Kendal Town - Parkside

Kendal Town FC 

Parkside Road Stadium

Parkside Road

Kendal 

Cumbria

LA9 7BL

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Ground Number: 1568

Saturday 18th July 2026

Kendal Town 1-1 Gretna

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KENDAL TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1919 by employees of the Netherfield Somervell Brothers factory and was initially named Netherfield. They joined the West Lancashire League in 1936, where the club remained until the war. When football resumed, the club played in the Lancashire Combination. They finished as runners-up to Chorley in their first season before winning the title in 1948. The club were runners-up three more times before again lifting the title in 1966. In 1969, they became founder members of the Northern Premier League, but they generally struggled, finishing bottom on four occasions. In 1983, the club joined the North West Counties League, spending four seasons with disappointing results. Despite this, they rejoined the NPL in 1987, staying in the newly-formed Division 1 and finishing as high as 5th in 1994. The club was known as Netherfield Kendal between 1998 & 2000 before switching to Kendal Town. In 2006, Kendal finished 3rd and then beat Stocksbridge Park Steels and Gresley Rovers in the playoffs to reach the NPL Premier. 2009 & 2010 saw 5th place finishes and failed playoff campaigns, but this was as good as it got for them. They were relegated to Division 1 North in 2013 and never finished higher than 10th. In 2022, they were relegated to the NWCFL and were then transferred to the Northern League two years later.

The club has twice reached the FA Cup 2nd Round. Firstly in 1949 when they crashed 6-0 at Watford and then again in 1963 when they took Football League side Chesterfield to a replay. A notable FA Trophy campaign came during the 1980/81 season when it took seven games to separate them and Bridlington Trinity, with replays at Goole and Chorley before they triumphed 2-0 in the sixth replay and went on to lose 2-0 in the 2nd Round at Aylesbury United. The best progress in the FA Vase came in 1989 when they reached the 3rd Round before losing 3-1 at Warrington Town. Local honours include the Westmoreland Cup in 1925 and two Lancashire Combination League Cups. The club's record attendance of 5,184 came for an FA Cup game against Grimsby Town in 1955. The most famous player to turn out for Kendal Town is Alan Kennedy, also of Liverpool. Links with Wycombe Wanderers include striker Andy Bell, who had short spells at both clubs.

Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town in the Westmorland and Furness area of Cumbria. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived. The population is around 28,500. Kendal Castle has a long history as a stronghold, built on the site of several successive castles. The earliest was a Norman motte and bailey (located on the west side of the town), when the settlement went under the name of Kirkbie Strickland. Kendal is known for Kendal mint cake, a glucose-based confectionery reputedly discovered accidentally by Joseph Wiper during a search for a clear glacier mint.

MY VISIT

When I compiled a bucket list of grounds I wanted to visit during Covid, Kendal Town was pretty near the top of the list. This was partly due to the Union pub, which sadly closed recently due to high energy costs, thank you very much, Ofgem. It was always going to be a long drive, so this weekend, when I was visiting Workington, was perfect. They were playing an interesting friendly against Gretna; there was also a game in Kendal on Thursday night, and well-priced camping was available within walking distance of the town and ground.

From our game at Workington, it was not the nicest of journeys on the dark, narrow roads. The scenery was beautiful along the way, but in the dark, all the road's negative aspects came out. We were back at the campsite by 11.30, and the dark did at least provide decent conditions to type my blog up. After some boozy times recently, I stuck to the single pint and then went to bed. I'd forgotten my sleeping bag, and it was surprisingly chilly overnight, so much so that I had to go and get my coat out of my car and then at least I was able to get a few hours of sleep. I woke up around 7 and went for a shower and to get dressed, and felt a lot better for it. It was nice to spend the morning on the campsite, giving me time to catch up, which I had a fair bit to do. Colin had a sleep too, before we left at 11.30. We were ten minutes into the journey when Colin realised he'd forgotten his phone and we had to go back. The walking would have done no harm, but it wasn't until 12.50 that we were at the Ring o Bells, a pub with a great reputation. I'd contacted them in advance to check, and although there was confusion at first, as the wife was serving and didn't know anything about her husband's reply. I did, eventually, get a pint of Broughton Bank cider; in fact, I got two pints and a Chicken Parmo for lunch as we got chatting to friendly locals and Kendal Town fans. 

From there, it was a 15-minute walk to the ground. It was a fiver in, the range of merch was fairly limited but Colin got a badge and a shirt whilst I settled for a pint of Cold River and a mintcake, the latter was especially great. It kicked off at 3, the Scots probably the better side. Kendal took the lead on 29 minutes, a low shot into the bottom left, McCaragher continuing his scoring form from Thursday. Gretna equalised just before half-time, chasing down a keeper clearance and finishing calmly. The afternoon's booze, the hot weather and a large lunch came into effect, and I was ready for a sleep. The outside caterer thankfully had the Monster that the club lacked; a chilled can at £2.50 woke me up. Kendal were the better side in the second half and had most of the chances in the blazing heat. But it ended 1-1, which on balance was a fair result. I even saw someone from Aylesbury in the ground, and I think that it's probably a favourite of many.

From there, we went for a stroll, watching half an hour of the Netherfield v Blackpool cricket game across the road. One side had a commanding lead, but the ground was stunning and a great place to spend time. We needed somewhere to recharge everything; my phone was fine with my smaller power bank, but the big one was dead, and my laptop needed a boost too. Wetherspoons, as always, was the answer. I got my blog up before I had too many, and it was a pleasant environment; the only disappointment was having to wait until 10PM if I wanted to watch England's 3rd/4th playoff game. But overall, it had been a great weekend in a fantastic place.

THE GROUND 

PARKSIDE ROAD is a great venue with bags of character. There is the main stand, this holds around 300 covered on benches. There are further uncovered seats behind the goal along with extensive terracing. These steps continue along the side, including more cover, whilst the remaining end is more basic. There are various bars and food places offering reasonable options and plenty of excellent vantage points. Parking is fairly easy, and buses run nearby. The town 15 minutes walk away to the edge of a large area with bags of choice. The Ring O'Bells was especially excellent.