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 motorcycle speedway track.
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. The promoters included former rider Ian Thomas and the rugby pitch required moving 25 yards sideways to accommodate the speedway track. 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. 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. 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 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.
In June 2019, it was announced by the new leadership of Allerdale Borough Council that the new sports stadium would not be built.
In 2025, Cumberland Council (successor to Allerdale Council) announced that Cumberland Sports Village will be built on the site of Workington AFC's Borough Park, being shared by Workington AFC & Workington Town. Work should be completed in summer 2027, with AFC using Derwent Park in the interim.
Internationals
Cumbria home matches Derwent Park has seen the county team Cumberland / Cumbria play host to various international touring teams.
Date Opponent Result Attendance 31 October 1963 0–21 8,229 18 November 1967 17–15 7,545 17 October 1990 10–42 6,750 18 October 1992 0–44 5,156 2 October 1994 8–52 4,277 27 October 2004 Anzacs 12–64 4,203 25 October 2006 28–16 1,6397 October 2022 28–16 3,000+
Other internationals On 19 May 1995 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.Cumbria Rock 1991 – ticket stub
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. Date Result Attendance Tournament 1 November 2000 21–16 4,107 2000 Rugby League World Cup Group 4 29 October 2013 26–24 7,630 2013 Rugby League World Cup Group C 3 November 2013 30–30 7,280 2013 Rugby League World Cup Group C 27 October 2014 42–18 2,036 2014 European Cup 11 November 2016 18–18 6,628 2016 Rugby League Four Nations
References