Caton United - Caton Sports Field

Caton United FC

Caton Sports Field

2 Hornby Road

Caton

Lancaster

Lancashire

LA2 9QS

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1576

Saturday 29th August 2026

Caton United 1-5 Langho

West Lancs D2

CATON UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1898 and is based in the Lancashire village of Caton, near Lancaster. They have played most of their history in the North Lancashire & District League, where I found few records before 1990. The mid-part of that decade was good to them with the Premier Division title won in 1994 & 1996. Around the turn of the millennium, they dropped down to Division 1, winning that title in 2004 to return to the Premier Division. They finished bottom of the league in 2009 and struggled in Division 1 before being promoted back as runners-up behind Arnside in 2011. Caton stabilised in 2014; they were runners-up behind Carnforth Rangers before winning the title in 2015. Two years later, they were runners-up again, this time behind Cartmel & District. The title was won again in 2022 before a 3rd place finish in their final season. They joined the West Lancashire League in 2023, starting out and remaining in Division 2 and generally finishing in the lower reaches of the table. Their best finish since joining was 10th in their debut season.

Caton-with-Littledale is a civil parish in Lancaster, near the River Lune. The parish lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains the villages of Caton, Brookhouse, Caton Green, Littledale and Townend. In the 2021 Census the population was 2,851. The original settlement of Caton was renamed Brookhouse after Brookhouse Hall and is separated from modern Caton, originally Town End. Archaeological, place name and other evidence attests that Norse invaders settled in the area in the tenth century (Wainwright 1975). Caton is supposedly named from the Norse personal name Kati (Ekwall 1960), meaning 'cheerful ', and ton. Geoffrey Hodgson (2008) argues that the Viking invasion of the area accounts for the relatively high frequency of the Hodgson surname in Caton and elsewhere in Lonsdale. The village of Caton has a health centre, pharmacy, Co-operative store, petrol station, Ford dealership, funeral director, the Station Hotel and the Ship Inn. It is also home to a cake shop specialising in custom-made cakes and other bakes. On 12 April 2008, a formal twinning agreement was signed with the village of Socx in France.

MY VISIT

From our game at Coppull, it was around fifteen minutes back to the hotel. Shaun went to the bar, but I had plenty of supplies back at the room and had a couple of pints whilst typing my blog. Colin watched 'The Great British Sewing Bee' on his tablet, which holds about as much interest to me as his wrestling. Each to their own though, as I am interested in the most random of stuff. Another Sean, a different one with a different spelling, had been good company at the game, although I had to concentrate to understand his scouse accent. The hops are always very convivial, with plenty of familiar faces.  I had a couple more, having intended on a quieter night, so would be taking it easier for the rest of the weekend. I got to sleep around 11.30. 

Colin's alarm went off at what I thought was 8, but it was actually 6. Still a three-hour lie-in, compared to work, but it took me a while to wake up. I got up at 7 and did some work on my blog before getting ready. I had been to the Henry Tate Wetherspoons in Chorley, but the other two hadn't, so we headed there for breakfast. Leaving at 8.45,  we arrived at 9. We parked in the car park opposite the Wetherspoons. Whereas cash only was like something out of the dark ages, the £2 charge to park certainly wasn't. It was the usual breakfast muffin, black pudding and energy drink for me. We left and got to the parking near the ground at 10.15. It was a few minutes' walk to the ground where entry was a fiver and I bought a couple of £1 cakes. It was a lovely setup, and the club had pulled out all of the stops to make the most of the day. 

Caton United were second bottom of the West Lancs Division 2, having won one and lost five of their games so far. Last Saturday they were beaten 6-1 by Garstang Reserves. Langho were 10th and had won two, drawn one and lost three. They'd won their last two games, beating Charnock Richard Reserves 6-1 last Saturday. It was 1-0 to Langho on 9 minutes, a right-sided high cross bundled home from within the six-yard box. It was 2-0 on 57 minutes, another high cross; this time the keeper misjudged it, and it went in. A minute or so later, it was 3-0, a low shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner. Caton pulled one back with a header on 70 minutes. On 74 minutes, it was 4-1 to Langho; a cross from #14 was tapped in right on the line. Right near the end, as the hoppers were gathering near the exit, it was 5-1 with a shot from just outside the area.

 

THE GROUND

CATON SPORTS FIELD is an excellent setup for step 9 of non-league. The pitch is railed on three sides and is scenic. At the ground when I went were breakfast rolls, cakes and a bar as well as pin badges and club cups. Nearby was a pub, various takeaways and a, Co Op. The car park at the ground is pretty small, but there are plenty of alternatives.