Looked fairly tidy, although unfinished when I drove past it earlier in the year.

I don't remember an obviously big roof for advertsing El B but I could be wrong

Somewhere in the deepest darkest recesses of my mind I have a vague recollection that the Willows is/was the oldest ground in rugby league – can anyone confirm?

If it was I wonder which ground is now the oldest Belle vue -Wakey -Headingley ?

I think Headingley might well be. IIRC Headingley was built in 1890 and Belle Vue was in 1895. I might be wrong but I think the other traditional stadiums in SL were all built after that.

Salford first played at the Willows in 1901 and therefore it was our home for 110 years. The new ground is exciting whilst many of us are still upset at having to leave our spiritual home!

Some have mentioned the look of the new ground and the size of the 3 smaller stands being identical/ boring. Firstly I think that you could level that criticism of most new stadia which are built basically to the same sort of design and are uniform right the way round.

Secondly, those stands are only part 1 of a 3 phase build which could see the capacity increase to 20,000 in the future. Building would take place behind and above the existing structures making the stands higher. However, I don't think there are any plans to fill in the corners, something that when i watched MOTD last week I noticed on the BBC graphic that most Premiership soccer grounds don't have filled in corners either! Strange but true!

Lastly, I don't think it will be any harder for you guys to get down to Barton than it was to get to the Willows. I have to go past the Trafford centre on a friday to get to the Willows myself as I now live on the Wirral and I have rarely encountered many traffic problems. However, an a;iternative route for any Yorkshire folk coming across would be to exit the M62 at Swinton, go down Bolton Rd towards the East Lancs, down Lancaster Rd to Hope hospital and then drive through Eccles until you come to the round about junction with the M60, across the round about onto the A57 signposted Irlam and Warrington and you are about 500 yards away from there. Parking may be an issue if you want it gratis but there should be ample parking at the ground although the stadium company who own it will be charging £5 a throw I believe.

I look forward to seeing you there in numbers. All the best from Lancashire!!!

Wakefield Trinity moved to Belle Vue in 1879, Jesus we need a new stadium!

I think Mount Pleasant could be quite an old ground

According to wiki both Belle Vue and Mount Pleasant were built in 1895

Yet according to the Belle Vue wiki page

"The site was purchased in 1895 after the split between rugby league and rugby union, in order to provide a permanent base for the Wakefield Trinity team who had being playing on fields in the local area since 1873"

BV has been the stadium since 1895 the club has existed since 1873

So we're all agreed then.
Although Wakefield played at Belle Vue since 1879 they didn't buy it until 1895, at the time of the split, to give them a permanent base.
Makes sense to me.
It will be Headingley eventually.........hopefully

Would be interesting to know how many games, if any, were played at belle vue between 1879 and 1895. The second quote only mentions Belle Vue being 'purchased' as a 'permanent' site from 1895. This doesn't mean they necessarily didn't play all, or most, of their games there before then, just that they didn't own it.
I'm a bit of a part-time, plastic fan and I didn't get to many games in the late 19th century, but I've heard you've got a few old-timers on here that keep stats and probably attended a few games

Apologies for drifting off-topic somewhat. How is Wakefield's, or even Salford's, ground being discussed on the Leeds forum?

I did a bit of digging and found some other sources. The site from our resident author seems the most well researched, and therefore most reliable, and seems to suggest 1892 for the current site.

rlhttp://www.neilwhite.net/history.htmlrl

rlhttp://conservapedia.com/Wakefield_Trinity_Wildcatsrl

rlhttp://www.talkrugbyleague.co.uk/guides/super_league_clubs_wakefield_trinity_wildcats.htmlrl

P.S. congratulations on the friendly and belated congratulations on the championship.