| Mount Pleasant | |
|---|---|
A view down the hill from behind the rugby posts. |
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| Full name | Mount Pleasant |
| Location | Batley, West Yorkshire |
| Opened | 1895 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | No |
| Capacity | 7,500 |
| Record attendance | 23,989 (vs. Leeds, 14 March 1925[1]) |
| Tenants | |
| Batley Bulldogs | |
Mount Pleasant is a rugby league stadium in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Batley RLFC.
Renowned for its famous slope, Mount Pleasant is situated at the top of the hill that overlooks the town of Batley. The end of the ground at the top of the hill is surrounded by three grandstands. Behind the rugby posts is a relatively new terraced stand, which houses the players changing rooms and also executive boxes.
At the opposite end at hill is an open terraced stand, as you go back up the pitch down one of the sides, the terrace is closed off due to safety reasons. The bottom corner of the pitch sees quite a large dip, which the home side use to their advantage.
In the diagonally opposite corner is the players entrance, which is situated between the new terraced stand, and a small all seater stand that runs down half of one side of the pitch.
The ground has undergone major redevelopment over the last ten years, work is currently continuing on the bottom part of the ground at the famous "nine ole" end.
Batley Cricket Club played at the foot of Howley Hill, more commonly known as "Owd Billy Wood’s Cloise". The cricket club decided to merge with Batley Athletic rugby football club in 1880. The new rugby club played at Mount Pleasant at the top of the hill.
The 1893 – 94 season saw the erection of a huge open grandstand purchased by Batley's football committee following its use at the Great Yorkshire Show held at nearby Dewsbury. Once erected it covered the whole side of one length of the Mount Pleasant playing area.
The record attendance was set at 23,989 for the visit of Leeds for a third round Challenge Cup match on 14 March 1925.
Dewsbury RLFC played their home games at Mount Pleasant in 1991 while their new stadium was being built.
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