Brunton Park (Carlisle)

Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United. It is situated in the city of Carlisle and has a certified capacity of 17,949.

General information

Arena capacity: 17,949 spectators

Address: Warwick Rd, Carlisle CA1 1LL, UK

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 54.89556°N 2.91365°W

Year of construction: 1909

Field: grass lawn with dimensions of 112 x 74 yards

Seating plan of Brunton Park

Paddock / Main (West) Stand

The West Stand, is a 9,000 capacity mixed terraced and seated area. It is regarded as the main stand at Brunton Park and on average receives the highest attendance of home fans. The stand accommodates the club’s offices and changing rooms as well as media facilities for radio and television coverage.

The lower tier is mainly a paddock terrace, which runs the length of the pitch. The home and away dugouts are situated in front of this stand with the tunnel dividing it through the centre. To the north is an area for disabled supporters.

The upper tier is known as the family stand with a small section to the south known as the ‘A’ Stand, which houses school children. The full extent of the upper tier is seated.

At the north end of the stand is also a viewing gallery positioned in-between the two tiers of the stand. The gallery sits in front of Foxy’s restaurant, which offers hospitality packages to supporters.

Warwick Road End

The most distinctive of the four stands at Brunton Park, a unique covered terrace with a triple triangle roof; it is situated at the southern end of the stadium. Although, also called the ‘Newcastle International Airport End’ under a sponsorship deal, it is still affectionately known as ‘the Warwick’ to most Carlisle fans. The stand has a capacity of 8,500 and usually houses the most vocal supporters on match day. In the event low crowds are expected this stand can be closed to the public.

East “Pioneer Foods” Stand

Also named the ‘Pioneer Foods Stand’, it is a 7,000 seater single-tiered cantilever stand. Having been constructed a number of years ago, the club still have not completed the interior of the stand, thus the spaces at the top of the stand for executive boxes still stand empty. One peculiar thing fans may have noticed when visiting the ground is that the stand actually runs 20 yards past the goal line at the northern end of the pitch. This is because the club had erected the stand with a view of moving the pitch further northwards so a new stand at the southern end of the ground could also be built. These plans never materialized though, and the problem still stands today.

The north section of the East Stand most commonly houses the away fans, separated from the home fans by nets and a gate in the concourse. When large groups of home fans are expected away fans are sometimes restricted to the Petteril End.

Waterworks End

The Petteril is the only other uncovered stand in the ground alongside the lower tier paddock. The stand is a small capacity (3,000) terrace with a small-seated area to the east. This stand usually remains closed unless exceptionally large crowds are expected.

To the west of the stand is a small control tower, which is used to facilitate crowd supervision on match days. Also located here is the only scoreboard in the stadium and an advertising screen, which sometimes displays goal replays.

Premier League pitch

The pitch at Brunton Park measures 104 by 67 metres (114 by 73 yards). The pitch was and still is laid with local Solway turf, which is favoured by Wimbledon and formerly Wembley Stadium before its renovation.

During the flooding of January 2005, heavy deposits of silt were left on the playing field and a decision was made by the owners to build a new pitch and install a new primary drainage system.

Other areas

The stadium has on-site parking to the east and north of the ground as well as a smaller parking area to the west. To the north of the ground is a separate pitch which is used for training purposes as well as reserve games.

A club shop is situated south of the ground on Warwick Road. In front of the shop stands a life-size bronze statue of former player Hugh McIlmoyle.

Where to buy tickets?

Because the stadium has both seating areas and terraced sections, the amount of money you’ll pay to attend Carlisle games varies depending on where in the ground you want to go. You’ll also be able to get your tickets slightly cheaper if you buy them in advance. Presuming that you want to buy tickets on the day of the game, you’ll pay about £3 more.

Carlisle United tickets are available online, over the phone, at the ground on the day of the game or by going to the ticket office in person from 10am until 5pm on weekdays. There are various extra charges depending on how you buy your ticket, but none of them will cost more than £1.00.

How to get there?

Carlisle is directly below Scotland, so it’s not exactly an easy journey if you’re heading there from down South. There’s a cracking castle you can go and look around though, so every cloud.

Train

The nearest/closest train station to Carlisle United’s Brunton Park Stadium is Carlisle Citadel. The station is served by the west coast rail main line, with the station situated in the middle of Carlisle, meaning relatively easy access to the city. There are regular services from the south of England including London and Penzance up to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

From the station walk straight ahead across the road and walk along the crescent until you see the entrance to Warwick road on the right, next to Bar Suede. Brunton Park is then about fifteen-minute walk down Warwick road from the entrance to Bar Suede.

