Tranmere Rovers Football Club

Rovers move to the current Prenton Park site - and take with them the original Main Stand from the old Prenton Park, which was located on Temple Road.

The new Prenton Park is officially opened on Saturday 9th March, versus Lancaster City.

The first ever FA Cup tie is staged at Prenton Park, when on Saturday 28th September Oswestry United visit for a round fixture.  The venue for the tie was originally reversed as Oswestry’s ground was deemed too small by the Football Association to stage the game. Rovers win 4-2 in front of a crowd of 4,000.

Prenton Park is closed for two weeks, starting from Sunday 13th January, by the Lancashire Combination Committee, due to crowd trouble which breaks out during the meeting with Heywood United on Christmas Day.

What is known by the local community as ‘The Weekend Stand’ is purchased from Lever Brothers Oval Sports Ground, at a cost of £350.

It is then installed next to the existing Main Stand, as Rovers are required to increase the capacity of the stadium.

The first five-figure home attendance is recorded - over 10,000 - for the visit of South Liverpool on Saturday 29th November, withRovers wining 7-0.

Following election to the newly created Division Three North, the stadium hosts its first ever Football League game on Saturday 27th August, when Crewe Alexandra are the visitors.

Tranmere Rovers were the winners, 4-1, watched by just over 7,000 spectators.

A new five-span roof is erected at the town end of the stadium.

The Cost was just over £1,000, and it was later to be known as the ‘Cowshed’.

A wooden ‘half-time’ scoreboard is installed, and at the back of the old open Kop terrace.

It was then removed in the late 1950s when the Kop was extended as part of the stadium’s second phase of redevelopment. 

As part of the first phase of stadium redevelopment, the open Kop terrace is officially opened by the Mayor of Birkenhead on 21st September, for the visit of Hartlepool United. 

Constructed from shale, wood cinders and used railway sleepers, it can ‘officially’ accommodate up to 9,000 spectators.

The English Football League goal aggregate record is broken (and still remains unbroken) when Tranmere beat Oldham Athletic 13-4 on Boxing Day.

With the Club boasting ‘a stable and financial footing’ announces plans to redevelop the ground at a cost £15,000, and complete a ‘new’ 70,000 capacity stadium on the present site.

In line with an ever-growing national interest for the sport, baseball is played for the first time at Prenton Park on Tuesday 13th August.

The old dressing rooms – located within ‘Salem’s Cottage’, placed between the Borough Road side and the Cowshed, is demolished in July 1937.

The players and match officials were relocated to the back of the Kop thanks to a newly constructed brick building.

The pre-war record league attendance at Prenton Park, 17,848, is set for the visit of Millwall on Monday 29th August.

It was the first home game of Rovers’ first season in the old Second Division since being promoted as champions from Division Three North. 

In the midst of the March blitz over Merseyside, the Borough Road ‘Popular Side’ is damaged as an exploding German parachute mine completely destroys two adjacent houses on the Tranmere Hall Estate opposite the ground.

The roof is then removed entirely for safety precautions, after a second section collapses during a match a couple of weeks later.

The stadium car park is also used during the war effort as a base for ‘star fires’ - large oil-based fires, which send up thick black smoke in order to confuse the incoming German bombers.

Rovers offer local rivals New Brighton a ground-share arrangement after heavy bomb damage suffered the previous summer renders the Rakers’ home at Sandheys Park virtually unusable.

The Rakers overall however are unable to carry on due to a lack of regular registered players and are forced to withdraw from all competitions.

Baseball is reintroduced at Prenton Park for the start of the season, thanks in part due to the expansion of the Merseyside War League.

As the Second World War comes to an end, Rovers plan to install floodlights at the ground, in line with a number of local football clubs, and using six small pylons.

The idea is shelved however due to costs and initial objections from local residents. 

After 14 years exposed to the elements, a new roof is finally erected for supporters over the Borough Road ‘Popular Side’ during November. 

It is officially opened by the Mayor of Birkenhead, Alderman T.E. Anderson, before Rovers’ second round FA Cup tie with Barrow on Saturday 10th December.  The covered enclosure now accommodates over 7,000 spectators.

An all time record low gate at Prenton Park is set, when just 87 spectators attend the Cheshire County League match between Rovers Reserves and Macclesfield Town on Wednesday 26th March 1958. Tranmere Rovers run out 9-0 winners.

The first set of floodlights, paid for by the Tranmere Rovers Supporters Association at a cost of £15,000, are then switched on for the match versus Rochdale on Monday 29th September.

The annual meeting between Liverpool County FA and Football Association of Ireland Youth teams is staged at Prenton Park for the very first time, instead of Anfield, on Thursday 1st March.

Further ground improvements are made throughout the stadium, both inside and out. A fire however breaks out in the Main Stand late into the night of Friday 23rd February, which destroys a number of season ticket holder’s seats and the Press Box.

The significant repairs are made though in time for the visit of York City on Friday 9th March – the game ironically which also marks 50 years of League football staged at Prenton Park.

Tranmere stages its first ever friendly youth international – England v Ireland on Friday 22nd January, despite the ground being covered by a blanket of snow and ice.

