That's an image I can do without

On a more serious note – I tend to agree with Vastman. They are a shonky operators chancing their arm – MC, the trust etc may well feel the time is right for the legal route and I’d back that.

This lumps huge pressure on the council leadership now if the national press show a wider interest. I fancy Box and co-consipirators on the council will jump soon sadly they’ll be taking nice public pensions with them when some might suggest a bit of prison time was more appropriate.

Spot on! I think and hope we are reaching a point where the gloves come off.

I would suggest that Yorkcourt have only ever seen the Stadium plan as the tool that opened the land for development. A stadium and the problems that it brings to a commercial site that's targeted at warehousing/storage would not sit well with the developer or their tenants, every few weeks and influx of traffic and pedestrians impeding the day to day business activities of the rent paying tenants. A stadium could well put off prospective commercial tenants. My view is that a weak maybe even inept council allowed it to develop and I would suggest the council leadership could be seen in much the same way.


Yorkcourt may use every obstacle possible to deter any stadium development at Newmarket because I do believe that the stadium is not part of their business plan.


An unlikely scenario but a deal that keeps Trinity at a redeveloped Belle Vue brokered between the Council, Yorkcourt, 88M and the Club would be the grown up solution rather than all parties coughing up funds for legal action. Such a scenario relies on people doing the decent thing Mr Carter and Mr Brereton I have absolute faith in, Manni at 88M I cannot say, clearly a shrewd businessman hopefully he can see a redeveloped BV as a good investment, sadly Wakefield Council and Yorkcourt would need a serious shift in attitude. Lets hope that the last two eventually see that allowing this to drag on further is damaging for all concerned.


These are my personal views and opinions.


They are submitted against the background of years of flannel, mainly from the Council and Yorkcourt with the most pathetic and valueless comment coming out on a regular basis being 'we are working hard to solve this' perhaps if they stopped working hard and tried working efficiently they could actually achieve something. Next time they trot out this standby sound bite ask them to explain what they are actually doing, my guess you'll get a bit more flannel but worth doing putting them on the spot

Nah ! Quite honestly I think she is bloody clueless and knows less about the wrong doings at Newmarket than most on here.


The smart money thinks the original legal advice was also from Gaitleys and a similar letter was drafted and the council accepted it 100% on face value and buckled under. They never had the gumption to take their own legal advice from a skilled independent lawyer and just rolled over for their tummies to be tickled.

The whole debacle has been an indication of what a greedy, unethical creed and system large-scale capitalism is, and the behaviour of the likes of RM Walker, Yorkcourt & 88M highlight just what was at one time termed: "The uaccceptable face of Capitalism". These men (?) have just lined their pockets at the expense of the citizens of Wakefield with the so-called socialist council leader being no better. They should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves and Walker should be relieved of his "Freeman of the City" award RIGHT NOW!!!

Whilst trawling the web for info on Yorkcourt and others involved in the sorry saga of Newmarket I came across an article on Insider Media written by Stephen Farrell, Digital Staff Writer all about the Kitwave aka Clarks deal for a new distribution hub having been settled. Nowhere in the article does it mention 'subject to planning permission' does Stephen, Kitwave, Henry Boot and the wonderful chaps at Yorkcourt know something we don't. The article all reads very positive about how wonderful the deal is, published in July this year wishful thinking or something deeper!

To be honest I don’t think politics or capitalism really come into it. There are good socialists and good conservatives ditto good businessmen and bad. It human nature that’s unacceptable in some people and we are unfortunate enough to have come across a shed load of it unfortunately.

Another man/women in power and a different developer with a more rounded view and we’d have been in MM two to three years ago.

Where this stadium is concerned we have been incredibly unlucky at every turn - maybe that might change soon, it needs to.

We worked WITH Andrew when they wanted our assistance!

Agree. You can have whatever Political beliefs you want but where business is concerned there are plenty of businessmen from both sides of the political spectrum around, that have good strong morals and ethics, who also mage to make money while maintaining them. it's just that those that are shysters get more noticed than those of us that aren't.

Like you say if this development had been in the hands of a bigger developer who was all about, getting planning, building the place out, making money and moving onto their next project, we wouldn't be talking about this now.

Don't quite agree Vasty. I've no quaims about the small businessman who makes enough for a nice house, nice car and nice holiday, but ever since a certain female (?) prime minister of the eighties who instilled into the businesses of this country that greed was the new God and to make as much money for yourself and stuff the rest of us, then this has become the mantra for large businesses, and manifests itself in the Yorkcourts, 88Ms and Rodney Myersdcough Walkers of this world . Wakefield Trinity RLFC and the citizens of Wakefield are the ones who suffer whilst they count the pound notes.
As for being "Unlucky at every turn", Vasty, luck has not come into it . It's all been a very cleverly construed conspiracy to make vast amounts of money out of thee and me and 340,000 others.

