Penrith AFC, from the market town of the same name in Cumbria, has a rich history since its formation back in 1894, starting life competing in local competitions before joining the Carlisle and District League, which the side won on several occasions.
The North Eastern League was joined in 1907-08, before the ‘Bonny Blues’ became a member of the Northern League in 1948-49, finishing as runners-up in 1961-62, which was backed up by third place the following season, under manager Alan Ashman, before the team returned to their usual bottom half finishes.
In 1981-82,
Penrith went on an FA Cup run, leading to victory over Chester City at Southend
Road in round one proper, before bowing out away to Doncaster Rovers at Belle
Vue. 1983-84 saw Hull City come to town in the first round and leave with a victory,
before Burnley were entertained, handing out a thumping at the same stage.
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Where Penrith's Southend Road ground used to be |
Those two defeats came after Penrith had become a founder member of the North West Counties League in 1982-83, where they were placed in Division One of the competition. A runners-up place in 1983-84 was achieved before the club joined Division One of the Northern Premier League in 1987-88.
The team was relegated in 1989-90, rejoining the NWCL as a Division One side, before moving back to the Northern League in time for the 1997-98 season. They finished sixth on their return before being relegated to Division Two in 1998-99. The title was won in 2002-03 to return to Division One.
They were relegated the following season. A change of name to Penrith Town was adopted in 2007, before returning to their former title a year later after merging with local side Penrith United. Around the same time, the Southend Road ground was earmarked for development by the local authorities.
A new stadium at Frenchfield on the edge of town was moved into in 2009, with businessman Ges Ratcliffe becoming the owner, making the club a private company before later returning it to its members, as a proper youth set-up was developed. Long-serving manager, David Heslop, resigned before the ground move after six years in charge.
Richard Prokas and James Tose became joint-managers before the side was led for a short time in 2012 by Brian Williams. He was replaced by Matt Henney. The club would later go through three managers in three seasons: Jim Nicols in 2016-17, Kyle May in 2017-18, and then Andrew Coyles in 2018-19.
All found it
difficult to take the side towards the top half of the Division One table,
while retaining their status at the same time. David Hewson was replaced in the
job by former Jamaica international Chris Humphrey in 2021, before the
appointment of Darren Edmondson in May 2022.
Edmundson was lured away to return to his former club, Workington, in May 2025, leading to Nicols’ return for a second spell in charge of the team.
Penrith AFC will play in the Northern League Division One in the 2025-26 season.
My visit
Southend Road
Saturday 26th October 1987
A stop in Penrith after seeing Scarborough get a good hiding on the pitch, losing 4-0 away to Carlisle United, nearly saw me and my mates receiving something similar while simply fancying a few beers and a mini pub crawl.
There wasn’t
an ounce of malice on our minibus, but a group of locals seemed to think we
were fair game. They were not following us to a few pubs to invite us home for
tea. Between drinks, I nipped away to have a look at the Southend Road ground.
Someone might have joined me. I honestly cannot remember.
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My drawing of Southend Road, along with some older Penrith kits. Click on the image to see them closer up. |
I remember it being open, as was the clubhouse, which would have been a better option for a drink in hindsight. It had a wooden seated stand along one side and a cover for standing spectators opposite. The rest of the ground consisted of open, flat standing areas.
I never got
to the new ground with Scarborough Athletic, with the images on this page being
sourced online.