Although the athletic club had formed a rugby football section in 1866, Fartown was initially used for athletics festivals alterations made in the summer of 1878 meant that rugby could begin at the start of the 1878/79 season with the visit of Manchester Rangers on 2 November.
Senior football was played at Fartown just once, an FA Cup semi final in 1882, organised as part of an attempt by the Football Association to promote the game of association football in what was, at the time, a predominantly rugby focused town.