Sandal Cat wrote:
In my opinion I think it's unlikely. If the league is expanded then as Chissett says why would the Chairmen of the A & B licences take a cut in money to accommodate another 2 clubs unless SKY put more in which again is unlikely.
You are alot closer to information on the new stadium and I'll wait until we hear something tomorrow in the Express but I don't think we can underestimate the serious position we, Castleford and Salford are in.
The last round of franchises there was a view that Widnes and Toulouse would be in as well as Celtic and Salford at the expense of 2 existing clubs. Fortunately that was not the case but I fear it may well be next time.
Ourselves, Castleford and Salford all got in on the back of promises of new Stadiums. Salfords plans collapsed and they are now looking at a more modest plan but I don't know what stage they are at. Despite what some may say Castleford have not moved any closer and whilst like us the Council are putting land into a trust so that funds can be borrowed they still are a long way off securing all the funding to build a stadium.
Our original plan at Thornes collapsed and we now have Stanley. We have no planning permission yet, we have a community trust, a Developer and maybe the funding (some better connected than me will know) but it will be a tall order for work to have commenced to meet the 2011 application. There is no way any of us 3 will get a franchise for 2012 on the back of more promises.
I know I'm probably panicing but I really fear for us and Castleford and I can see one or both of us missing out. I really believe (unless someone in the know convinces me otherwise) that we need to seriously get our heads together with Castleford and the Council about jointly developing a Community Stadium that we can both have equal shares in. I cannot see us both securing funding for 2 stadiums only 2 junctions apart on the M62.
The problem would be where. I still believe that Stanley is a viable option for both Clubs as its equidistant from both Wakefield City Centre and Castleford Town Centre. I know Casleford fans will have difficulty with this and someone off their board will come on and say why not Glasshoughton as its in both "Wakey and Cas" but Stanley is in "Wakey". I wish someone would explain that to me - both Glasshoughton & Stanley are in Wakefield MDC but Glasshoughton is around 1m from Castleford and around 7m from Wakefield but Stanley is the same distance from Wakefield and Castleford.
I know this post will not be popular amongs many fans of both clubs but I genuinely believe to secure both our futures we both need to talk with the Council and come up with something that secures both our futures or one of us and possibly both of us may lose out to Widnes and Toulouse.
You've hit the nail on the head. Everyone seems to be placing our continued position in SL on ifs and buts. The simple truth is that if we have a REAL stadium, that we can actually play in, our SL place is guaranteed for life. We can have plans, planning permission, pretty artists impressions or whatever floats your boat but unless we have all the funds in place and the stadium is built they count for nothing. The smoke screen they create for our license application will only last for so long.
The only way I can see us getting the funds is if us and Cas get together, in whatever guise you want. However I get the feeling that when one or both of us gets kicked out this is the only point when both clubs and people will realise what they should have done.
Do people really think that if the RFL/SL get the chance to throw us out then they are going to decline it? We survived before, by the skin of our teeth, because the other options were limited and not quite good enough. The competition for our place is increasing year on year and the other applications get better. Whilst other application get better we have little chance of improving ours other than finishing higher. At some point we are going to find that someone overtakes us and it won't just be one club.
We were taking the mick last night saying there hadn't been an artists impression yet in the wakey Express. Seen that many over the years that Wakey should look more like Hollywood if any of them had ever come to anything more than a nice drawing!
