Derwent Park is a Speedway and Rugby League Stadium in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

, England situated beside the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

n River Derwent. It is used mostly for

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

matches and is the home stadium of Workington Town who play in League 1 the 3rd tier of Northern Hemisphere rugby league Derwent Park has a capacity of 12,000 people with 1,200 seats.

History

The stadium was opened in 1956. The record attendance at Derwent Park was set on 13 March 1965 when 17,741 spectators turned up for a third round

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involve ...

match against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

. The football pitch at Derwent Park is surrounded by a motorcycle speedway track. Floodlights were installed in 1990 and were first used on 17 October when

faced the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

during the 1990 Kangaroo Tour in front of 6,750 fans on a cold night with Australia victorious 42–10 in a dominant display. Derwent also hosted the opening game of the 1994 Kangaroo Tour between Cumbria and Australia on a cold, wet day in front of only 4,227 fans. Australia were again dominant, winning 52–8 (''In both 1990 and 1994, the Australian team was composed mainly of the mid-week team and not those who were expected to play Test matches'').

Workington Stadium plans

In February 2019 plans for a new stadium for Workington were announced, this would in involve the demolition of Borough Park and Derwent Park. In June 2019, it was announced by the new leadership of Allerdale Borough Council that the new sports stadium would not be built.

International venue

On 19 May 1994 Derwent Park was the host for the rugby union warm-up game between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

before the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Italy defeated Ireland 32–26 in front of 3,000 fans. Derwent Park held its first full international match on 1 December 2000 with the Aotearoa Māori versus

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

game in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Samoa defeated Aotearoa Māori 21–16 in front of 4,107 fans. On 14 July 1990 the stadium was host to the "Cumbria Rock Festival" and bands included: Magnum,

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, Dogs D'Amour, Wolfsbane, the Almighty and

Romeo's Daughter Romeo's Daughter are a British AOR, contemporary and mainstream rock band. Their lineup features Leigh Matty, Craig Joiner and Andy Wells. The band released two albums in 1988 and 1993 respectively. They then reformed in 2009 and have toured ex ...

. On 13 July 1991, the second edition of the festival saw appearances by

Marillion Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most ...

, Wolfsbane (who replaced

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot language, Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up t ...

on the bill as special guests), the Almighty, Atom Seed, Cheap and Nasty, FM, Jagged Edge, Sweet Addiction, Loud, Lisa Dominique,

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts Dumpy's Rusty Nuts were a British rock band founded in 1981 by the lead singer Graham "Dumpy" Dunnell (born July 1949, London, England). Though unsuccessful as recording artists the band have been a successful and popular live act for decades. ...

and Rattlesnake Kiss. 2013 Rugby League World Cup Scotland v Italy 2013 RLWC (1)

The stadium hosted two matches at Rugby League World Cup 2013: Scotland's ties against Tonga on Tuesday 29 October, watched in front of 7,630, and Italy Sunday 3 November, watched in front of 7,280. 2014 European Cup As part of the 2014 Rugby League European Cup, Derwent Park hosted the match between

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 17 October. Scotland won the game 42-18. On 5 December 2014 it was announced that Workington Town had signed a lucrative sponsorship deal that would see the stadium renamed as the Zebra Claims Stadium for the start of the 2015 season. 2016 Four Nations As part of the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations, the Zebra Claims Stadium hosted the match between

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

on 11 November. The game ended in an 18-18 draw. Summary List of Test and International matches played at Derwent Park since its opening in 1956.

Rugby League Tour matches

Derwent Park has also seen the county team Cumberland / Cumbria play host to various international touring teams.

References

{{Authority control Rugby league stadiums in England Rugby League World Cup stadiums Speedway venues in England Rugby union stadiums in England Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom Sports venues in Cumbria Sports venues completed in 1956 Workington