Derry City F.C. being based in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland but playing in the Republic of Ireland's League of Ireland and being allowed to represent the Republic of Ireland in UEFA competitions.[8] The decision was overturned, and UEFA stated that they would regard TNS and Park Hall as Welsh for UEFA purposes if they moved to Park Hall.[7][9][10] Park Hall was purchased from the council by Mike Harris with a view to renovating it.[11]
The New Saints
Following the merger, plans were drawn up to rebuild Park Hall in a project referred to as "Oswald Park".
In 2007, The New Saints moved into Park Hall permanently.[6] In 2010, The New Saints applied for funding for a new stand, but it was refused by Welsh Grounds Improvement and the team risked losing their licence to compete in the Welsh Premier League. As a result, The New Saints applied to play their home matches at Deva Stadium in Chester and move away from Park Hall.[9] Following the move from the Recreation Ground, between November 2012 and July 2015, The New Saints were unbeaten at Park Hall in all competitions.[17]
Despite the renovations, the ground did not meet UEFA's standards for hosting European football which meant that The New Saints were forced to play their home matches in UEFA competitions away from Park Hall.
International and European football
Park Hall has hosted international matches following its renovation. In 2015 it hosted Group 3 of the
Park Hall is also used to host European matches for other Welsh Premier League teams whose own grounds do not meet European requirements.
Community
During redevelopment at a cost of more than £3 million, The New Saints were awarded a £445,000 grant from the
References
- ^ "Park Hall Stadium". TNS. 12 January 2014. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Map of Park Hall". Streetmap.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Plot Thickens As TNS Buy Park Hall". Welsh Premier League. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Reminiscences of Oswestry Town". Border Counties Advertizer. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Oswestry-TNS merger approved". BBC Sport. 19 June 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Saints complete Oswestry switch". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Uefa approves TNS appeal". BBC Sport. 14 August 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Uefa ruling rocks TNS". BBC Sport. 12 August 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ a b "The New Saints look at moving to Chester's Deva Stadium". BBC Sport. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ UEFA Champions League (14 July 2014). "UEFA Champions League 2010/11 - History - TNS". UEFA. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ Wales, North (15 December 2004). "Oswestry and TNS merger to go ahead". Daily Post. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Saints Reveal 'Super Stadium' Plans". Thefootballnetwork.net. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Saints go marching across border". BBC News. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "New Saints make move over border". BBC News. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "TNS convert to saintly new name". BBC Sport. 2 June 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Village team rivals soccer champs". BBC News. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Fortress Park Hall the key to TNS boss". Shropshire Star. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Saints want Euro ties in Oswestry". BBC Sport. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Football | Welsh | Uefa set deadline for New Saints". BBC News. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "TNS 0-1 Suduva (agg 0-2)". BBC Sport. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Saints happy with Oswestry debut". BBC Sport. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Large Police Operation In Town For Oswestry v Warsaw Game". Wrexham.com. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Park Hall Host International Football Match". TNS. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Schools out as trio are picked for England". Shropshire Star. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Cefn Druids 1-1 Trakai". BBC Sport.
- ^ Pritchard, Tom (15 June 2021). "TNS, Bala and Newtown discover Europa Conference League opponents". Y Clwb Pêl-droed - Your home for Welsh football. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ "TNS redevelop old Park Hall home". BBC Sport. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "Shropshire Alliance Football League". Border Counties Advertizer. Retrieved 5 April 2016.