Because in my opinion what few fans we still have will fall away to under 1,000 and I just think it will be a slow lingering death, poor gates low income, poor team, no investors - viscious circle - until the end. Also where will we play ? We have by all accounts sold Belle Vue (we'll find out more tommorow at the Shareholders Meeting I hope) so we have no home.

I see your point about Oakwell but I genuinely believe that if we are sucessfull with a franchise application based on Oakwell until Newmarket is built for a season the fans will accept this and travel the 9 miles to Barnsley and for all the reasons I have mentioned earlier I think we could make it work. I agree it will not work in the long term but in the short term it can. The Club could put on buses from Wakefield to Oakwell on Match Days and include transport to and from Wakefield in a packaged (subsidised) price.

As I have said we can agree to disagree but the decision on our future will be made by those at Red Hall, not ourselves like it used to be.

So let's see.



Wakefield submit an application based on playing at Oakwell - SL Standard stadium

Cas submit their application based on playing in a stadium at Glasshoughton that hasn't moved on in 3 years.

Why would the RFL believe that Glasshoughton will be ready for 2012? Because Richard Wright said so???


I don't know what will happen but I do know if the RFL look at it honestly (which might be where the problem comes), our application based on Oakwell satisfies the stadium criteria better than Cas's.

nice responce and I hope some chance of a positive conclusion ! Untill there is a 100% answer and definate plan this is a good option in my opinion !

As for it not being working in wakefield and people wont travel up to 10 miles to see their so called beloved team ! ask yourself a question "do yo want us to be in SL or would you like to read in the press that we are no more "? for me , true die hards and supporters will go to any length to keep the flag flying and keep our colours in the right league and well supported !

In short do what you personally can do ! if thats going to Barnsley for a while then so be it and be possitive !!

For a start, where would we play in NL, there's no chance that we could afford to rent any where to play in that division.The only chance we have is going to Oakwell, I cannot see any other alternative but to arrange the next 3 years in Oakwell and hope in the next year we get the nod on Newmarket then a year to build and then move in. I can't see any other way, but to get behind it and try to make it work.

as shifty cat said we would have no home, support would come to an all time low,

at least if we went into administration the RFL could lend us £700 k to get over our plight

you see this is where you are missing the point, you are trying to pursuade the RFL to award you a licence but you dont even have a home, you will be the NOMADS of SL!!

to be honnest i cant believe your comments re "why would the RFL believe Glasshoughton will be ready for 2012" - it is surely simple, they will be privy to information such as contract programmes, completion dates, progress status of the construction, this is something Cas canot lie about and it will be information made available to the RFL. so in short, no it wont matter one bit what dickie says to the RFL, they will be satisfied by what the Main Contractor tell them! the RFL may even be invited to attend site and partake in weekly progress meetings!!

also what relevence does the fact Glasshoughtone, in your opinion, has not moved on in 3 years have anything to do with the licence awards? seriously, nothing. all that matters is the status of it now and i think it is fair to say it is full steam ahead.

maybe if WTWRL had tried harder t develop their own stadium and not go cap in hand to anyoine and everyone pleading for help i.e. york courts, to build a community stadium for you to use then you may be in charge of your own destiny, maybe it was too much hard work for your club!!!

We don't have a home!!

In that case neither do Wigan, Huddersfield, Hull, Harlequins, Crusaders and anybody else that rents their stadium.

We would have a lease agreement in place just like those clubs do.


As for the relevance of Glasshoughton not moving on in 3 years, seriously do you think it has no relevance?? Face facts, Cas do not have the money to build the stadium they have planned (at least not all in one go). You may start building but if you don't have the funds to complete it then where will you be.

Stadia are the be all and end all as far as Superleague are concerned. We will be playing in a Superleague standard stadium, you will be playing in an incomplete stadium. Which is best??? And before you go back to the "yes but it will be our stadium and yours won't be" rubbish, I refer you back to the list of clubs that currently play in rented/leased stadia.

