The Old Recreation Ground

Old Recreation Ground
The Rec
Full name	The Old Recreation Ground
Location	Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England
Coordinates	53°01′38.16″N 2°10′32.88″W / 53.0272667°N 2.1758°W / 53.0272667; -2.1758
Opened	1913
Closed	1950
Demolished	1950
Surface	Grass
Capacity	20,000
Field dimensions	110 by 70 yards
Tenants
Port Vale F.C. (1913–1950)

The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium, located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and home to Port Vale for almost 40 years. The Rec had been Vale's home between 1913 and 1950 and was the sixth ground the club used.^[1]

Structure and facilities

Average attendances, 1913–1950.

The stadium was in rather bad condition, especially following years of neglect during World War II. The dressing rooms were bare, there were no toilet facilities throughout the entire ground, and racing pigeons were kept by The Sentinel and a number of supporters so as to relay the scoreline to different parts of the city.^[2]

Leaving the ground

Port Vale were forced to sell the land to the city council, under the chairmanship of Tom W.Flint after suffering a financial crisis, they received £13,500.^[3] This came after the club's president Major William Huntbach died in 1943, leaving £3,000 of loans to be repaid to his estate.^[4] The council initially refused to allow the club to play at their ground, but eventually relented for rent of £400 a year.^[4] In 1950, the city council decided to construct a shopping centre on the site forcing the club to move to their current home of Vale Park.

References

1. ^ "Port-Vale.co.uk: Vale Park". Port-Vale.co.uk. http://www.port-vale.co.uk/page/ValePark/0,,10381,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-18. 
2. ^ Kent, Jeff (December 1991). Port Vale Tales: A Collection Of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories. Witan Books. pp. 274. ISBN 0950898163. 
3. ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 103. ISBN 0952915200. http://www.amazon.ca/Port-Vale-Personalities-Jeff-Kent/dp/0952915200. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Sherwin, Phil (24 August 2010). "Port Vale: 60-years ago today, Vale came back home to play". The Sentinel. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Port-Vale-glorious-years-Vale-Park/article-2561505-detail/article.html. Retrieved 24 August 2010.