Derwent Park

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Derwent Park RL
Town Ground
Scotland v Italy 2013 RLWC (Derwent Park 3).jpg
Derwent Park
Full nameDerwent Park Stadium
Former namesZebra Claims Stadium (2016 for sponsorship reasons)
Location Workington, Cumbria
Coordinates 54°38′53″N3°33′20″W / 54.64806°N 3.55556°W / 54.64806; -3.55556
Capacity 10,000
Record attendance17,741 - Workington Town vs Wigan, 13 March 1965
Construction
Built1956
Opened1956
Tenants
Workington Town (1956–)
Workington Comets (1970–1981, 1999–2018)
Workington Tigers (1987)

Derwent Park is a Rugby League Stadium and former motorcycle speedway 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 League 1 the 3rd tier of the British rugby league system. Derwent Park has a capacity of 12,000 people with 1,200 seats and the pitch is surrounded by a 398 yards (364 metres) motorcycle speedway track.

Contents

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 match against Wigan.

Speedway began in Workington after a successful application was made by the promotion team for a licence to race at Derwent Park for the 1970 season. [1] The promoters included former rider Ian Thomas and the rugby pitch required moving 25 yards sideways to accomodate the speedway track. [2] Workington Comets raced at the stadium from 1970 until 1982.

Speedway returned to Derwent Park for one season in 1987, when Glasgow Tigers arrived to race, while searching for a new home. [3] However the team changed its name to Workington Tigers soon afterwards but held their last fixture against Stoke on 31 July. The team's results were expunged. [4] It was the last season of speedway at Workington for twelve years.

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 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).

Speedway returned for a third time in 1999 [5] and continued until 2019.

Future

In February 2019 plans for a new stadium for Workington were announced, this would in involve the demolition of Borough Park and Derwent Park. [6]

In June 2019, it was announced by the new leadership of Allerdale Borough Council that the new sports stadium would not be built. [7] [8] [9]

Internationals

Cumbria home matches

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

DateOpponentResultAttendance
31 October 1963Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 0–218,229
18 November 1967Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 17–157,545
17 October 1990Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 10–426,750
18 October 1992Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 0–445,156
2 October 1994Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 8–524,277
27 October 2004 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Flag of New Zealand.svg Anzacs12–644,203
25 October 2006Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 28–161,639
7 October 2022Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 28–163,000+

Other internationals

On 19 May 1994 Derwent Park was the host for the rugby union warm-up game between Italy and Ireland 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 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. [10]

Scotland vs. Italy at Derwent Park, Workington. The game finished 30-30. Scotland v Italy 2013 RLWC (1).jpg
Scotland vs. Italy at Derwent Park, Workington. The game finished 30–30.

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.

As part of the 2014 Rugby League European Cup, Derwent Park hosted the match between Scotland and Wales 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.

As part of the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations, the Zebra Claims Stadium hosted the match between New Zealand and Scotland on 11 November. The game ended in an 18-18 draw.

Summary

The following is a list of non-Cumbrian international matches played at Derwent Park since its opening in 1956. [11]

DateResultAttendanceTournament
1 November 2000 Samoa  Flag of Samoa.svg 21–16 Tino Rangatiratanga Maori sovereignty movement flag.svg  Aotearoa Māori 4,107 2000 Rugby League World Cup Group 4
29 October 2013 Scotland  Flag of Scotland.svg 26–24 Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 7,630 2013 Rugby League World Cup Group C
3 November 2013 Scotland  Flag of Scotland.svg 30–30 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 7,280 2013 Rugby League World Cup Group C
27 October 2014 Scotland  Flag of Scotland.svg 42–18 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2,036 2014 European Cup
11 November 2016 New Zealand  Flag of New Zealand.svg 18–18 Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 6,628 2016 Rugby League Four Nations

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References

  1. ↑ "Speedway" . Derby Daily Telegraph. 21 November 1969. Retrieved 3 May 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ↑ "New Track" . Sports Argus. 4 October 1969. Retrieved 3 May 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ↑ "Speedway" . Daily Record. 13 May 1987. Retrieved 3 May 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Workington Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "Carl joins Mole at the Comets" . Long Eaton Advertiser. 14 January 1999. Retrieved 3 May 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Plans lodged to demolish Borough Park".
  7. ↑ "new stadium plan rejected by Allerdale Council".
  8. ↑ "Workington Rugby League World Cup withdrawal 'lost opportunity'".
  9. ↑ "Stadium for Workington".
  10. ↑ Cumbria Rock 1991 – ticket stub Archived 8 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ "Derwent Park". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
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