It's not unrealistic to expect that the PI will be complete by the time that the franchise decisions are being made. The RFL are bound to keep an eye on what happens with the PI even after the franchise application has been submitted - after all, there's no way they're going to award us a new franchise if the outcome of the PI goes against us.

I don't know what more you think WT could have done about plans for a new stadium. We were close to submitting plans for a new stadium that could be financed by the club before WMDC askekd us to scrap that in favour of Thornes Park. With the time that had passed before WMDC decided to scrap those plans, the cost of both land & development had increased to the extent that it was no longer financially viable for a stand alone stadium development.

After first being able to demonstrate to the new Cheif Exec of WMDC that they had led us up the garden path about TP (after the Cas supporting council leader had tried to make her believe that WMDC had had no influence over Wakey's plight at that time) we then did the same thing that Cas have done - find a developer with land available for a stadium that was willing to work in partnership with us to deliver a new ground that would secure our respective SL futures.

RDMclose to submitting plans for a new stadium that could be financed by the club before WMDC askekd us to scrap that in favour of Thornes Park"

Sorry, that is not what TRB said on here last week. He clearly stated that not even a feasibility study had been undertaken. Where have you come by your information? There are so many different stories doing the rounds that it's hard to pick any truth out of any of them - this is due to the void left by the absence of any official word coming from the club. I suspect that revealing what actually happens in many of the clubs dealings with other entities would be so embarrasing to the club that they prefer to keep silent about the many debacles we, the fans, have to endure. I agree with JT - there is no-one at the club capable of delivering a project of this scale.

Which is exactly why the Community Trust are working with Yorkcourt rather than trying to go it alone.

As for where my understanding of the background came from - it was discussed in a meeting I had with the club in a previous job.

That just makes things worse. Whoever made that decision should be shot as they are responsible for our current plight. Thornes Park was never going to happen anyone could see that.

Agreed. Trouble is we are Wakefield and taking the cheapest option is always favoured, even when it is clear it will cost more in the long run

First, I want to make it clear that what I'm about to write is from a business perspective rather than an opinion about the actual individuals involved.

At the time the decision was made the choice was between a stadium of our own that we would be fully responsible for acquiring the land & the cost of the development plus having to bring the council onside in terms of planning OR a stadium that would be built by the council on land it already owned and as part of a wider sports development that by its nature would be fully supported by the council. Although we wouldn't have to cover the full costs we would (reasonably IMHO) be expected to contribute some of the sale proceeds from BV into the project.

When looked at in that context and knowing that while the club could probably support the level of debt necessary to build our own stadium at the time (costs have obviously increased considerably since) it would still be a big burden that wouldn't give a great deal of flexibility in our cash flows, it was - IMHO - a perfectly sound decision that remains just as sensible today as it did then.

The problem with looking back at previous decisions is that while hindsight is 20:20, foresight is a much trickier task. Every single one of us has made bad decisions in our life, but I'm sure that we've also tried to make the best of how those decisions worked out. This is exactly what the club are trying to do now and is why I think we should all be supporting whatever decision is made.

Once our SL future is known, I'm certain that the long-term future of the club will soon be sorted too. I've said on other threads that anyone looking to invest in the club to replace Ted would only realistically do so when we know what competion we'll be in for 2012 for the simple fact that it would cost them a lot less if we weren't going to be in SL.

Ted knows that he's taken the club as far as he can and so do the majority of fans - including me - but right now there's no point in calling for his head on a daily basis because there is NOBODY wanting to take over and inject money at the moment.

The problem with Barnsley FC is we have a marketing department that is nonexistent and incompetent as it is at Wakefield. If the idiots that run our club would open their eyes they would see that Barnsley has many floating RL fans who attend RL matches at Featherstone Cas Leeds Bradford and Wakefield
The fact is we cannot market the club in Wakefield let alone 9 miles up the road