Bray Wanderers FC
Carlisle Grounds
Quinsborough Road
Bray
Bray
County Wicklow
Ireland
Ground Number: 1522
Friday 6th March 2026
Bray Wanderers 2-1 Athlone Town
League Of Ireland First Division
BRAY WANDERERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was formed in 1922 by players of St Kevin's Gaelic FC following a dispute. During the early years, they played second fiddle to Bray Unknowns in the town who had already established themselves at Carlisle Grounds. The time during the Second World War was when things started change. Wanderers were reformed in 1942 following some difficult years during the mid-1930s. In 1943, Unknowns were voted out of the League of Ireland following years of poor results. The two clubs would play in the Leinster League for many years, with Wanderers winning the title three seasons in a row between 1958 & 1960. During the 1973/74 season, the two clubs merged and then in 1985, Bray Wanderers were elected to the League of Ireland following its expansion to two divisions.
MY BLOG
It had been a long and frustrating journey in my attempt to see a game in Ireland. Problem upon problem cropped up, mainly related to the obscenely high accommodation prices. That was after I had got over the fact that all games were on Friday night, meaning making a weekend of it, football-wise, was impossible. This was a shame as I'd have liked to take in a Gaelic Football game too, if the times worked out right. It must have been considered around ten times, but each time, it proved to be terrible value for money, and I ended up going elsewhere. But finally, the need to go to Bamber Bridge gave me an idea - fly in from London and out to Manchester and get two great ticks. Unlike fellow hopper Daniel, who talked of Ireland as if it were as good as River Plate v Boca Juniors, I was not willing to sleep on the airport floor like a tramp when I had a full day ahead of me on the Saturday. Maybe in the future, when I can go straight home to bed, but not for the first time. For once, Colin proved to be a help rather than a hindrance by bringing the price of a room down to a sensible level if we shared a twin. It would be in Bray, which would dictate our match choice, but then, their coastal location appealed to me. Just over £56 was decent for Ireland. Flights were another snag, with prices going up and down with baffling regularity. A great price of £17.58 was secured for the Manchester-to-Dublin leg on Saturday, 24th January. A few days later, the flight out was purchased for £33.48. Not ideal, but not outrageous either.
From a busy weekend, I had a few drinks on Sunday evening, before work at 4 am on Monday. It had been an unhealthy weekend, and I did feel a bit sluggish at work. I spent the afternoon and evening researching upcoming trips, including the Bray Wanderers' history for this blog. It was the standard Tuesday off, with the surprise announcement that Colin would be joining me on my Austria - Slovenia - Italy Trip in a couple of weeks. Usually, he gets substantial discounts compared to me, but on this occasion, he paid around £60 extra to book flights because of the delay. The difference would have been greater had I booked at an optimal time, but only by a tenner at most. At least I got a great deal for us on hotels, which will make it a great value trip. In the evening, I made my 40th visit to Watchet Lane to watch Holmer Green v Wembley. Sadly, my local team lost 2-0 in a poor performance. It was my short day at work the next day, but I was still tired. I had the ordeal of dealing with the NHS for my partially deaf Mum when I got home. They have notes on her file telling them to email or text. There is also a message on her voicemail repeating the same information, but people still cannot follow simple instructions. I spent half an hour on hold and still didn't resolve the issue, insisting that they would call back. Around 45 minutes were spent in the end after being called back and put on hold. I'm sick of people who refuse to use modern methods of communication, and only someone with a brain the size of a peanut would use phone calls as a method of communication when they are so inconvenient and time-consuming, especially when the quality of the phone line makes it sound like you are phoning Mars in the 1960s. Thankfully, I sorted it in the end, although her arranged hospital transport was two hours late in the morning, and then only after being chased up by a kind and helpful neighbour.
I had my last day at work for five days, and I was feeling pretty jaded at 4 am. I am looking forward to some well-earned time off, although with Colin coming, I'll probably be going back to work for a rest next week!. I came home, put the wash on and checked in with RyanAir. I messaged Colin to do the same. If he ignores the message and ends up paying an airport check-in fee, that's on him. He eventually rang me as he didn't know what nationality he was, and still didn't manage to get checked in. I intensified my planning for this trip, having decided to save central Dublin for another time. Originally, I was planning on going to Swords and Dun Laoghaire, but Dundalk Fan River advised me that I'd be pushing it to do both if I was aiming to get to Bray in good time. It was good to get advice from someone in the know, and it made perfect sense as it was easier to get to the Dart train line from there. The prices for transport in Dublin were a pleasant surprise. Just 8 Euros for 24 hours of travel, as long as I avoid the airport express. A bargain in one of the priciest cities I've seen. I got in the mood in the evening by watching the Saipan movie I'd wanted to see for ages. Official sources were asking for £16 just to RENT the movie, which was taking the absolute piss. They can stick it up their bollocks as Roy Keane might say. Had they charged a fiver, I'd have paid no questions but instead I found an alternative way to watch it for free. It's the same greed that has led to the popularity of dodgy firesticks and the like, and the companies have only themselves to blame. It was a decent movie and very interesting.
