This appeared on the Eagles website last night I have a couple of comments

Why no mention of our proposed new stadium if this was going ahead why not mention it !!

Why no mention of the Hallam Uni Bawtry Road complex it sounds like that is a non starter

I am going play devils advocate and will be probably shot down in flames but could there be a bit of history repeating with the possibility of a merger with Doncaster or cash strapped Wakefield !! Hopefully this will not happen but if we cant play in Sheffield we could not survive on attendances of a couple of hundred and we may have no alternative !!!

Statement from Sheffield Eagles Chief Executive Mark Aston PDF Print E-mail
Written by Sheffield Eagles
Friday, 06 September 2013 20:00


Statement from Sheffield Eagles Chief Executive Mark Aston:

“As Chief Executive of Sheffield Eagles RLFC I am now massively concerned about our ability to continue to play within the City of Sheffield.”

“I, the Board of Directors and many others have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to provide the most suitable base for the club and our supporters and we have explored every option within Sheffield.”

“With the impending closure of Don Valley Stadium the Eagles and Sheffield Athletics are left without a home.”

“The athletics, helped by significant investment from Sheffield City Council will be relocated to Woodburn Road Stadium, in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University.”

“This is fantastic for them but what about Sheffield Eagles?”

“We are continuing to work as hard as we can to ensure our future in the City and after reforming the club over 13 years ago it would be a great disappointment to move outside of Sheffield.”

“We are proud to be called the Sheffield Eagles and play in this fantastic City. The success in the past 13 years has been outstanding, rising from the bottom of the then National League Two, to become the current Championship Champions.”

“This has been coupled with the great work undertaken within the community and in our Youth Performance pathways which are providing the opportunity for kids in the City to play Rugby League.

“Examples of our success are Eddie Battye making 14 appearances this season for the first team and Cory Aston and Lee Sanders making their first team debuts, all locally developed players.

“Please be assured that all efforts are being made to find the best location for everyone connected with Sheffield Eagles.”

I share your concerns. Personally I don't think a merger with either Wakefield or Doncaster will work - our identity would inevitably be subsumed by theirs.

Also I never thought that the new stadium would go ahead - it was always too vague and nebulous. Like you I am surprised that nothing appears to be happening re Bawtry Road.

What next I dread to think but I fear for the club's continued long term existence.

Would Rotherham be an temp option either the old or new football ground or sharing with Rotherham RU?

Rotherham FC refused to let Rotherham RUFC to play at the New York Stadium so that is a non starter as is playing at Clifton Lane because they share the pitch with the Cricket Team. Milnmoor is an interesting suggestion it was always rundown but i would hate to think of the state of it now without being used for four or five years i dont know the full story with why Rotherham moved to Don Valley but i guess they were not good landlords

I did hear (from a former Titans Committee member) that Rotherham Titans were thinking of moving to Millmoor but nothing has come of it so i don't think it is an option for the Eagles either.

Chesterfield have a nice little stadium just on the edge of the town which might be worth considering (but maybe I am being a little selfish - it is easier for me to get to than DVS.)

What puzzles me somewhat is that, if I remember correctly, Bramall Lane were willing to host however many "home" matches "Shuddersfield" were allocated to Sheffield. Now, like most of Sheffield if we are being honest, they don't want to know us. Why?

I think they dont want their pitch to get ruined I believe they have said we can play there permanently if we fund or put a lot of money towards a Desso Pitch like they have at Doncaster a quick google search suggests it costs 750K to lay a new pitch so thats going to be a non starter and to honest even if they take 50% of gate money they will only make 100K a year (1,000 x 13 matches x £15). When there turnover is 6 Million a year (15,000 x 23 matches x £1icon_cool.gif Why would they want us playing there. I would be happy to play at Chesterfield they dont have a desso pitch but as it is a newish stadium so it should be of a good standard and average crowds of 5,000 so may be interested in some extra income

A few of us went to see bawtry road on the way home from the donny game on sunday to be quite honest it was hard to visualize it as a place for us to play, all thats there at the minute is half a built building, a field and not much else plus there didn't look much in the way of any sort of parking facilities or potential parking facilities.

