20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 9:11 am  

If my maths are correct it is nearly 20 years since our first game at the HJ. When I think about it that time has flown by when I realise that I have watched us at the HJ almost as long as at Wilderspool.

So what were fans hopes and expectations from the move to the HJ. And have those hopes been realized.

I wasn't born when we won the challenge cup in the 1970's so the heartache of growing up and getting beat by the mighty Wigan in semi finals and finals meant I was desperate to see a win at Wembley.

In 2004 the play off system and Grand final was in it's infancy but it was starting to grate on me that Wigan, Saints, Bradford and Leeds would be at the end of season party whilst I was battling with the wife on Saturday nights in September and October to see if we were watching Rugby League or the X Factor / Pop Idol.

Be interesting to read what people's thoughts were at the time as we were about to move into our "sexy" new stadium.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:32 am  

The last Wilderspool years coincided with me taking my young kids with their Wolfpack season tickets. At times it was horrible, standing in the rain with poor views for them. If we went under cover, they couldn't see over people, so the move was very welcome.
I wonder if the old codgers living nearby that were vocal in objecting to the new stadium ever had their fears confirmed.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 12:32 pm  

Despite Wilderspool being the home of my RL education I don’t miss it. HJ is a massive improvement. The only old ground I really miss is visiting Central Park which always looked to my young eyes as a cathedral of RL.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:18 pm  

You’ve brought back memories of walking the perimeter of the new stadium every week to watch the build progress! It was an exciting time to be a Wire fan.

I expected / hoped the stadium would secure our future financially and allow us to challenge further up the table. Let’s not forget what the club was at the end of the Wilderspool era prior to the stadium getting approval. Undoubtedly my hopes have been realised, It convinced Simon Moran that we were stable enough for him to invest in us which brought us a level of success that previously would have been unheard of to a generation with LLS’s and challenge cups. We haven’t kicked on as we should and I think the squad was the focus of further investment and focus, when the club, academy and amateur scene should have taken a greater priority if we wanted to genuinely take ourselves to the next level.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 4:44 pm  

"So what were fans hopes and expectations from the move to the HJ. And have those hopes been realized."

I hoped it would be the beginning of the end of us being an also-ran, which has pretty much been realized.

I think by any measure the stadium move has been a huge success. Nice stadium (certainly by RL standards), great location, wasn't a big financial burden, and has been the home of plenty of great memories.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 5:05 pm  

I’ve never felt the HJ as home to be honest.
Never feels like an experience.
Just a tin box with plastic seats, hyper inflated beverages and snacks, and the most filthy toilets.
That with lacklustre performances on the pitch, makes it a tough call to find the spirit to bother going at times.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 5:13 pm  

Blimey, that's passed quickly! I loved Wilderspool, which must be because of the personal memories such as the same group of people in the Fletch who were there for most games, with the banter and camaraderie between us. That all disappeared with the move and I just didn't get the character of the HJS, which still seems soulless in comparison. I totally get the extremely uncertain times at the end of Wilderspool's life, and that we couldn't challenge the likes of Wigan, Leeds, Saints and Bradford with a capacity of only around 6k. The move had to be made, and it has been successful, other than having that elusive GF victory. It's very sad that Wilderspool is still an empty field and hasn't been repurposed to make the site live again once more. Our move was done at the optimum time, as I don't think it would have happened had we left it much longer.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 6:28 pm  

rubber duckie wrote:

I’ve never felt the HJ as home to be honest.
Never feels like an experience.
Just a tin box with plastic seats, hyper inflated beverages and snacks, and the most filthy toilets.
That with lacklustre performances on the pitch, makes it a tough call to find the spirit to bother going at times.

Short memory (and I haven’t noticed any problems with HJ toilets to be fair.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 6:54 pm  

Having watched Wakefield for nearly 50 years, take it from me your stadium is top drawer and I love going there, now we’ve got the new stand and new pitch up and running my match day experience will be a pleasant one.

Re: 20 years at the HJ stadium : Sun Jan 07, 2024 7:37 pm  

Well i watched a handful of games when i was younger at Wilderspool so don't have any real memories of it. Then i had a big break and started watching again at the start of the 2005 season. So i've only really known the HJ really, and i love it.
My hopes and expectations now is simply a Grand final win. I'd like to think i'll see it im my lifetime, but my Dad was born in 1955 so he's never seen it himself, although he's not a rugby league fan and if he did he'd support Salford.