Castleford admit their stadium is holding them back – it fails in 10 areas
CASTLEFORD admit their Wheldon Road stadium in its current state is holding them back.
And they concede it is not meeting Super League standards in TEN different areas.
The Tigers – currently second bottom of Super League – hope to revamp the ageing ground in a £14.2 million scheme, replacing the current main stand with a modern facility, while also refurbishing the other three.
And in a letter to Wakefield Council, chief executive Mark Grattan spelled out the problems, especially now IMG’s grading criteria are on the horizon.
He said: “Wheldon Road no longer provides facilities that are fit for purpose and this is holding back the club’s achievements on and off the pitch.
“It is costing more and more every year simply to keep from deteriorating further and as a result falls further behind all other grounds in the Super League.
“There is no hope of Castleford Tigers achieving Grade A status without either a new stadium or substantially upgraded Wheldon Road.
“The club will therefore be under threat of relegation every year whilst their main competitors with better stadium facilities will not be.
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“This in turn will make it harder to secure high quality players and long term sponsorship deals as they naturally will want the certainty provided by guaranteed top flight rugby league that without Grade A status, Castleford Tigers will not be able to offer.
“If the club were relegated from the Super League, the loss of TV money, sponsorship and gate receipts would seriously threaten its future as a full-time professional sports team.
“Without Super League status over a period of time, the long-term sustainability of the club and the wide ranging benefits it delivers to the community cannot be guaranteed. This would be catastrophic for the town and its residents.”
Reports for Castleford’s application also detail just how far behind the current stadium is.
They add: “Wheldon Road fails to meet the current Super League standards in the following areas: 1. minimum number of seats – 2,000 required and only 1,500 provided.
“2. Disabled facilities – 20 required and only 10 can be provided with unrestricted views; 3. floodlighting – 1,200 lux required and 1,020 lux provided.
“4. Player changing rooms do not meet the minimum 40 sq. m required; 5. separate match official rooms with separate showers and of a minimum of eight sq. m are not provided.
“6. No segregated access is provided from the boardroom to the directors’ seats; 7. minimum corporate lounge capacity of 200 required and only 180 provided; 8. corporate seating areas not separate from main public areas.
“9. No wider seats with arm rests provided for corporate lounges and, 10. media facility requirements not complied with.
“If the ground was described as archaic 21-years ago and has received no material investment since, it says a lot about the current state of the ground.”
Castleford hope to get the go ahead for the stadium scheme, which depends on permission for the Axiom employment development, which would create about 2,200 jobs, being granted.