Fellows Park was a football stadium on Hilary Street in Walsall, England, that served as the home of Walsall F.C. for 94 years, from 1896 to 1990. Originally known simply as Hilary Street, the ground was renamed in 1930 to honour H.L. Fellows, a longstanding club official who played a pivotal role in the club’s development.
Ramshackle, three-sided in places, and unmistakably characterful — with a corrugated-iron ‘cowshed’ terrace, a laundry wall backing one open end, and a patchwork of incremental improvements — Fellows Park was also the scene of one of the greatest shocks in FA Cup history. It became a beloved fixture of the West Midlands football landscape before Walsall relocated to the newly built Bescot Stadium in 1990.
Quick Answer
Fellows Park was Walsall F.C.’s home ground from 1896 (as Hilary Street, renamed in 1930) until 1990, when the club moved to the Bescot Stadium. It’s best remembered for Walsall’s stunning 2-0 FA Cup win over First Division champions-elect Arsenal in January 1933, and for its record crowd of 25,453 against Newcastle United in 1961. The ground was demolished in early 1991 and a Morrisons supermarket now stands on the site.
Nine Decades at Hilary Street
Walsall moved to the Hilary Street ground in 1896, relocating from an earlier pitch on West Bromwich Road. It stayed there, largely unchanged in spirit if not in structure, until 1990 — one of the longer continuous tenures of any English league club at a single ground. In 1930 the club renamed the stadium Fellows Park in honour of H.L. Fellows, a club director and chairman who had helped steer Walsall through a difficult period.
The ground grew piecemeal rather than by grand design. A wooden Main Stand dating to the 1930s ran along one side, with the dugouts and dressing rooms tucked in front of it. Floodlights arrived in the late 1950s, allowing evening fixtures for the first time. The covered ‘Cow Shed’ terrace became the spiritual home end, complete with a refreshments bar and a corrugated roof that rattled and occasionally shed rust onto the crowd below. The Hillary Street End behind one goal was covered in 1965, while the opposite end — long known as the ‘Laundry End’ because it backed onto the wall of Orgills Laundry — stayed open to the weather for most of the ground’s life. Once the laundry was demolished, this end was eventually renamed the Railway End, after the nearby line, and was typically allocated to visiting supporters.
Giant-Killers: The Arsenal Shock of 1933 and the Man Utd Upset of 1975
Fellows Park’s single most famous afternoon came on 14 January 1933, when Third Division North side Walsall beat mighty Arsenal 2-0 in the FA Cup third round. Arsenal were reigning League champions in all but name — they had already won the 1930 FA Cup and the 1931 League title, and would go on to be crowned champions again just months later. Gilbert Alsop headed Walsall in front from a corner, before Bill Sheppard doubled the lead from the penalty spot after Arsenal’s Tommy Black conceded a foul in the box, sending Herbert Chapman’s star-studded side crashing out in a result still widely rated as one of the greatest upsets in FA Cup history.
Fellows Park produced another famous cup shock more than four decades later. On 7 January 1975, Walsall — then a Third Division club — beat Manchester United 3-2 in an FA Cup third-round replay in front of 18,105 fans, Alan Buckley scoring twice (including an extra-time penalty) either side of a Bernie Wright goal to send United, then rebuilding in the Second Division, out of the competition.
Capacity, Attendance and the Ground’s Final Years
The ground’s peak moment for sheer numbers came on 29 August 1961, when 25,453 supporters packed in for a Second Division match against Newcastle United — a record that still stands as Walsall’s highest-ever home attendance. As safety regulations tightened in English football through the 1970s and 1980s, the official capacity at Fellows Park was progressively reduced, settling at roughly 22,000 by its final years.
The last Football League match at Fellows Park took place on 1 May 1990, a 1-1 draw with Rotherham United — Andy Dornan scored Walsall’s final league goal at the ground — as the club were relegated to the Fourth Division. The stadium’s very last fixture came on 11 May 1990: a testimonial for retiring defender Peter Hart against local rivals West Bromwich Albion, also finishing 1-1, with Gary Shaw scoring the last goal in the ground’s 94-year history.
Demolition and Legacy
A brutal West Midlands winter had the last word: heavy snow in December 1990 caused the roof of the ‘Cow Shed’ terrace to collapse, just weeks before demolition crews moved in. Fellows Park was pulled down in early 1991, and a Morrisons supermarket was built on the site, at the junction of Hilary Street and Wallows Lane — about a quarter of a mile from Walsall’s current home.
The club’s link to its old ground has never fully disappeared. The H.L. Fellows Stand at the successor Bescot Stadium (now known as Banks’s Stadium) keeps the name alive, ensuring the director who gave Fellows Park its identity in 1930 is still honoured today.
Visiting the Site Today
There’s no stadium left to visit — the pitch, terraces and stands have all been replaced by a Morrisons supermarket and its car park, and no permanent on-site marker currently identifies the exact spot where the goals once stood. Fans wanting to connect with Fellows Park’s history are better served a short walk away at Walsall’s current home, Banks’s Stadium, where the H.L. Fellows Stand carries the old ground’s name forward and matchday programmes and club memorabilia still reference its history.
For current fixtures, tickets and stadium information at Walsall F.C.’s present-day home, see the official Walsall FC website, which is the authoritative source for anything matchday-related today.
Fellows Park FAQs
Why was Fellows Park demolished?
Walsall F.C. left Fellows Park in 1990 to move into the newly built Bescot Stadium, about a quarter of a mile away. With no further use for the old ground, it was demolished in early 1991 and a Morrisons supermarket was built on the site.
What was the record attendance at Fellows Park?
The record was 25,453 spectators, set on 29 August 1961 during a Second Division match between Walsall and Newcastle United. It remains Walsall’s highest home attendance ever recorded.
What was Fellows Park’s most famous match?
Walsall’s 2-0 FA Cup third-round win over Arsenal on 14 January 1933 is the ground’s most celebrated result — First Division powerhouse Arsenal, on their way to another League title that season, were beaten by goals from Gilbert Alsop and a Bill Sheppard penalty in a result still ranked among the greatest FA Cup shocks ever.
Why was it called Fellows Park?
The ground was originally known simply as Hilary Street. It was renamed Fellows Park in 1930 in honour of H.L. Fellows, a longstanding club director and chairman who had helped guide Walsall through a difficult period.
Is anything left of Fellows Park today?
The physical stadium is gone, replaced by a Morrisons supermarket, and there is no confirmed permanent marker on site. However, the H.L. Fellows Stand at Walsall’s current home, Banks’s Stadium (formerly Bescot Stadium), preserves the name of the director for whom Fellows Park was renamed in 1930.
What was Fellows Park’s capacity?
Capacity varied over the decades as safety standards changed. It held over 25,000 for the 1961 record attendance, but tightening safety regulations reduced the official capacity to around 22,000 by the ground’s final years in 1990.
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