Children in the area ARE actively involved in sport though - they certainly are in Castleford. Facilities are superb at Cas High School were several teams compete every year in the Wembley finals and Airedale High don't to too bad either.
Will the addition of a couple of all-weather pitches off the M62 for football have that much effect on sporting excellence in the WF area? I don't think so.

True and we need to make a move ASAP

Yes it is fair to say that sporting facilities in schools and colleges in the area have improved massively in the last few years to a point where many have their own top quality facilities and/or links to professional gyms and health clubs giving students access to a wider amount of kit than ever before. The change to academies has also aided this investment. I would say that it would be the community clubs that would benefit the most from a new development but they don't require a massive stadium to be built, just the basic facilities. I would have thought that would make it cheaper for them to use and a more viable option than the costs a large multi-purpose stadium build would incur.

FYI, the sports facilities at Wakefield College have all just been closed.

They now hire Lightwaves and have no outdoor fields to compare with what they had at Thornes Park.

Not a new thing, they were using lightwaves and Thornes athletics facilities 20 years ago when i was there. The old Thornes house facilities should have been pulled down years ago anyway. I believe other agreements are in place to use more modern facilities elsewhere.

Brilliant summation of the situation and sadly very true in every paragraph and although some people on here won't believe it or want it, personally I think he's 100% on the money unfortunately.

They were using Lightwaves when it was still current and well maintained.

The facilities there now are terrible. They have only used it since September because the college want to sell TP for housing.

The college has no agreements elsewhere and the athletics track was not used by the college, unless hired separately.

Where are the modern facilities you talk of?

The last time i went into lightwaves it was for a beer festival so i'll have to take your word for that. I'll ask my mate who works in the sports department there his opinion on it.

The college hire out places to use, just like it did when I was there with the athletics track. I know they did because i used it many times whilst there.

And they have the use of Croftons facilities now as well where they have just built a shiney new sixth form.

Anyway moving on given its in the same district would Cas getting the ok for their 'community stadium' a couple of junctions up the motorway legally lessen the need for the council to provide sporting facilities? Could they point to that as an alternative to Newmarket?

The college does not have access to the Crofton facilities. They closed TP saying the college would use QEGS...yeah right!

One fitness class at college is taught in a cookery room at F block.

Ask your teacher mate about the 3 "classrooms" they have at Lightwaves, or the building classes that take place next door to the classrooms!

Loving how so many people who do not have current knowledge are writing all this off!

You will all be immensely pleased to know that we have every expectation of delivering something that we can all be proud of - be that at BV or NM - and there is very good reason for our stance on NM which we will not alter - unless all the right conditions are met!

To be fair that does sound very Wakey college-esque from when i was there! They dumped us in the old ings road school for a while! I am though assured that plans are afoot to improve matters. Guess time will tell!

What it does show is that despite better facilities already being available like QEGS or Crofton there is no guarantee that they will actually use them. It comes down to money and budget cuts means that whilst academies can gain extra money to fund improvements, publicly funded colleges are struggling big time and i know that one for a fact! The build it and they will come strapline doesn't add up for a major build at Newmarket i'm afraid as it has to be paid for somehow and that can only be by charging more for its use than many could afford. A smaller development may work out financially but a large one? Doubt it, it will run up too many debts. I also think that it is time to push for the BV refurb and forget NM.

You said that about 4 years ago as well......

Sorry but it is difficult to have any positivity about this anymore. A case of same old same. It's not a go at you or any of you involved but my expectation of seeing anything come out of this is zero.

Hate to say it but I'm in the same boat, I expect nothing to materialise as it seems to always be the case.

I commend the efforts of those beating the drums but until I see a brick laid I'm going to remain pretty cynical about it all.

Can't blame you or anyone for feeling that way, I sometimes feel that way myself but we either just lie down and accept that we are not going to get anything or we carry on with the campaign.

As TRB as eluded to there are things going on that have to remain confidential, at least for the time being and our aim is to get something, be it at Newmarket or Belle Vue that we all can be proud of.

We may end up with nothing, but if that is to be the case, which I doubt, it won't be because we did not fight. If we accept that we are going to get nothing that is what we will get.