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