I went to sleep at a pretty much normal time and woke up around my normal work time. I had plenty of time to kill before it was time to leave at 7. Colin's Dad hadn't been able to work out how to check him in on the app, but he kindly gave us a lift to the station. We were 15 minutes ahead of time, taking the Chiltern, Circle, Thameslink and Tram to Lloyd Park. This was for the Coombe Lodge Wetherspoons, around 15 minutes walk away. It had been reviewed poorly on Google, and in my case reviews were very mixed. My breakfast arrived five minutes after Colin's, maybe due to my penchant for Black Pudding. Annoyingly, you couldn't get a pint until 10 am, an hour later than usual in Spoons. I ordered Strongbow but was pretty sure I got Stowford Press. But I couldn't be arsed to chase it up. From there, walking, tram and train to Gatwick took around 40 minutes. After security, Spoons furnished me with two pints of Stowford Press and some cheesy chips for around £17. We got chatting to some fans who were off to see Deportivo LA Coruna this weekend. There were delays all over the place, thanks to people; we finally started getting airborne 90 minutes after the scheduled departure time. The other end was a bit more efficient, but the mobile data not working properly was a pain. I was trying and trying as the plane landed but was getting nothing. I'd had this problem before in Sweden for some random reason. That time, purchasing an e sim from Saily sorted the issue, and although it took time, it eventually kicked in. It was a slow and frustrating journey in the traffic, so I was thinking that going straight to Bray might be the best option. That turned out to be the case as there were further delays on the Dart train. The utterly dismal service finally pulled in just short of kickoff. It had been a stressful journey; it should have been a comfortable time for two Wetherspoons and a nice look around Bray, but instead, I was going to be late for kickoff. Amazingly, time was made up. With a simple check-in, we jogged, dumped our bags in a lovely room and jogged back just in time for kickoff.
Bray Wanderers were in 6th, and were in average form in their three games so far. They had drawn 1-1 with Longford Town, won 1-0 at basement side Treaty United and lost 1-0 at Cork City. Athlone Town were in 2nd place and had won two and drawn one so far. On the opening day, they beat Finn Harps 2-1, won 1-0 at Kerry and drew 2-2 with Wexford. My needs were of the liquid variety, and although you couldn't drink beside the pitch, the fan zone offered a restricted view. It was a first half that saw Bray dominate but not seriously threaten. At half time, it was a visit to the club shop for a scarf and then to the tea bar for Taco Fleek Fries. These took a while due to excess demand, but were superb when they came. Athlone opened the scoring from close range on 66 minutes, Patrick Ferry very much against the run of play. The equaliser, right up the other six minutes later was very much deserved through Tyreik Sammy. Not long after, Alain Kizenga gave them the lead, although we didn't have the best view of the goal seen as it was at the far end. Bray saw out the win to gain a deserved three points. It had been a great evening, and the people were very friendly, a worthy first tick in Ireland.
THE GROUND
CARLISLE GROUNDS is a decent venue. The main stand probably holds around 1,500. This is fully covered and appears to be the oldest part of the ground. Save for a few supporting pillars and floodlights, it offered good views and decent legroom. Opposite is uncovered seating for around 1,000. This is the allocated away fans space, although it is soft segregation. Both goals have open flat standing. The facilities are good. The club shop has a decent range, sadly no pennants that I could see. The fan zone offers drinks, and although you have to remain there to drink your pint (6.5 Euros), a reasonable range is on offer. Plastic glasses, sadly, no club logo though. The food is where the ground really excels, with a number of stalls. Burgers and chicken looked good, but I went for some delicious loaded fries, which are as good as I've had. Everything is cooked to order, so it comes out piping hot. Nearby is the Dart station, which is good near Bray but poor near Dublin. There is a pleasant town nearby, which includes a Tesco Express for cans if you are on a budget
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