Recreation Ground (Whitehaven)
Encyclopedia
The Recreation Ground (known locally as the 'Recre') is a rugby league
stadium in Whitehaven
, Cumbria
, England
. It is the home of Whitehaven RLFC
.
The ground has witnessed many other sports such as football, boxing, speedway and whippet racing.
The current ground capacity is 7,500.
It was an enclosed field with one wooden stand and opened in 1933. Today the link with the Miners Welfare poses a potential brake on any outside investment in the ground itself which remains an obstacle in Whitehaven's attempts to join Super League.
The Recreation Ground in its current form was built in 1948 to enable the newly formed Whitehaven
to play in the Rugby Football League.
The ground's record attendance was set in 1960 when 18,500 spectators turned up for a third round Challenge Cup game against Wakefield Trinity
.
In 1973 the ground acquired floodlights.
The old wooden grandstand was demolished in 1995 and the B&H Motors Grandstand was built to replace it.
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
stadium in Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is the home of Whitehaven RLFC
Whitehaven RLFC
Whitehaven RLFC is a rugby league club playing in Whitehaven in West Cumbria. They play in Co-operative Championship. Their stadium is called the Recreation Ground...
.
The ground has witnessed many other sports such as football, boxing, speedway and whippet racing.
The stadium
The ground now has terracing on 3 sides with one end of ground, the Kells end, covered. The other sides are known the Popular side, the Railway end and the B&H Motors Grandstand which seats 556. The ground is set to have a second seated stand holding 1,100 people where the Popular side terracing now stands.The current ground capacity is 7,500.
History
The Recreation Ground was originally the playing fields for local coal miners dating back to Victorian times and was owned by the Miners Welfare organisation. The ground was used for junior sides and hosted a Challenge Cup match when the juniors beat St Helens 13-8 in front of 2,000 spectators.It was an enclosed field with one wooden stand and opened in 1933. Today the link with the Miners Welfare poses a potential brake on any outside investment in the ground itself which remains an obstacle in Whitehaven's attempts to join Super League.
The Recreation Ground in its current form was built in 1948 to enable the newly formed Whitehaven
Whitehaven RLFC
Whitehaven RLFC is a rugby league club playing in Whitehaven in West Cumbria. They play in Co-operative Championship. Their stadium is called the Recreation Ground...
to play in the Rugby Football League.
The ground's record attendance was set in 1960 when 18,500 spectators turned up for a third round Challenge Cup game against Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
.
In 1973 the ground acquired floodlights.
The old wooden grandstand was demolished in 1995 and the B&H Motors Grandstand was built to replace it.