 However, the cricket and football seasons often overlapped, causing conflicts between the two sports.The ground was barely adequate for football, despite the best efforts of groundsmen Charlie and Ned Massey, but its use in the winter made it even less suitable for cricket in the summer.Although attendance figures were not recorded for many of the earliest matches at North Road, the highest recorded attendance at the ground was approximately 15,000 for a First Division match against Sunderland on 4 March 1893.