Although we have no records of our own, press cuttings indicate that our first home ground, back in 1908, was the National Athletic Ground at Kensal Rise. The ground appears to have been laid out in around 1890, and from the plans we have available of the site, it would appear that the ground was very big. It is also possible that it may have had a similar layout to the current Copthall Stadium: an athletic and sports arena surrounded by outer pitches. This is supported by the fact that you would not expect a local junior side (such as us at the time) to secure such a venue in their first season.

The Ground could be reached by two long walkways: one from College Road (house number 80 currently stands at it's old entrance) and the other from directly behind the side of the Kensal Rise station. To give you an idea of the scale of the Ground, 34 houses now sit side by side across the width of the athletics stadium and the site is now bordered by Chamberlayne Road, Leigh Gardens, College Road and Liddell Gardens.

Plans of the original site at Kensal Rise, dated 1894/6, show that the immediate area around the National Stadium was largely undeveloped. The stadium is shown sitting within very large grounds. Purves Road just beyond it's south boundary and Ashburnham Road just beyond that are developed, but only on one side of the road. Immediately to the stadium's west are allotments. The Athletic Stadium appears to have banking around the perimeter of the track while a pavillion sits back off of the north straight.

Just eight years later, plans dated 1914/15 show that the area has changed dramatically. Not only do new streets and housing appear, but many of the new houses have been built on what was previously the stadium's outer grounds. The outer area is now covered by Clifford Road. This has been created immediately behind the stadium and has housing on both sides. Behind the pavillion now stands Liddell Gardens. Four new roads cover the allotments.

The ground was still there in 1920, but had apparently gone in 1921, presumably in preparation for the building of Whitmore Gardens, which was occupied by 1926.

One report suggests that the ground was occupied by Thomas Eccleston, though it was owned by All Saints College. In 1902, local residents urged the council to acquire the site and turn it into a public recreation ground, but the lease was not due to expire until 1910 and the college was not rich enough, it claimed, to hand the grounds over to the council as a gift. Nothing further appeared to have happened on the matter.

The ground was used at times by Queens Park Harriers, who were founded in 1887 and were connected with the St. Judes Institute, from where the football group went on to form Queens Park Rangers FC. The club took out a 10-year lease on the ground for £100 a year, rising to £150.