Car

The ground is easy to find. Leave the M6 at junction 43 and take the A69 towards Carlisle. After a mile, you will reach Brunton Park on your right.

Taxi

Taxis from the train station to the ground will cost about £5 and take the same number of minutes.

Parking

Plenty of car parking is available behind the CBS stand. All fans are advised to park here. However, street parking is also available and possibly a better alternative if you’re early but need to get away quickly after the game.

Where to eat and sleep?

Carlisle is on the border with Scotland, so it’s well prepared for weary travelers needing to stop over on their way up or down the United Kingdom. Here are some of the hotels we think you’ll want to consider.

1. Days Inn Gretna Green. About ten miles from the stadium is this Days Inn hotel that is part of the service station in Gretna in Scotland. Don’t let that put you off though; it has a restaurant, free Wi-Fi in the public areas, free parking and a garden.
2. County Hotel. Less than a mile from Brunton Park is this old style hotel with a restaurant, a bar, free Wi-Fi and free parking. There are also meeting rooms and digital TVs in the bedrooms.
3. Hallmark Hotel. Right next to Carlisle train station is this Victorian style building that offers free Wi-Fi, flatscreen TVs in the rooms and tea and coffee making facilities. There’s also a brasserie, a wine bar, five meeting rooms and free parking.

Carlisle is an interesting town; the local theatre is basically inside the basketball court at the leisure centre, for example, which is an odd choice. Still, the interesting towns are often the ones with the best boozers, so here are some of our favourites that aren’t in the middle of sports centre’s.

1. Carlisle Rugby Club. The bar at Carlisle Rugby Club is a family friendly place that welcomes both sets of fans and promises a good atmosphere. It has a good selection of drinks and bar snacks and, as you’d expect at a rugby club, loads of TVs for live sport.
2. The Beehive. The Beehive describes itself as a ‘classic’ pub, so you can decide for yourself what that means. It has loads of TVs and the right to show live sports, a good menu and a strong selection of real ales too if you like that sort of thing. It’s also really close to the ground.
3. The Howard Arms. The Howard Arms is close to the train station in the centre of Carlisle. It has loads of great ales and a delicious menu of specials and homemade food. Perfect for a pre-match pint and bite to eat.

Facilities

The facilities here are quite good, with most views of the pitch being uninterrupted. It’s all fairly standard stuff for a team in the lower section of the Football League, mind.

Hospitality comes in the form of Foxy’s Restaurant as a standard package. You can enjoy a two or three course pre-match meal that will have a particular theme, such as Thai and Indian cuisine, as well as access to a private cash bar. They like running with themes at Carlisle it seems, because they also offer themed entertainment and festive events after certain matches. Plus, if it’s a special occasion you can upgrade to the celebration package and bag a signed club football, personalized birthday cake and a free drink on arrival.

Both Foxy’s Restaurant and the Legends Lounge are available for private events. Business meetings, birthday parties, conferences and banquets have all been hosted by the club in the past, as have civil wedding and wedding breakfasts.

Accessibility

Below is some useful information for visiting disabled fans.

1. Parking for Blue Badge holders is free and is situated at the away end of Brunton Park, next to the East Stand – spaces are limited and are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
2. The away end has a limited amount of spaces for wheelchairs and this area is uncovered. Wheelchair spaces can be booked through the away club.
3. If it does rain, you will be allowed to move to the front of the East Stand in front of your own supporters – ask the stewards before you move.
4. If there are spaces in the home disabled area and the weather is poor the club will allow you to move into this area, which is covered.
5. Ambulant disabled supporters can book a ticket in the away end of the East Stand through the away club.

For any specific requirements or for any further information contact Disability Liaison Officer.

History

Having begun life playing their games at Milholme Bank, Carlisle United soon found that that ground was too small for their needs. They moved to Devonshire Park in 1905 but were evicted from it by the Duke of Devonshire in 1909, so they needed somewhere new to play their games. Thus, it was that Carlisle began to call Brunton Park their home. The stadium has endured its fair share of problems over the years, starting with the above-mentioned Grandstand fire.

The fire was caused by an electrical fault and resulted in the entire Grandstand burning to the ground. They could have done with a vast amount of water to stop the fire from taking hold at the time, so it’s ironic that in 2005 the entire stadium was flooded when the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril burst their banks. The club played their home games at Christie Park in Morecambe whilst the ground was fixed, but ten years later, the problem returned. Storm Desmond caused the flooding of Brunton Park in November and December 2015.