The North terrace isn't just being covered it's being completely demolished, flattened and rebuilt with a roof over it!
Four major points stand out for me,
1. We will have a grade 'B' stadium (very close to Grade 'A') ready to go for the beginning of the 2012 season. THIS IS WHAT THE RFL WERE PROMISED WE WOULD HAVE WHEN WE WERE AWARDED A FRANCHISE IN 2008!
we will have fulfilled that promise albeit by modifying Belle Vue rather than moving to Newmarket.
2. Belle Vue will be ready for business before or at the very worst at the same time as Salfords and St Helens new stadiums. As we know those clubs are largely believed to be out of the firing line because they will have complied with new stadium requirements by the 2012 deadline and so will we.
3. New Craven Park (HKR) is viewed by the RFL as more compliant than Belle Vue solely because of the temporary stands that they erected to improve it pending their permanent improvements.
The upgrading of Belle Vue will far surpass those changes made at New Craven Park and our proposed permanent improvement will also surpass theirs because ours is a completely new stadium at Newmarket.
4. Having delivered on stadia requirements the only blight on our record is Administration, we have already been punished for that and cannot be punished for it again. We will score low on the 'Financial' element of the appraisal but even that will be mitigated by the change of ownership and the stability the new owner has brought.
Other factors in our favour are:
* The ability to spend the full cap next year if we remain in SL, significantly only the seventh club in SL to do so!
* The high profile TV advertising campeign which has gone down extremely well at Red Hall.
* Community Dept, I know it's well known but it really is highly regarded and it's one of the reasons for the next factor on the list
* The RFL do not want Wakefield out of SL! Contrary to popular opinion the governing body have helped Wakefield wherever they can and would dearly love to have a strong Wakefield club competing in SL. What they didn't want was a hamstrung club limping from embarrassment to disaster. I know, straight from the horses mouth at Red Hall, that the RFL see a strong Wakefield, spending the cap and in a new stadium as their best possibility of adding another club to the likes of Warrington, Hull, Sts and the rest.
One final point that's not been mentioned much since last night, the Spirit of 1873 Club will help to finance the creation of the best youth recruitment and Academy set up in the game. It will also help Wakefield Trinity retain it's outstanding home produced tallent, so no more Skerretts to Hull, Kelly's to HKR, Maskills, Spencers or Ellis's to Leeds, Wrights to Wigan, Westwoods to Warrington or Broughs to Huddersfield. How many times have we lamented the loss of these players and wondered how good we would have been if we weren't forced to sell them.
It's really really a good thing that we have this initiative and apart from the weekly draws we just might help to build the home grown team we've often imagined we could have!
