Cressing Road Stadium - Braintree Town

Cressing Road, also known as the Rare Breed Meat Co. Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Braintree, Essex, and the home ground of Braintree Town, and formally their reserve side. It currently has a capacity of 4,222.

History The stadium was built as a general sports ground by the Crittall Windows Company, the parent company of the club, then known as Crittall Athletic. It was opened on 25 August 1923 by the fourth annual Crittall Sports and Show, which had previously taken place the club's old ground on Panfield Lane, with an attendance of 6,000. At the time the ground had a cinder track a quarter of a mile long.

The first football match was played on 15 September 1923, with Crittall beating Great Leighs 4–0. A 400-seat grandstand was opened in December 1924 and the ground became the regular venue for the Essex Junior Cup, with a record football crowd of 6,000 attending for the 1926 final between Rayleigh Athletic and Saffron Walden. This was equalled in the 1928 final between Leigh Ramblers and Wimpole Road Wesleyans and an Essex Senior Cup semi-final between Chelmsford and Colchester Town in 1931. A non-football record of 8,000 was set for the Crittall Sport and Show in 1926.