Gillford Park
Carlisle, Cumbria, England
Gillford Park, Carlisle, England — opened 1988, 154 rugby league games hosted, home of None currently (Carlisle RLFC merged/folded in 1997); ground now used by Carlisle City F.C. (football).
Sourcing caveat: Gillford Park is a distinct, later ground from Brunton Park — the two are sequential homes of the same club (Carlisle RLFC), not the same venue under different names. Carlisle RLFC used Brunton Park 1981-1988, then Gillford Park 1988-1997. Confirm this matches the parallel write-up being prepared for Brunton Park by another agent this round.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1988 (Wikipedia's Carlisle RLFC article quotes the first match as '3 September' 1988; this project's own venue-results page dates the same fixture (Carlisle 17-17 Batley) to 4 September 1988 — a one-day discrepancy between sources that isn't resolved here.) |
| Home club | None currently (Carlisle RLFC merged/folded in 1997); ground now used by Carlisle City F.C. (football) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 154 |
| Top recorded crowd | 2,042 |
| First rugby league match | Carlisle 17-17 Batley, 3/4 September 1988 (see opened_caveat), attendance 624 |
| Years used | 1988–1997 |
| Location | Carlisle, Cumbria |
Name history
- Gillford Park — since 1988 (base name, unchanged)
Rugby league history
Gillford Park became Carlisle RLFC's home in 1988, when the club could no longer afford the rent at its previous ground, Brunton Park (the football stadium shared with Carlisle United, which Carlisle RLFC had used since joining the Rugby Football League in April 1981). The site was the former home of the defunct Carlisle City F.C. (the original incarnation), and fans built up the ground quickly to meet league requirements in time for the 1988–89 season. Gillford Park remained Carlisle RLFC's home through to the club's final merger/demise in 1997. The ground later passed to non-league football: a revived Carlisle City F.C. has played there since 2015 (initially under the tenancy of Celtic Nation F.C., which had used the ground before them), and the ground has also been known in football circles as Gillford Park Stadium, with a capacity of around 4,000.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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