Town’s original floodlights were a Wells lighting system of 8 tar barrels beneath eight pylons, and gas from these pumped up to a gas burner. Town were one of several floodlight pioneers but there were only two matches played under these, at Clee Park in 1888-9.

Town also had floodlights in the early fifties.

They were paid for by Roy Osmond, whose father had instigated the building of the Osmond Stand.  They were very low – just a few feet above the back row of the corners, and the concrete pillars that held them were still in place until a couple of decades ago I think.  With them being so low, they must have caused as many problems as they solved!  The first match under them was the Reserves v Gainsborough Trinity in the Midland League attended by 6,379! 

Friendlies against Blackburn Rovers and Falkirk were later played under them with brilliant attendances.  But they were never used for league games.  I presume that the FL never approved them, and matches continued to be played with 3:15 kick-offs in summer and autumn, and then brought forward gradually to 2pm in the winter.  Remember that we were one of the first to experiment with floodlights in the 19th century when the pitch was surrounded by a system that burned oil pumped up from barrels.  That system was tried by several clubs, but it never really came to anything.  So, in a sense, the new floodlights will be the fourth!

Link: Where We Used To Play