As I've said on a couple of other posts... the one thing that I find very interesting about this is that just a couple of weeks ago John Wilkinson attended a residents meeting near the site of the proposed stadium at Barton.

It was reported by a number of fans that attended that meeting that the RFL had been in conversation with Salford and had warned them that if there was no actual building work started by the end of the year then they would not look favorably on the next franchise application from them.

I did wonder whether similar conversations had taken place with the other likely lads.

Only a couple of weeks later and it looks like the RFL could well be formalizing these conversations and maybe setting expectations.
The end of the year is not far away at all seeing as we are nearly into August.

This sounds highly likely and fair. Unlike the other [iat risk [/iclubs mentioned, Salford are very weak on the field too.

FWIW, I hope that Wakefield do get a new ground, but given the balance of the criteria applied at this moment, if they don't it should not be enough on it's own to cut them from SL.

Not read all this thread, but IMO Cas and Wakey should be made to groundshare in a purpose built stadium between the two towns, why should their council stump up for two seperate grounds? It makes no sense.

TAKE COVER!!!!

Finally, their 10 million traveling army will get to see their home games aswell

The obvious club to demote is Salford, their ground is dreadful, their crowds are poor, their on field results are poor they have been given a licence by telling blatant lies. It is disgraceful that a "Super League" club attracted a smaller crowd when they played Huddersfield, than York did against Oldham in the same week.

Seems a tad harsh for people to be picking on Wakefield in the week they've just turned over mighty Saints at Knowsley Road.

Surely RESULTS count for something - or have we gone totally mad in this great game of ours ?

Have they really????

Do tell........

Indeed they do. But not everything.

They used to under a vintage way of life called promotion and relegation.. it was mad but it used to award teams that performed well and the teams that didn't were demoted accordingly... still best now that's all gone by the way.

I'd go further and say while they are playing at the same ground they could cut costs by halving the number of players and staff and calling themselves "Castlefield Wild Tigers" or "Wakeford Trinity". If they played it cleverly and organised the inevitable 'protests'

for the same day as their scheduled home fixtures the club would sell out every week and it'd look very passionate on Sky.

But seriously, as the warnings from the RFL point out with no new stadiums there really is no place in "Super League" for Wakefield, Salford, Celtic, Castleford, St Helens or Hull KR.

Toulouse and Widnes are coming in for 2010 so if I were a Salford or Wakefield supporter I'd start buying bricks from B&Q and start the work myself.

Well you’ve caught me, the stadiums are not being financed by Wakefield Council, they are loaning land to the clubs to use as a guarantee to help raise funds. Although this land is valuable, the council can not afford to develop it any time soon. This way the council still retain land and also help to build two stadiums that should benefit both the City and the Town respectively. Wakefields will be available for the whole district to use, not sure whether Castleford’s will but they have a swimming pool which is to be included in the complex.

Crusaders will almost certainly be moving to Newport next year.

The ground is a vast improvement on Brewery Field and has plans in place to redevelop in stages which should start soon. We could either stay there as it will be a state of the art 15,000 seater or move back to Bridgend if the new ground their materialises.

Do you think with the lack of relegation from Super League the season is flat??
I remember watching as a neutral the game a couple of years ago between Cas and Wakey to decide who drops down.. What an event, the tension even as a neutral was unbearable. And now we have lost all of that.. pity

i dont like clubs who promise stuff that never gets delivered.

franchising is about clubs improving. wakey are going backwards.

salford are another club who made a mockery of the franchising process.

wakeys crowds for a heartland club are not good enough for SL.

any number of NL1 sides could do the same / better job.

i judge expansion teams differently to heartland ones so with quins and celtic, as long as they dont go broke, ill leave them alone

Not 100% definite then? Much like Cas/Salford/Wakey

Until a brick is laid, nobody is any further in front or behind.

why does a groundshare imply a merger?

thats just paranoid thinking.

hopefully 10 years on when franchising really works and you have lots of strong SL clubs it will make up for the odd exciting relegation battle.

Why do people go on about a game with very little skill that was between two teams that were far inferior to any other in the league that year and crammed full of imported talent? The final of Britains got talent or the X-factor has tension but it doesn't stop them both being cack



The point of Licencing is to stop teams coming up, buying second rate australians who come over here for a pension and then going back down pretty sharpish. Wendy Viking....don't fret. You will be in SL next time round and then you won't give a to55 about the championship!

Well for me I watched an equally tense match at BV two weeks ago. Granted the stakes were not as high but it did not detract from the enjoyment I got from the game. .

The council aren't funding either ground - welcome to 2008

No bricks need to be laid.

The club are virtually crossing the I's and dotting the T's on a move to Rodney Parade which leaves the other clubs behind.

Are they not providing the land for both projects?

That's crazy, why not just pool the resources and make the best possible facilities or the region inbetween the two towns?

Don't talk stupid!

=violetThat's good of you

So from the sounds of it, the council aren't putting any money into either project.. they are simply providing some collateral (the land) against which Cas and Wakey can gain funding themselves..

Is that about right??