Let there be light: how floodlights changed the league
Afternoon replays, a league that said no and one bright Wednesday night in 1956.
Today, Tuesday night football under floodlights feels like a basic part of the game. But for most of football's history, games ended when the light did. The story of how floodlights arrived in the Northern League is a story of argument, experiment and one very bright winter evening in 1956.
Before the lights
Before floodlights, winter games kicked off early, often at 2 p.m. or even 1:30, to finish before dark. Midweek games were almost impossible for working people to attend. Many clubs played midweek cup replays in the afternoon, and lost money because nobody could come.
Early experiments
Football had experimented with lights since the nineteenth century, using lamps that were too weak to see the ball. The real change came after the Second World War, with better electric lighting and clubs looking for new ways to earn money.
The league says no
When Northgate Albion first installed lights in 1951, the league refused to let them use them for official matches. Some officials worried about safety; others thought evening games were not proper football. For five years, the lights were used only for friendlies.
The night it changed
In February 1956, Northgate played a friendly under their lights against a visiting team from abroad. Eleven thousand people came on a Wednesday night, three times the club's normal crowd. The league noticed. The following season, floodlit league games were allowed.
The ball looked white as snow and the grass looked like velvet. My mother said it was like being inside a painting.
a supporter's letter, 1956
What changed
Floodlights changed football at our level more than any other invention. Midweek games became possible. Crowds grew. Clubs earned money on Tuesday nights. Young people who worked on Saturdays could finally watch.
The cost
The first floodlights were expensive to buy and expensive to run. Northgate paid for theirs with a supporters' appeal: fans bought "a bulb" for a shilling each, and the names of the donors were printed in the programme for a whole season. Other clubs borrowed the money and paid it back with the extra gate money from midweek games.
| Year | Clubs with floodlights |
|---|---|
| 1951 | 1 |
| 1956 | 3 |
| 1960 | 7 |
| 1965 | 10 |
By 1965, every club in the league had lights, and Tuesday night football had become part of the week.
Today
Modern LED floodlights use a fraction of the electricity of the old ones and light the pitch more evenly. Several Northern League clubs replaced their lights in the last five years, often with help from grants. But many still use their original 1950s and 1960s towers, painted and repaired. At Station Road, the four tall steel towers are one of the most recognisable sights in the town.
