Brunton Park
Carlisle, Cumbria, England
Brunton Park, Carlisle, England — opened 1909, 122 rugby league games hosted, home of Carlisle United F.C. (football, since 1909); Carlisle RLFC groundshared here for rugby league, 1981-1988.
Sourcing caveat: This is a distinct, earlier ground from Gillford Park (also Carlisle), covered separately by another agent this round: Carlisle RLFC used Brunton Park from 1981 to 1988, then moved to the purpose-built Gillford Park from 1988 until the club's 1997 merger with Barrow. The Rugby League Project results page fetched for this write-up appeared to cut off around April 1986, so the exact final Brunton Park fixture date before the 1988 move was not independently confirmed and is described only in general terms above.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1909 |
| Home club | Carlisle United F.C. (football, since 1909); Carlisle RLFC groundshared here for rugby league, 1981-1988 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 122 |
| Top recorded crowd | 5,903 |
| Capacity | 17,949 (certified, current); previously as high as 27,500 before all-seater/safety-driven reductions |
| Test matches hosted | 1 |
| Surface | Local Solway turf (the same turf type historically used at the old Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon F.C.'s Plough Lane) |
| First rugby league match | Carlisle v Wigan, Lancashire Cup 1981-82 Round 1, 16 August 1981 (Carlisle lost 6-9), per Rugby League Project's results page for this venue |
| Last rugby league match | Carlisle RLFC's final Second Division season at Brunton Park ran through 1985-86 and into 1987-88, before the club moved to Gillford Park for the 1988-89 season |
| Years used | 1981–1989 |
| Location | Carlisle, Cumbria |
Name history
- Brunton Park — 1909-present (base name)
Rugby league history
Brunton Park has been the home of Carlisle United F.C. since 1909, and is a separate, earlier ground from Gillford Park, which another agent is covering separately this round. Carlisle RLFC, admitted to the Rugby Football League in April 1981, groundshared at Brunton Park as tenants of Carlisle United for seven seasons from 1981-82, hosting Lancashire Cup, Second Division/Championship league fixtures, Challenge Cup and John Player/Regal Trophy matches there, plus a 1982 Kangaroos tour match against a Cumbria representative side. Unable to afford the rent at Brunton Park, the club moved out ahead of the 1988-89 season and built its own ground from scratch at Gillford Park, the former home of the defunct Carlisle City A.F.C., where it played until merging with Barrow to form Barrow-Carlisle (later reverting to Barrow) at the end of the 1997 season.
Primarily and continuously the home of Carlisle United F.C. (EFL); also hosted an Elton John concert (2007) and location filming for the BBC drama 'United' (2010).
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 1982 - Cumbria 2-41 Australia (Kangaroos tour match)
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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