Boothferry Park (nicknamed Fer Ark) was a football stadium in Kingston upon Hull, and was home to the football club Hull City for over 50 years from 31 August 1946 until December 2002, when the club moved to a brand-new ground, the Kingston Communications Stadium.The club no longer play at the stadium, which is set for demolition, having moved to the Kingston Communications Stadium in 2002. It's likely that the ground will make way for a housing development, though plans are complicated by the presence of a Kwik Save and Iceland supermarkets which comprises part of the stadium's structure. Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ... Hull City Association Football Club is an English football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Kingston Communications Stadium (also referred to as the KC Stadium). It is named after the stadiums sponsors, Kingston Communications and is a new facility for the city of Hull hosting football, rugby league and a series of pop concerts. ... Kingston Communications Stadium (also referred to as the KC Stadium). It is named after the stadiums sponsors, Kingston Communications and is a new facility for the city of Hull hosting football, rugby league and a series of pop concerts. ... Kwik Save is a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. ...

The planning years

The ground was originally planned in 1929, and work began on the site from 1932 based near the River Humber. Financial difficulties severely hampered this development, with the playing area and part of the terracing appearing over the following 12 months before work and progress ground to a halt. A proposal in 1939 for a sports stadium on the site was the catalyst for further development, as even though this threw up doubt for the original stadium plans, no suitable financial offer for the land was forthcoming, and instead the Hull City board enquired after, and were granted, a Football Association loan to the sum of £6,600. This meant the new ground would be ready for the opening of the 1941 season. River Hull tidal barrier. ... Look up terrace on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. ...

The onset of World War II was to again frustrate the development of the football ground, as during the war, the ground was used by the Home Guard, and was, for a period, used to repair tanks. This, not unexpectedly, had an adverse effect on the playing area - following the end of the war the pitch was in very poor shape and prone to waterlogging. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) or Home Guard, was instituted by the British government during World War II to defend the UK in the event of an invasion by Germany. ...

Building materials were hard to come by in the post-war years for something as "frivolous" as a football stadium in the heavily-bombed city, this and the state of the pitch meant that the ground was still not in a usable state by the 1945/6 season, so the club was forced to return to playing its matches at one of its former homes The Boulevard, home of the rugby club Hull FC. The Boulevard was a multi-use stadium in Hull, England. ... Hull FC is a professional rugby league football club formed in 1865 and based in Hull, England. ...

The ground is opened and building continues

The ground was opened in August 1946, 17 years after its initial proposal, but only had planning permission for one stand along the west side with an upper cost limit of £17,000. The ground was still not fully completed and it became a race against time to make the stadium ready for its inaugural match against visiting Lincoln City. Lincoln City F.C. are an English football team currently playing in Football League Two (the fourth tier of the English football league system). ...

Twenty Thousand people gathered to watch the opening ceremony performed by the Lord Mayor. By 1948 the attendance record had swelled to 40,179 as the stadium hosted visitors Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. Middlesbrough Football Club are an English football club, commonly known as Boro, that play in the Premier League. ... Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final The FA Cup — this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ...

The terracing embankments were raised and by February 1949 a ground and club record which still stands was hit - 55,019 turned out to watch Hull play Manchester United. Due to the overwhelming crowd, ferries had to be employed to take fans away from the ground as the streets near 'Fer Ark' became clogged. This gave the team one of their nicknames, The Ferrymen, which can be seen as a double entendre on Boothferry Park as well. Manchester United Football Club are a world-famous English football club, based at the Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and are one of the most popular sports clubs in the world, with over 50 million supporters worldwide. ...

The locally famous Boothferry Halt opened in 1951. The ground now had its own railway station, its first use being a fixture against Everton when six trains ran the football service between Paragon Station, Hull's central railway station and Boothferry Park. At the same time, work proceeded on the covering of the North stand. Boothferry Park Halt railway station is a British railway station which opened in 1951 to serve the Boothferry Park football stadium in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, that had been built five years earlier. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Everton Football Club is an English football club located in the city of Liverpool. ... Hull Paragon railway station is the main railway station in Kingston-upon-Hull, England. ...

The East terrace was the next to be covered, albeit with a temporary structure. This temporary structure was never replaced, and stood throughout the years of the ground. With the three stands completed, the ground was now suited to a floodlight installation. Two gantries housing 96 lamps were built, one on the west and one opposite on the east following a licence being granted. Although this lighting system was the envy of many clubs, advancements in stadium lighting came rapidly, and the system soon needed replacement. A six pylon system replaced the old gantries in 1963.

The new lights were used for the first time in 1964, using 4 of the 6 available, in an evening match against Barnsley which ended in a 7-0 win for The Tigers. Barnsley Football Club are an English football league team, based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire and nicknamed the Tykes (a Tyke is a traditional Yorkshire character rugged, hardworking and with great pride in their roots). ...

Records

The highest attendance before the new stand was built was 40,179 in 1948 when Hull City played Middlesbrough in the F.A cup. 55,019 witnessed the visit of Manchester when the height of the terracing was increased.

Nicknames

FER ARK

The stadium became affectionately known by supporters as "Fer Ark" in its later days, due to the lack of finances for maintenance (which also meant the scoreboard didn't actually show the score throughout the match), which meant that only those letters were illuminated on the large "boothFERry pARK" signage.

Bothferry

Another nickname is "Bothferry" - this came around when the second "o" fell off the stadium sign, as shown in the picture.

More than four years after its closure, the stadium is still standing, though it is now in a dilapidated condition.

Trivia

Boothferry Park once held a home game for Leeds United. After crowd trouble marred the FA Cup 5th round replay between Leeds and Sunderland FC, it was decided that the best course of action was to replay the game at Boothferry Park. So on March 20, 1967 the game took place in front of over 40,000 fans with Leeds winning the tie 2-1. Leeds United F.C. is the only professional association football club in Leeds. ... Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final The FA Cup — this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... Sunderland Association Football Club is a football club based in Sunderland, on Wearside in the North-East of England. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in leap years). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

External links

• history of Hull City Boothferry Park on official website
• Boothferry Park on Worldstadia.com