For nearly ninety bloody years, York Street was the home of Boston United, a team that most people probably haven't even heard of. Big deal, right?
The history of York Street
The venue was first used by the club in 1933, when it was known as Shodfriars Lane. But who gives a toss about that? It's just a name, mate.
Anyway, football wasn't the only thing that went down at York Street. In the 1930s, they had greyhound racing around the pitch. Imagine that, a bunch of mutts running around in circles. Sounds like a right laugh, doesn't it?
The good ol' days
Under some bloke named Ray Middleton, Boston United had a couple of decent FA Cup runs and did alright in the Midland League. They even managed to get 9,000 muppets to show up for a game against Corby Town when they turned the floodlights on. Fancy that!
The stadium gets shafted
But then, in 1977, some jobsworth inspectors decided that York Street wasn't good enough for the Football League. So, Northern Premier League runners-up Wigan Athletic got the spot instead. Typical, isn't it? The little guy always gets screwed over.
After that, the local mugs had to fork out their hard-earned cash to fix up the stadium. They built new terracing, stands, floodlights, bogs, turnstiles, and places to grab a pie. The Town End Terrace cost a whopping £200,000 to rebuild. What a waste of money!
The fall from grace
Eventually, York Street became a football league ground in 2002. But, just a few years later, Boston United ran into money troubles. They got a 10-point deduction for going into administration and were relegated to the sixth tier after they couldn't pay their debts. Serves 'em right, I say.
Since then, the club's been bouncing around the non-league divisions like a pinball. And in 2020, they left York Street for a shiny new ground outside of town called the Jakemans Community Stadium. Sounds like a load of bollocks to me.
The sorry state of York Street today
Now, the once-famous York Street is just a rotting husk. The grass is overgrown, and weeds are poking through the concrete. It's a bloody disgrace.
They even tried to sell the site for £5m in April 2022, but now it's going for a measly £2m. The estate agents reckon it's "suitable for retail warehousing" or some other nonsense. I bet they'd love to tear it down and put up another soulless shopping centre or a car park.
But that's the way of the world, innit? No room for sentiment in the beautiful game. It's all about the money these days. They don't give a toss about the history or the fans. Bunch of mugs, the lot of 'em!
