Hilton Park was built in 1947 and was originally named Kirkhall Lane after the road that ran parallel to it, but the ground was renamed "Hilton Park" in honour of former Leigh rugby league chairman Jack Hilton, the man who first developed the new ground for the rugby club.
Leigh RLFC were the sole users of the ground until 1995 when Horwich RMI, looking to relocate from their previous Grundy Hill ground in Horwich, purchased Hilton Park and moved the club to the ground immediately. Horwich lost 4-0 to Boston United in March 1995 in the first football game to be played at Hilton Park, with the club relegated to the UniBond League First Division at the end of the 1994/95 season. In the summer of 1995, the club looked to endear itself to its new home town and as such changed the club's name to Leigh RMI; becoming Leigh Genesis in the summer of 2008.
Although the record attendance at Hilton Park was 31,224 for a Leigh RLFC game against St Helens in March 1953, the ground had a capacity of approximately 10,000, of which 2,000 were seats (in the Hilton Stand and top deck of Tommy Sale Stand), when it finally closed it's doors in 2008.
The ground's largest crowd as it neared it's final years was 9,760 for a rugby Challenge Cup Quarter Final clash that saw Leigh Centurions facing fierce local rivals Wigan Warriors in February 2002, while the highest ever football attendance at Hilton Park was recorded in November 1998 when 7,024 saw Leigh RMI lose 2-0 to then-Second Division side Fulham in an FA Cup First Round replay that was screened live by Sky Sports.
During the club's years in the Conference National between 2000 and 2005, Hilton Park hosted the likes of Football League oufits Doncaster Rovers, Yeovil Town, Hereford United, Morecambe, Dagenham & Redbridge, Carlisle United and Shrewsbury Town, while Wrexham visited the ground for an LDV Vans Trophy tie several years before their relegation from the Football League.
Although a 2-0 Blue Square North home defeat to Blyth Spartans in April 2008 was widely expected to be the club's final outing at Hilton Park, delays to the opening of the Leigh Sports Village Stadium and Leigh's subsequent nomadic status meant that there was one final hurrah for the old ground in September 2008 when goals from Jordan Stepien and Josh Wilson sealed a fitting end to an era with a 2-1 victory over local rivals Prescot Cables.
The terraces behind both goals were both large, uncovered terraces, with the Railway End (Asda End) terrace being the slightly larger of the two. Along one touchline ran the Tommy Sale Stand, featuring a lower tier of terracing, and a top deck of modern seating (previously wooden seats), although there was a small amount of shallow terracing at the very back of the top deck that was often utilised by vocal supporters because of it's well-known acoustic benefits.
Beneath this stand was home to the ever-popular Mick Martyn Bar, a facility that was often praised by visiting supporters whilst also a regular venue for parties, wedding receptions and business functions.
Opposite the Tommy Sale Stand was the 1,000 seat Hilton Stand, which, incredibly, was previously housed at Leigh RLFC's old Mather Lane home, featuring red and white painted bench seating. During the late 1990's, it was given a full refurbishment that saw the terraces re-cast and the introduction of modern plastic seating, a new roof and a hospitality suite beneath the stand. Prior to it's refurbishment, there had been a small amount of terracing at the very front of the stand that was known as the 'Paddock' and well-reknowned for it's banter with opposition dugouts.
In one corner of the ground (on Hilton Stand side at the Chadwick Street End) stood an iconic scoreboard whereby the competing teams and subsequent points scored had to be hand-cranked in to position. To my knowledge, this scoreboard was used only once, for the aforementioned FA Cup tie with Fulham; Fulham being a name featured on the scoreboard as it had it's own rugby league side (now Harlequins RL) the last time that the scoreboard's team list was updated!
Following it's failure to gain an updated safety certificate in the autumn of 2008, the ground stood derelict for several months and, sadly, fell victim to countless incidents of vandalism before the ground started to be demolished in February 2009, with a steady stream of supporters of both clubs visiting the ground during it's demolition to pay their final respects to the famous old ground.
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