History
The land which Grace Road is built on was bought by Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 1877 from the then Duke of Rutland and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club, athletic track and hotel. The first match played on the ground took place three months later, when Leicestershire beat the touring Australia team. Contrary to popular belief, the road was named after a local property owner, not W. G. Grace.
Leicestershire left the Grace Road site in 1901 due to lack of public transport to the ground causing low crowds. They moved to a site near to Aylestone Road, as it was closer to the city centre. Leicestershire did eventually return to Grace Road after the end of the Second World War in 1946 and have been based there ever since, buying the land back in 1966.
The record attendance is 16,000 who watched the match against the touring 1948 Australians.
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