Not sure what Thatcher has to do with all this unless you want to turn this into another political thingy, I'm sure she made mistakes like all other PM's of both parties, but I remember her best for letting my mam and dad and a lot more people of Wakefield buy their own homes



See what you've done here, you've brought politics into what was an interesting thread.

was a quick way of off loading property that some needed renovating building up coffers for the government with no long term thought for the future hence why our kids now have about no chance of owning property or even afford renting them

just watched a neighbour have their house a new roof, insulation and kitchen for them to buy the house after the work was done by the council at a cheap price as they have lived there for yrs, didn't want to buy it before the work was done says it all

Although the recent failed coup will ensure a higher level of scrutiny in our leader's actions, the very fact that it failed and that there have been a couple of resignations, probably strengthens his hand, in the short term, as the incomers will toe the party line and wont want to rock the boat.
Unless the press really got stuck into this whole sorry mess, Box wont be jumping anywhere. He'll more likely be sat back in his big leather chair feeling smug at another coup foiled.

Courtesy of Bob Dylan:

M62 Revisited

Oh, Rod said to Colin, “Find me some land”
Col said, “Man, it’ll cost you a grand”
Rod said, “No” Col say, “What?”
Rod say, “You can do what you want, Col, but
The next time you see me comin’, you better run”
Well, Col said, “Where d’you want this buildin’ done?”
Rod said, “Out on the M621”

Well, Colin Mackie, he had a brilliant plan
To build a big white box on green belt land
He asked Peter Box, “Where can I go?”
Peter Box said, “There’s only one place I know”
Colin said, “Tell me quick, man, I got to stay alive”
Oh, Peter just pointed at a quarter to five
And said, “That way, down the B6135”

Well, Michael Carter said to Manni Hussain
“I really don’t know where we’re going to be playing
I’ve got a good team but nowhere to play in
Do you know where I can get a new stadium?”
And Manni Hussain said, “Let me think for a minute, son”
Then he said, “Yes, I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Featherstone”

Now, Mary Creagh on the twelfth night
Told Wakefield Council that things weren’t right
“Your big white box,” she says, “is much too white”
Peter Box said, “Come here and step into the light”
Peter Box said, “Hmm, you’re right, let me tell Colin Mackie this is not on”
But Colin Mackie was with Eric the Tonne
And they were Brentwood bound on the A1

Now, Ralph Rimmer he was very bored
Trying to create a rugby league war
He phoned Eddie Hearn who nearly fell off the floor
He said, “I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes, I think it will be very easy to do
We’ll just stock up on lager, with champagne for you
And head out West on the M62”

Well lets ignore your relentlessly left wing political mumbo jumbo, if that's what you believe then fine.

However regarding luck you're utterly wrong. Remember I was in this right at the start 1n 2004 and I know the full set of events better than most.

You're are correct in that he Yorkcourt has been a set up from day one. Even then though we were unlucky, in the panic of losing the Thornes project Ted panicked and got in bed with the first developer to show an interest - he was unlucky that the first responder was Yorkcourt.

There were other issues regarding Thornes and I can't guarantee that it would have happened however there is no doubt that had the 2008/9 financial crash not have taken place for just another year or so it might have. Once that happened we were stuffed with and I can't blame Box for that, just bad timing.

In 2010 when franchising was the be all and end all Ted used the ground as insurance to loan money to bring the ground up to scratch. He had little choice to be honest even if he did it in a typically underhand way. The bad luck wasn't that Ted then couldn't afford to buy it back as planned. The bad luck was that the following year franchising was scrapped and all the money wasted on meeting some very silly requirements need not have been spent, just like the the RFL pulled the rug and we'd lost the ground for a fad.

Then Over comes in and instead of doing the obvious thing and securing the ground back he wastes a fortune on TV adds and other nonsense.

As a club we have not helped ourselves but.... I can't think of a single lucky break regarding the actual ground we have had in the past 14 years, not one.

I thought it was glover that wasted the money on TV ads not ted?

Vasty's chubby fingers missed the "Gl"

Yeah it was.

Is the planning meeting today?

Andrea Jenkyns objects.

"Unless the press really got stuck into this whole sorry mess"

And there lies a problem. The Express has become no more than a regional advertising rag. Genuine local journalism is not existent. Even the Yorkshire Post/Evening Post seem to pay little regard to local issues such as this.

Sadly, in todays world, unless it involves some sort of disaster or tragedy there is little or no interest.

it lost all credibility for me years ago when delivering this piece of crap on a friday teatime after school when my newspaper bag was that heavy I placed it on my handle bars, it went straight into the wheel and trapped in my forks throwing me over the top of the bars

I did find it made a good weapon though ramming in to a poodles mouth when it attempted to take my fingers while posting

the paper was shredded which is what I do with every copy


a proper journalist paper would of loved to get to grips with the ins and outs of what's being going on but I bet they are sitting back fearing reprisals if they ever printed anything wrong and got sued.

Being a very big BD fan - Excellent post KSC

Wakefield Express is produced in Sheffield of places. I think the paper has two local reporters and there aren't that many garden parties to report on around Wakefield. The paper's a joke and as Snowie say, a REAL newspaper would have followed this story and reported it word for word.