The Ortus REC
Whitehaven, Cumbria, England
The Ortus REC, Whitehaven, England — opened 1933, 1,400 rugby league games hosted, home of Whitehaven RLFC.
Sourcing caveat: Wikipedia records two rugby league Test matches at this ground (1926 and 2000) but does not give the opponents or scores, and an independent source for either specific fixture could not be found — reported here as an unconfirmed detail rather than invented.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1933 (The ground was rebuilt to its current form in 1948; 1933 is when it first opened as an enclosed field.) |
| Home club | Whitehaven RLFC |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 1,400 |
| Top recorded crowd | 10,840 (18,650 (record attendance), 1960, a third-round Challenge Cup tie against Wakefield Trinity) |
| Capacity | 7,500 (including 556 seats in the main grandstand) |
| Test matches hosted | 2 |
| Floodlights installed | 1973 |
| Years used | 1899–2026 |
| Location | Whitehaven, Cumbria |
Name history
- The Recreation Ground / "the Recre" — 1933-2021, the base/informal name, still in wide everyday use
- LEL Arena — April 2021-2023, sponsored by Lifttech Engineering
- The Ortus REC — since November 2023, sponsored by Ortus Energy
Rugby league history
Whitehaven's home since 1933, rebuilt to its current layout in 1948 and still known locally as "the Recre" regardless of whatever sponsor's name is on the gate. Its record attendance of 18,650 came for a Challenge Cup third-round tie against Wakefield Trinity in 1960 — more than double the ground's present 7,500 capacity, reflecting how far crowds have fallen from rugby league's mid-century peak. Floodlights were installed in 1973. The ground has hosted two full rugby league international Test matches, in 1926 and 2000. Ground-naming sponsorship began with Lifttech Engineering in 2021 (as "LEL Arena") before Ortus Energy took over the rights from November 2023, rebranding it "The Ortus REC" as part of a wider club sustainability partnership that includes solar-panel installation at the ground.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 1926 — a rugby league international was played here (opponent/score not identified in sources found)
- 2000 — a further rugby league international was played here (opponent/score not identified in sources found)
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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