The previous centre of cricket in Leicester had been at Victoria Park, where informal Leicestershire representative sides played.

This ground held its first cricket match in 1878, when Leicestershire defeated a touring Australian club side, with 30,000 people in attendance.

[2] Having gained first-class status in 1895, Leicestershire County Cricket Club initially played their home matches at Grace Road, however it was considered too far away from the city centre by the Leicestershire committee and with poor transport links leading to low crowds, it was decided in 1901 to relocate the county club headquarters to the cricket ground further up the Aylestone Road and closer to the city centre, close to the football stadium at Filbert Street and the rugby stadium at Welford Road.

[5] During the First World War the ground was requisitioned as a base for military training and headquarters of the Leicester Town Rifles.

Following the war, the expansion of Leicester power station by Leicester City Council necessitated the return of the county club back to their former Grace Road headquarters, due to the ground being blighted by black soot, coupled with the cooling towers making the pitch consistently damp.