The Boothferry Park Floodlights
The Early Years
Boothferry Park was eventually famous for being the only Football League ground to feature six imposing floodlight pylons.
However, the Boothferry Park pitch wasn’t always lit so splendidly during the ground’s early years.
In 1953, the first floodlights were installed with 96 lamps mounted along the roof of the West and East Stand, following the covering of the ‘Kempton’ terrace.
A crowd of 31,702 fans turned out to see the lights in action for the first time during a 4-1 friendly defeat against Dundee United on 19th January 1953.
Six Iconic Pylons
In 1964, the club invested £50,000 to upgrade the floodlighting system – installing their revolutionary six-pylon system which each stood at 175 feet high.
This took the total number of lamps to 324, meaning Boothferry Park now enjoyed the best floodlights in the Football League at this time.
The lamps were first used for an evening league when Barnsley were the visitors on 7th October 1964, a match the Tigers won 7-0.
The floodlights were finally dismantled in early 2011, nine years after City played their last game at Boothferry Park.
Demolition
More than five years after the final competitive match was played under its six famous floodlights, the demolition of Boothferry Park finally began on 10th January 2008. It only took until the March for the West Stand to come down.
After suffering years of vandalism and arson attacks, the North Stand’s demolition was finally completed in January 2010, along with the removal of the terracing from the South and East Stands.
However, the famous floodlights did not fall until early 2011 to make way for the housing estate which now occupies the land.