It’s that time of the year when Jen and I head over to the Lake District for Sea Power’s Krankenhaus Festival. This time we are staying in Ravenglass, so it is a short walk through the woods to the festival site at Muncaster Castle.
The house that we are staying in backs onto the Ravenglass Estuary which, tides permitting, makes an excellent place for walking the dog.
I’d identified an interesting game in the first week from a ground hopping perspective. Workington are moving to a new stadium, but it won’t be ready until next season. I went to a game at their old stadium, Borough Park, last year when we were over here for Krankenhaus 2025. This year Workington are temporarily playing their home fixtures at Derwent Park, home of the town’s rugby league team.
That stadium dates back to 1956 and looks its age. As well as rugby league, it has also hosted speedway intermittently over the years. The perimeter track has been covered over in places, but it is easy to imagine the bikes lapping the pitch.
The fixture that I was attending was in the seventh-tier Northern Premier League Premier Division. It’s the same division that Stockton Town and Redcar Athletic are currently in. Admission was fifteen quid on the gate with another three pounds each for a programme and parking.
I think fifteen pounds for tier seven is a bit on the steep side and as the attendance was only 638, maybe I’ve a point. I wonder whether charging, say, a tenner, would have a beneficial impact on numbers and revenue?
I started off in the main stand which dated back to the days when view obscuring stanchions were in fashion. There were enough empty seats for me to pick a spot where I could see both goals. Visitors Warrington Rylands, who I believe started out as a factory team, went ahead after eight minutes. The goal revealed that many of those sat around me were away fans. Everyone got on ok though, despite the overt celebrations.
The main talking point was the sending off of a Rylands player close to half-time. No one was really sure of what he did or that he had actually been red-carded, but we didn’t see him again and he wasn’t replaced.
At half-time I moved to the terraced stand on the opposite side. I stopped at the toilets in the old stand first which had no lighting for that true old school experience. On my way I bought a cheeseburger. It wasn’t the best and perhaps provided an indication of why most people were opting for hot dogs or chips.
Despite being a man down, Rylands doubled their lead five minutes after the restart. Their two-goal advantage was short lived though as Workington halved the deficit with a screamer from distance. Five minutes later, the home side levelled from a free kick on the edge of the box. The turnaround energized the kiddie ultras at the far end of the terrace and prompted a run of drum led chants.
As we entered the final stages of the game the momentum was with Workington and with two minutes remaining, they headed home from a flicked-on corner to take the points. Rylands went down to nine players before the end after a second red card and no doubt felt hard done by.
I left the stadium at the full-time whistle to a chorus from the home fans of “Two nil and you fucked it up”. A harsh, but accurate summation of events.
Trail of the Lion King 