War Memorial Sports Ground
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Carshalton Athletic vs Chichester CitySat 28 Dec 2024 15:00
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0 (2023 years old)
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Country
England
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Carshalton, Sutton
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Carshalton Athletic play their home games at the War Memorial Sports Ground located at Colston Ave, Carshalton, Sutton.
From the formation of Mill Lane Mission until 1906 the club played on a pitch hired in Carshalton Park moving to a pitch in the Wrythe Recreation Ground (and using the Cricketers pub opposite as a 'clubhouse') when they joined the Croydon & District League. Here they remained until the outbreak of war in 1914. During the war many open spaces and parks were used for agricultural purposes which meant that when football finally resumed in 1919 the old pitch needed to be levelled and resown with grass and so was unavailable for use. A temporary ground was loaned to the club by a market gardener named G. Mizen, in what was known as Culvers Park (now covered by housing as Culvers Avenue) and it was here that the club resumed playing in the Southern Suburban League.
Knowing that the Culvers Park ground could only ever be a temporary measure, the Secretary and committee of the club continued to investigate alternative arrangements. Eventually a local area of land, known as Shorts Farm, was discovered to be for sale. Whilst the club certainly did not have the funds to purchase all 37 acres (150,000 m2) of land, it was hoped that they could negotiate a separate sale of 4 acres (16,000 m2) to be set aside as a War Memorial and dedicated to sports. After several convoluted sales and purchases the local District Council acquired the land and the club were able to lease the land they needed and to build the facilities they desired on the land. The opening match on the ground took place on 1 January 1921 against Thornville in the Sutton Hospital Charity Cup.
Colston Avenue photographed in 2007
Gradually improvements were made to the ground. In 1926 a grandstand was acquired from Epsom Downs Racecourse, dismantled, moved and rebuilt on the ground to provide much needed seating. This survived until it was finally blown down by gales in March 1968. Slowly each side was converted from grass banking to terracing (this work finally being completed in 1991) and various offices, dressing rooms, coverings for terraces and a clubhouse and function room were added to the site. Floodlights were added in 1967 and a new grandstand was built in 1972 and extended in 1996. A great many of these structures were destroyed in an arson attack in 2000 which gutted the clubhouse, a new 'temporary' clubhouse has been in place since 2000.
In August 2003 the club submitted plans for a £12 million rebuild of the current stadium to include additional community facilities. The intention was to increase the level of usage of the site to allow the club to become self-financing. Local residents objected to the proposed increase in use and in light of the number of local residents opposed to the expansion the club withdrew their application for planning permission. In 2015, Carshalton Athletic replaced their grass pitch with an artificial, 3G pitch, after winning planning permission beforehand.
In 2018, Carshalton Athletic hosted a number of games in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup.
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