Darwen Football Club moved to the Anchor from the Barley
Bank in the summer of 1889. At that time it was open pasture - part of
the Anchor farm owned by Mr. R. Smith. the club initially leased it at a rent
of £10 from the 1st September to the 30th April inclusive, with a seperate
agreement regarding practice matches in August, the Anchor is the home of
Darwen FC to this day.
One of the first things the club did was to dismantle the old "Barrel
stand" from Barley Bank and transport it to the Anchor were it was erected
and stood on the west side of the ground till 1922 ( on the left of the photo
above ). at a cost of £100 which was loaned to the club by the farm
owner Mr R. Smith. ( to view a photo of the stand at the Anchor click
here )
Initially two other sites were looked at ( Ellison field and Heyfold ) before
the decision to plump for the Anchor was made.
The club kicked off their life at the Anchor on the 27th August 1899 with
a pre-season friendly against Blackburn Rovers which ended with a win for
the Salmoners 2-1.
The record attendance at the Anchor was 6,500 for a second round FA cup game
against Chester City in December 1931.
some reports give a attendance of between 9,000 to 10,000 for a Lancashire
cup game against Fleetwood in 1920, but although it was probably a large crowd
it would be more likely to have been around 6,000 which was regarded as a
"full house"
Darwen enjoyed almost immediate success at the Anchor with a Championship
win in the newly formed Lancashire League in 1902, plus the East
Lancs Trophy win the same year.
Crowds flocked to the Anchor in the early years with a average attendance
of around 4,500 in their first four seasons, and athough the early success
fell off the attendances were still regarded has " healthy " in
the years up-to the First World War.
When football resumed after the war in 1920 the club enjoyed their best days
" finacially and successfully " for some 15 years enableing the
club to upgrade the ground with three new stands on the west, east and town
ends. One of these stands on the "Town-end or Darwen end " was affectionally
known has the " Gracie Fields Stand " named after the Lancashire
Lass that the players and officials had met in London in 1932 after their
game against the Arsenal in the third round
FA Cup game that year, the stand was erected from the proceeds Darwen FC had
got from their share of the gate money from the game. ( £2,468 ) Sadly
the stand had to be demolished in the early 1990's due to fears for it's safety
to spectators.
below are a few photos showing the ground from the early years.
