WORKINGTON TOWN will have new ground-share partners at their current Fibrus Community Stadium home as work starts on a new venue.
In the long term, Town will play alongside Workington Association Football Club at the 3,700-capacity Cumberland Sports Village.
Supported by the Government Town Deal, Cumbria Council (who own both current grounds) and Football Foundation funding, it will be built on the site of the football club’s Borough Park base.
When demolition of that venue, which was opened in 1937 and was once used by the Rugby League club, starts, possibly within months, the football club will play at The Fibrus Community Stadium, traditionally known as Derwent Park and less than 400 yards away.
That ground was opened in 1956 – Town entered the Rugby Football League in 1945 and played at Borough Park until then – and has also staged speedway.
With seating for 1,000, an artificial pitch and hospitality and community facilities, Cumberland Sports Village, which is expected to cost £10.5 million, is due to be up and running by late 2027, after which it is expected Derwent Park will be bulldozed.
The football club, known as Workington Reds, currently play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division (level seven of the pyramid), having been Football League members from 1951 until 1977.
Town were inaugural Super League members in 1996, but lasted just one season at that level.
In anticipation of the development, Town and the Reds have been planning how to make the ground-share work as smoothly as possible.
Rugby League club chairman Graeme Peers explained: “From day one, our aim has been to ensure the Reds feel welcome here and that this becomes their home.
“I’ve been delighted with how hard our staff and volunteers — alongside those from the football club — have worked to ensure we meet the NPL’s ground‑grading criteria.
“Our first priority was improving the playing surface, a project that began in June and is managed by sports pitch specialist SIS.
“This will give us a pitch capable of handling the increased use while providing the more refined surface required for football.”
In addition to the pitch improvements, there are new officials’ changing facilities, resurfaced tarmac sections, updated stewarding protocols, new mobile dug-outs and easily removable football and rugby posts.