Derwent Park

Derwent Park
Derwent Park
Full name Derwent Park
Location Workington, Cumbria
Coordinates 54°38′53″N 3°33′20″W / 54.64806°N 3.55556°W / 54.64806; -3.55556Coordinates: 54°38′53″N 3°33′20″W / 54.64806°N 3.55556°W / 54.64806; -3.55556
Built 1956
Opened 1956
Capacity 10,000
Tenants
Workington Town (1956-)
Workington Comets (1970-1981, 1999-)
Workington Tigers (1987)

Derwent Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Workington, England situated beside the Cumbrian River Derwent. It is used mostly for rugby league matches and is the home stadium of Workington Town who play in Championship 1, the third tier domestic competition in the United Kingdom. Derwent Park is also the home of the Workington Comets who race in the Speedway Premier League, the second division of Motorcycle speedway in the UK.[1]

Derwent Park has a capacity of 10,000 people with 1,200 seats.

History

The stadium was opened in 1956. The record attendance at Derwent Park was set in 1965 when 17,741 spectators turned up for a third round Challenge Cup match against Wigan.

Floodlights were installed in 1990 and were first used on 17 October when Cumbria faced the touring Australians during the 1990 Kangaroo Tour in front of 6,750 fans on a cold night. Australia were 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 (Note that in both 1990 and 1994, the Australian team was composed mainly of the 'second string' players and not those who were expected to play Test Matches).

Derwent Park held its first full international match on 1 December 2000 with the Aotearoa Māori versus Samoa 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, Dogs D'Amour, Wolfsbane, The Almighty and Romeo's Daughter. On 13 July 1991, the second edition of the festival saw appearances by Marillion, Wolfsbane (who replaced Blackfoot 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 and Rattlesnake Kiss.[2]

References