I like greybeard fear for the clubs long term existence but there's nothing much we can do except hope and pray for the best

All in all it's a complete shambles a city like Sheffield is seemingly unable to house it's rugby league team

As for the options going forward Millmoor? does mr booth still own it? if so i think he would want a small fortune for anyone to move in i remember rotherham united have problems with this, but is close enough to sheffield

chesterfield? i'd (reluctantly) settle for that good stadium and like rotherham is as close to sheffield as can be

If we end up leaving sheffield I will be absolutely gutted

You need to listen to this interview with Tubby as well as read the statement https://t.co/rypdGq7SQc As far as I understand it the club have been considering all the possibilities in the Sheffield area from as soon as the closure of Don Valley was announced, and will have looked closely into all the possibilities raised here. Until last week they were aiming to move to Hallam Uni's Bawtry Road site, while waiting for the complex proposed by Richard Caborn to be built. However, funding for that is still a long way from being secured. As most of the money which keeps Eagles going comes from the sponsors it is essential that any regular home ground can provide facilities for them and their guests. This limits the possibilities. I don't know if there is anything fans can do, would it help to lobby anyone, if so who? Although the problem has been mentioned on Look North and the BBC website there is nothing about it on Star's site, so we need to make more people aware. Perhaps we'll then find whether Sheffield really wants rugby league. As a start I am going to contact my councillors and MP to let them know that some of their constituents are concerned. If Sheffield does lose the Eagles it will be a tragedy to waste all the effort and hard work that many people, in particular Tubby, have put in over the years.

You need to listen to this interview with Tubby as well as read the statement https://t.co/rypdGq7SQc As far as I understand it the club have been considering all the possibilities in the Sheffield area from as soon as the closure of Don Valley was announced, and will have looked closely into all the possibilities raised here. Until last week they were aiming to move to Hallam Uni's Bawtry Road site, while waiting for the complex proposed by Richard Caborn to be built. However, funding for that is still a long way from being secured. As most of the money which keeps Eagles going comes from the sponsors it is essential that any regular home ground can provide facilities for them and their guests. This limits the possibilities. I don't know if there is anything fans can do, would it help to lobby anyone, if so who? Although the problem has been mentioned on Look North and the BBC website there is nothing about it on Star's site, so we need to make more people aware. Perhaps we'll then find whether Sheffield really wants rugby league. As a start I am going to contact my councillors and MP to let them know that some of their constituents are concerned. If Sheffield does lose the Eagles it will be a tragedy to waste all the effort and hard work that many people, in particular Tubby, have put in over the years.

Crowds aren't big enough. it's not worth the hassle to them.

Also at the start of last season they had 3 ground staff of which 2 were made redundant (or so i'm led to believe)

I was wandering about ref "I am now massively concerned about our ability to continue to play within the City of Sheffield".
Is there a Plan B outside of Sheffield ?

It doesn't sound like it as of yet, I presume they have been trying everywhere in Sheffield before thinking about looking else where.

"As most of the money which keeps Eagles going comes from the sponsors it is essential that any regular home ground can provide facilities for them and their guests. This limits the possibilities. "

They are probably working on plan B at the moment my choices would be

1) Chesterfield FC I know it is not in South Yorkshire but is just over the border nice modern stadium with plenty of car parking
2) Barnsley FC This has not been mentioned before but they probably dont need the money and the hassle
3) Wakefield RLFC again not been mentioned before and I feel that this is the most likely option because Wakefield need the money although its in west yorkshire its easy to get to by car virtually motorway all the way and we will get more away fans but attendances would be low
4) Merge with Doncaster to become South Yorkshire, Playing the majority of the matches at the Keepmoat this was planned in 1995 but had lots of opposition and will probably will do again
5) Sheffield Eagles RIP

1) I would imagine they would have us for a few games
2)Cant see it for the reasons you've mentioned
3)give it six months tops and then it would be curtains
4)Never going to happen, anyone connected to doncaster would laugh in our faces at the idea (and quite rightly so)
5) I dare not say


Only two city journalists have mentioned the predicament we're in, the eagles facebook page has posted a couple of email addresses for local media so fans can voice there concerns
If it becomes forgotten news we will become a forgotten club

1) Definitely worth exploring
2) Possibly
3) A no no for me
4) Never in a million years
5) I hope not but fear it may come to pass.

I assume that approaches have been made to both Sheffield RUFC and Sheffield Tigers RUFC. The latter is probably a non-starter for a variety of reasons, not least the climate up on Dore Moor!

Has Mount St Mary's been considered - we did play Dewsbury there a season or two back.

Are we assuming that a new stadium will be built (a forlorn hope in my view)? In this case a peripatetic existence for a couple of seasons may be possible. Would Woodbourne Road be acceptable?

The pity of all this is that no matter how much work Mark and the other staff (and all credit to them for that, as well as producing the best team we have had for years) put in to publicise the Eagles, Sheffield doesn't want to know.