Great post. After reading the memories came flooding back.

We all have wonderful memories of Belle Vue, the grand old lady of rugby league. For me it's going with my dad aged 6, and getting bit by the rugby league/Trinity bug.

All the young kids would run on and get the bits of rag holding up the players socks at the end of the game. I remember chasing after, and catching, Fletcher. The players never refused!

My dad died this year and I feel most closest to him at Belle Vue, so that game will be incredibly emotional, but I suspect that I will be in good company with my fellow 'Dreadnoughts', as I think we will all shed a tear on that day.

Our future will be wonderful, but it is good, and quite proper, that we remember and celebrate the past.

Once again thanks for a great post Clan!

I've got a bagfull of memories from Belle Vue, the very first is of attending a game with my dad and being totaly uninterested in the game I spent an hour sliding down the hand barriers at the back of the old south stand. I remember watching Andrew and Paul play in Trinity's A team while sitting in the old west stand and then watching from the east stand as Andrew tore Sts, Leeds, Widnes and the like to shreds during his first full year as a 1st teamer.

I remember my first ever training session at Trinity as a 15 year old and watching the likes of Lampy, toppo and co training nearby, from there there was the Colts magnificent year under Trevor Bailey and making my first team debut against Leigh where I cover tackled Des Drummond (shock) into touch.

Playing and training alongside the likes of Wally Lewis, Mark Graham, Steve Ella, Ray Price and the game against HullFC where Wally & Peter Sterling made their debuts on opposing sides. I'd be lying if I did'nt admit to walking on the pitch and imagining Neil Fox, Harold Poynton and Derek Turner doing the same and shaking my head that I just trod in their footsteps.

Watching Trinity as a supporter again and feeling the hurt of bad defeats and poor performances then the resurgence under Andrew which lead to the Grand Final and Super League. The million pound match with cas and the eerie ten minutes of silence for Leon Walker!

Maybe ther'll be something from this coming season to rival those memories of the past, I hope so.

Can't knock you for your sentiments Clan. Well said Mate

Great post as ever Clan.

Truth is if there had been any other way we would have stopped at BV but the world has moved on.

For those of us who remember RL the old winter way will always hold the place dear. Not just BV either but all the other grounds that have or will shortly disapear. The loss of BV probably really does spell the end of the pie'n'peas Bovril era. Don't think any ground in RL demonstrates all that was both good and bad about the old game, it certainly polarizes opinions like no other ground. I even suspect that a fair few away fans will miss the nostalgia that BV offers.

For me this is real mixed emotions stuff. Even though I have been at the forefront of campaigning for a new stadium I'm not sure it will be my cup of tea. However I've had my moments and the new stadium is all about the future of the club and bringing new hope to new fans and this sadly is something the old girl could never do.

For me it will certainly be a very sad day indeed when the last game takes place, and I don't think I will be alone. That said I'm sure an opening day win at Newmarket will soon get me on side

I like that bit. Well done you. I share that sentiment, no matter how much I know we need to move on.

I think all new stadia, and buildings alike, can be a little 'cold' at first. It will require some 'living in' and the creation of a new set of memories. Once they start, then we will all begin to warm to it, but we must remember that this will not be built for the wishes of all of us - we would watch in a mud bath - it is for the ones who won't come to BV and hopefully they will come and begin to populate their own memory banks and start to feel that attachment to Trinity!



I wonder if there is anyway of incorporating something from BV into the new stadia - it's a shame we don't have a commemorative gate or something.

It's a shame the pitch isn't transferable.

We've got that inflatable wildcat tunnel thingy!





I'd love to see the old scoreboard in there. But remind me... was it "home, visitors, T, G, D" or "Trinity, visitors, T, G, D"? (I'm sure it was the former, but you know how it is... Friday night, had a few...)

cut your ties, no need filling the new stadium with old, if we are going to move lets do it right

Ted has said that the pitch will be dug up and transferred to newmarket,best pitch in RL

and so it should, it wouldn't cost too much more

The pitch is just grass - it's the 3' below which makes it - and in transferring it we would disturb it and that would render it's value almost worthless.

I would love to have a go though!

Who do you class as old?

Agree with all the above.

Just like to point out that when the four of us started SWAG the original hope was to upgrade BV. There was not one of us who wanted to leave, ditto the board. However it quickly became apparent that if we were to give the club a viable future which included new fans and investors there was only one way forward.

As TRB says I'd be happy to go to BV forever but clearly nowhere near enough Wakefield residents shared that opinion. At the end of the day the club should never be run at the whim of individuals and SWAG were certainly never going to follow an agenda that put the needs of ourselves above the needs of the club. Radical action was required IMHO and hopefully the potential needs of the future majority were put ahead of the needs of the existing and eventual minority.

I think the saddest thing of all which clearly demonstrates how far BV has fallen is that in all honesty (the pitch aside) there isn't one item in the ground worth rescuing. Says it all for me.

I'd like to incorperate something of BV into the new ground but frankly I can't think what. Let's hope the Architects use a little bit of imagination and give the stadium some degree of originality to set it above the recent shed like look of new grounds.

Have to agree, as sad as it is for the "die-hards" to accept even the younger ones of us (under 40) can't carry the club forever. We need new blood. My nephew is a prime example, born into a family of "die-hards" which already goes back 3 generations (1940's I think- would be interesting to trace actually) & we have lost the 4th generation!
He never caught the bug at BV. He can't see the game, we stand so if he wants to sit down it has to be the ground and in busy games the poor lad almost gets crushed! He loves away games to the big stadiums (Hull FC being a family favourite) but shows no interest in coming to home games. Despite having shirts & ST's bought...

NM will reinvigorate the whole community, even those with a passing interest will come just to see the stadium- & that's when our challenge begins, we've got to hook them. NM will give us the tools we need to move on.

What about our state of the art new scoreboard that I can't see from where I usually stand!!

I'd prefer to take the old one.

Just off the top of my head....
Have a fans vote on their favourite home game (Million pound game for me) the winning suggestions final score is fixed on there and taken with us. A new lick of paint and find a prominent place in our new home.
Maybe have it mounted onto oak and varnished to keep it looking presentable for decades to come and fix it onto one of the outside faces of the stand???

Wakefield 29
Castleford 17
16 September 2006

How about not putting lightbulbs in the bogs ?

If i may say thats a point thats sadly overlooked at times.

Uptoncat you would have seen the scoreboard this morning. Passed the Ground at 3am and it was fully lit up!!