The original Main Stand is finally demolished following a reserve game with Rhyl in the Cheshire County League on Saturday 4th May to make way for the new structure, part of which is already being erected behind the existing structure.

The new Main Stand is officially opened versus Northampton Town on Friday 20th December. 

The Club Offices from across the road are closed down shortly afterwards and are moved to the new facility.

The newly created ‘Vice Presidents Lounge’ is officially opened.

The five-span Cowshed roof is removed following weather damage and is deemed unfit by the local council.

The record attendance for any match at Prenton Park is broken, when 24,424 attend an FA Cup fourth round tie with then-First Division side Stoke City Saturday 4 February 1972. 

The game ends in a dramatic 2-2 draw. The feat is even more remarkable given that all three Merseyside clubs are at home on the same day, with Liverpool attracting a gate of 59,296 for their 0-0 draw with Leeds United, while 45,462 watched Everton’s 2-1 win over Walsall at Goodison Park – a total of 129,182 spectators!

The new Cowshed stand - which is now made up of a three-span roof structure - is used for the first time for Rovers meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the League Cup on Wednesday 31st October 1973.

A specially arranged international friendly game between England Youth and Northern Ireland Youth is staged at Prenton Park, but records the smallest crowd for any such game, just 549.

Most, if not all the terracing at Prenton Park is closed, following the collapse of the perimeter wall on the Borough Road side during Rovers’ FA Cup second round tie with Huddersfield Town on Saturday 13th December. 

A crowd surge sees supporters spill on to the pitch, with dozens left injured.

The possibility of another proposed ground sharing scheme, this time with Huyton Rugby Union Club, is discussed.  The stadium however is deemed unusable as it does not comply with RFU ground regulations.

The majority of terracing within Prenton Park is finally re-opened for the League match against Hull City on Saturday 30th October, after extensive work is carried out around the ground.

Prenton Park experiences floodlight failure for the very first time, causing the Division Four match with Peterborough United on Tuesday 1st October to be abandoned. 

Rovers are losing 1-0 at the time – but the rearranged game a few weeks later sees Rovers win 7-0!

Floodlight failure reoccurs, this time versus Hartlepool United on Friday 19 December.

A crowd of just 843 spectators is also there to witness the abandonment after just 27 minutes. 

The Club agrees it first ground share proposal, this with Wirral Wolves American football team during the summer. 

The stadium stages five league games, but is withdrawn for the following summer due to poor attendances and maintenance of the pitch.

As part of ongoing improvements to Prenton Park, and the Club heading for exciting times, Rovers install new floodlight pylons. 

They are officially opened on Friday 4 September, prior to the Division Four game with Colchester United.

A crowd of over 15,000 (although it is thought to be closer to 18,000) see both Rovers and Crewe Alexandra jointly promoted from Division Four on the final day of the season, Saturday 13 May.

The dressing rooms are refurbished with new plunge baths, showers and toilets. 

A new Boardroom is constructed to help facilitate the building of an overall exclusive executive facility and trophy room/museum to be known as the ‘Dixie Dean Suite’.

An electronic scoreboard, purchased from the same manufacturer as that seen at Goodison Park, is installed above the open Kop.

Nearly 7,000 spectators brave a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon on 5th December to watch England take their Wales counterparts in a 0-0 draw, in the first ever U21 international game staged at Prenton Park.

Sky Sports channel broadcast the first ever live TV game from Prenton Park – Tranmere Rovers v Newcastle United, on Tuesday 1st October and in the first round of the Zenith Data Systems Cup.

A total of 17 goals are scored in the tie, after both teams can’t be separated in both normal and extra time following a 6-6 draw. 

Rovers then win 3-2 on penalties.

Frost covers are used on the pitch for the very first time, to protect the playing surface for Rovers’ match with Aston Villa in the League Cup semi-final first leg.

Almost as soon as the final whistle is blown on Rovers’ Play-Off semi-final meeting with Leicester City, work begins on the major demolition of the ground, in prelude to a converting Prenton Park into an all-seater 16,000 capacity stadium. Starting with the Borough Road and Cowshed terrace ends.

The new stadium is officially opened prior to the league game with Grimsby Town on Saturday 11th March, which also sees Rovers win 2-0 in front of 15,810 spectators.

The first ever Ladies international match is staged at Prenton Park, as both England and Spain contest a place in the Women’s European Championship Play-Off, on Sunday 29th September.

The game ends in a 0-0 draw.

Deemed one of the most unusual and controversial uses of Prenton Park sees League of Ireland side Shelbourne host Glasgow Rangers in the first UEFA Cup tie staged at the venue, played on Wednesday 22 July.

Due to fears of sectarian violence occurring in Dublin, Shelbourne are then ordered by both UEFA and the Southern Irish Police to play their tie at a neutral venue within an 80-mile radius of their Tolka Park ground.

Footage from Prenton Park is used in the Coca-Cola "Real Fans" television commercial for the 2004/05 season.

Liverpool Reserves stage most, if not all their home games in the Barclays Premier Reserve League at Prenton Park, which continues for the next couple of seasons.

Liverpool Women stage all their home games at Prenton Park for the season in both the FA Women’s Super League and SSE Women’s FA Cup.