Taken from the Doncaster Free Press website Published 30/09/2014 00:24


Sheffield Eagles may have to move out of the city

Sheffield Eagles’ season came to an end when they bowed out of the Championship playoffs at semi-final stage, but the upcoming off season is set to be one of intrigue for Mark Aston’s side.

Eagles are thought to be a part of the new Olympic Legacy Park earmarked for the site of the demolished Don Valley Stadium, the club’s old home, which will include a purpose built rugby stadium from 2016.

Basketball outfit Sheffield Sharks – currently based at the English Institute of Sport – could also be set to call the new venue home.

Richard Caborn will front a press conference tomorrow outlining more details of the park, which will also have a strong emphasis on education, including a University Technical College, a school and high involvement from Hallam University.

[iIn the meantime, the Rugby Football League have recently revealed that, as of next season, it will be a requirement for all Championship stadia to contain at least 1500 seats, which rules out the possibility of Eagles continuing to use Owlerton Stadium, or their training base at Bawtry Road.

With neither professional football club in the city thought to be keen on accommodating the Eagles on a season-long basis, it could be a case of the club moving out of Sheffield in the short-term until their new stadium, which they have longed for since the club was relaunched in 2000, is ready for business in 2016.

[uThey recently hosted a playoff match at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium, and one possible solution could be a ground share there[/u.[/i

On the field, a 21-12 defeat to Featherstone Rovers ended the Eagles’ hopes of reaching a fourth consecutive Championship Grand Final. Aston’s team gave themselves a mountain to climb with a 21-0 half-time deficit, but Aston reflected on the 2014 campaign with pride.

He said: “We’ve been outstanding at the back end of the season; we just came a bit unstuck at Featherstone.

“I’m immensely proud of them; they’ve got their mojo back and they had a dig. We didn’t let a point in during the second half on Sunday, which shows the commitment and the attitude of the players.”

He added: “Now we have to rebuild and refocus. There were times in the season where you wondered where we were going and what we were doing, but they have turned it around and I’d like to thank them all for that.”


[size=150No Gavin Baldwin, No!.[/size

From what I hear, Oakwell is a better shout..

My thought was that New York Stadium in Rotherham would have been ideal.

Seen as they are currently trying to half inch 25K off of us I sincerely hope they don't ground share and will be extremely disappointed with the decision makers of they do.

Considering the problems we have with home matches during the Rovers' close season, I can't see where the Seagulls will fit in.

The old chestnut about the teams merging will no doubt come up again in the circumstances but as far as I'm concerned must NEVER happen.

theres only drfc that can answer that and they will do whats in the interest of their pocket but if it was up to me i would never happen

Completely out of our hands, fans won't be considered, but as said, with the problems we have with fixture scheduling, can't see it happening. Think Donny has it right in saying oakwell.

Doncaster Rovers and Ourselves are the same entity now, so our interests should be their interests. Sporting loyalties aside, even from a business point of view by allowing an obvious competitor direct access into our customer base for however long (and lets not be under any illusions the Seagulls won't promote the hell out of it around Doncaster) just doesn't make sense unless their is enough compensation, lets say 10k a game split between the Dons and Team Doncaster Admin.

It's like Lidl being allowed to sell their wares from a Sainsbury's store for a year.




(Sheffield = Lidl in this analogy)

If I was a betting man, I'd be putting my money on the Keepmoat.

It's the firm favourite.

I've already paid for a 2015 season ticket. If I thought we were offering the Keepmoat to the Eagles, the money would still be in the bank!

I'd welcome the chance to watch an exciting side ..... lol

Only joking!

Joking? Seems fair comment to me.

Didn't aston say when we got promoted something along the lines of the teams that have come up demean the championship?

Funny how we've got a permenant home and finished 4th this season............

( Awaits appeal on above comment )

If Sheffield were to play at the keepmoat, and if I could get a half price ticket that I could use in conjunction with a £3 offer from Groupon, I may attend one of their games, providing there's nothing on the Tele, and I've already cut my grass.