The RFL apparently made something like £8m profit last year, which begs the question of what they're going to do with that money.

My view is that certainly, some should go into marketing, but surely that's an ideal deposit (even more so if they can continue to make that kind of money over the next two or three years) against being able to create an 'RFL Stadium'.

OK - our international game isn't big enough yet but why not play ALL England matches at our stadium, just like the Rah Rahs do with Twickenham, and the wendyballers at with Wembley?

Surely also there would be opportunities for corporate hospitality, rock concerts, other sports, conferences and what have you. I don't think there is any reason not to pursue it, and I have to say, i worry about the day coming - and it WILL - when Man Utd say we can't use their ground any more. What happens then?

There is also no doubt that our own stadium would raise the game's profile immensely, just by it being there.

The main questions would be capacity; no point building anything bigger than 50 or 60k, and location. But surely, Manchester or thereabouts, as Britain's second city, already home of the Grand Final, and close to the heartlands would have to be a front runner.

Knowing the RFL, though, they'd probably want it in either Leeds which although very nice is hardly the centre of the earth or very 'cool', or they'd want it in Huddersfield or somewhere else equally non-descript.

They will have in a couple of weeks time.

Racecourse Ground - Wrexham.

you are absolutely correct with that!

I'm pretty sure that the £8million profit will go into hiring more RFL community coaches....funding and facilities grants to grass roots club to improve their club houses and pitches etc....with the rest going into a "rainy day" fund account.

Accounts are available on the RFL website tell you what happens to the money - the RFL is not set up to be profit making and all the figures are there. the profit/loss account for the year was £59k.


lots of threads on here currently condemning the RFL. how many of those people have actually bothered reading the operating rules of the RFL, its annual report and it's accounts? to be frank - there's a lot of rubbish being spouted!

It will never happen, but if it did i'd build it in East Manchester, maybe the Oldham side of the city centre. Easy access for the Yorkies and Lancs. Let Oldham play there to keep the stadium ticking over and give a forgotten team a home.

The question needs to be "what will the stadium do for the 359 days a year that it won't be used for"?

Modern stadiums are seven day a week operations - just look at the facilities at Warrington (NHS centre) or Leeds (University campus, 30+ room hotel and conferencing centre) and other grounds that have facilities completely or largely unconnected to the playing of sport - that's how modern stadia finance themselves.

Is there a gap in the market in the northern conferencing / banqueting / hospitality market? Is there a need for (and finance for) another NHS centre or government department? Is the live music industry poorly catered for in the north? I don't think that you can answer yes to all of those questions.

At the moment, I think people are trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist. IIRC, we have a long-term deal and a good relationship with Manchester United, we have little trouble finding semi-final venues (and what trouble we do have is being rectified by new builds at Salford and St Helens) and the RFL is a stakeholder in Wembley National Stadium.

And do we really want the national side being "based" at one location (like the England football team)? Shouldn't the 'England' team be for everybody to watch, rather than a few people in one location? (IMO, England football was much better for the fans when they were 'on tour' during Wembley's closure, like many other national teams do, even if they did end up residing in Manchester towards the end).

I agree current setup for finals is fine they just need to play the internationals at larger venues to attract more neutrals, i think playing one game at wembley is the rfl's attempt to "test the water" on this front IF they get a 40k crowd then i feel we will see more international games there and lets face it internationals at Wembley are a bigger headline grabber than playing them at a Hull or Wigan.

Lease it to Cas, & Wakey.

Maybe the fans should insist that the RFL franchise themselves and demand an international stadium to give the game some stature. A stadium on the outskirts of Huddersfield close to the M62 would suffice with a capacity of 30 000 for starters, to be shared by a superleague team Huddersfield and a championship team.
It dosn,t take much vision to build one, think the RFL should start finance one and cough up the necessary £30 million.

So, we're playing our cup final and a double-header international with two home nations involved at Wembley... but a 30,000 stadium on the outskirts of Huddersfield as an alternative will give the game some stature?

I'm not talking about the last 100 years. I think you'll find that the percentage of RL games played in the North of England is above 50%, but I'd be surprised if it was above 75%. Don't suppose you're going to Bristol Sonics vs Northampton on Saturday, or Plymouth vs East Devon Eagles in the SW Cup Final on Sunday, though, otherwise we could discuss it in person.