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 LLWR 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.
There is a disabled supporters view area in the grandstand with disabled toilets located within the ground while the JJ McKeown bar has disabled access.
Matchday parking is available on the Whitehaven Miners' car park adjacent to the stadium main entrance.
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 to play in the Rugby Football League.
The ground's record attendance was set in 1960 when 18,650 spectators turned up for a third round Challenge Cup game against Wakefield Trinity.
The Kells end stand steel framework was built in 1961.
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.
Work began on the stadium in late November 2014 to meet RFL operating rules for Championship clubs for 2015. The Kells end stand was shot blasted, the steel framework repainted and the cladding replaced with new galvanised sheeting. In addition, new changing facilities under the grandstand were built. The next phase of the work to commence later in 2005 is to upgrade the floodlights and increase the ground’s seating capacity to meet RFL requirements. Britain’s Energy Coast financed the improvements.
In April 2021 the club announced that as part of a sponsorship deal with Cumbrian engineering firm Lifttech Engineering Limited the ground would be rebranded as the LEL Arena for the period of the deal - initially three years.[1]
Rugby league internationals
The Recreation Ground has played host to just two rugby league international matches in its history.[2]
recreation, ground, whitehaven, recreation, ground, known, locally, recre, sponsorship, reasons, arena, rugby, league, stadium, whitehaven, cumbria, england, home, whitehaven, recreation, groundrecrelocationwhitehaven, cumbriacoordinates54, 53972, 58417, 53972. The Recreation Ground known locally as the Recre and for sponsorship reasons the LEL Arena is a rugby league stadium in Whitehaven Cumbria England It is the home of Whitehaven R L F C Recreation GroundRecreLocationWhitehaven CumbriaCoordinates54 32 23 N 3 35 3 W 54 53972 N 3 58417 W 54 53972 3 58417 Coordinates 54 32 23 N 3 35 3 W 54 53972 N 3 58417 W 54 53972 3 58417Capacity8603Record attendance18 650 v Wakefield TrinitySurfaceGrassConstructionBroke ground1933Built1948Opened1948Renovated1973Expanded1995TenantsWhitehaven 1948 Cumbria rugby league teamThe ground has witnessed many other sports such as football boxing speedway and whippet racing Contents 1 Stadium 2 History 3 Rugby league internationals 4 Rugby league tour matches 5 References 6 External linksStadium EditThe 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 LLWR 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 There is a disabled supporters view area in the grandstand with disabled toilets located within the ground while the JJ McKeown bar has disabled access Matchday parking is available on the Whitehaven Miners car park adjacent to the stadium main entrance History EditThe 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 to play in the Rugby Football League The ground s record attendance was set in 1960 when 18 650 spectators turned up for a third round Challenge Cup game against Wakefield Trinity The Kells end stand steel framework was built in 1961 In 1973 the ground acquired floodlights The old wooden grandstand was demolished in 1995 and the B amp H Motors Grandstand was built to replace it Work began on the stadium in late November 2014 to meet RFL operating rules for Championship clubs for 2015 The Kells end stand was shot blasted the steel framework repainted and the cladding replaced with new galvanised sheeting In addition new changing facilities under the grandstand were built The next phase of the work to commence later in 2005 is to upgrade the floodlights and increase the ground s seating capacity to meet RFL requirements Britain s Energy Coast financed the improvements In April 2021 the club announced that as part of a sponsorship deal with Cumbrian engineering firm Lifttech Engineering Limited the ground would be rebranded as the LEL Arena for the period of the deal initially three years 1 Rugby league internationals EditThe Recreation Ground has played host to just two rugby league international matches in its history 2 Test Date Result Attendance Notes1 4 February 1926 England def Other Nationalities 37 11 10 0002 17 November 2000 BARLA def Japan 54 0 2000 Rugby League Emerging Nations TournamentRugby league tour matches EditThe Recreation Ground has also played host to various international touring and domestic teams Game Date Result Attendance Notes1 24 October 1908 Australia def Cumberland 52 10 4 000 1908 09 Kangaroo Tour2 9 December 1933 Cumberland def Australia 17 16 5 800 1933 34 Kangaroo Tour3 14 October 1948 Cumberland def Australia 5 4 8 818 1948 49 Kangaroo Tour4 13 September 1952 Australia def Whitehaven 15 5 9 253 1953 52 Kangaroo Tour5 20 October 1956 Whitehaven def Australia 14 11 10 840 1956 57 Kangaroo Tour6 22 October 1959 Australia def Whitehaven Workington XIII 13 8 7 463 1959 60 Kangaroo Tour7 24 October 1973 Australia def Cumberland 28 2 3 666 1973 Kangaroo Tour8 8 October 1980 Cumbria def New Zealand 9 3 4 070 1980 New Zealand Kiwis tour9 19 October 2003 Cumbria drew with New Zealand A 24 24 4 12410 3 October 2010 Cumbria drew with England 18 18 5 25011 22 October 2011 England Knights def Cumbria 26 12 1 163References Edit Whitehaven RLFC Strike major partnership deal Whitehaven RLFC www whitehavenrl co uk 27 April 2021 Retrieved 27 April 2021 Recreation Ground at Rugby League ProjectExternal links EditRecreation ground on World Stadia com Whitehaven RLFC official site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Recreation Ground Whitehaven amp oldid 1072257410, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
