Wakefield Trinity owner Matt Ellis talks Belle Vue revamp, Grand Final follow-up plan and World Club hope
Owner Matt Ellis admits Wakefield Trinity will have a “capacity issue” next year.
Trinity are expected to take around 18,000 fans to today’s (Saturday) Betfred Super League Grand Final against Warrington Wolves at Old Trafford. And if they stick with the club next year there won’t be room for them all at DIY Kitchens Stadium, Belle Vue, which currently holds fewer than 12,000.
“I was shocked to see how many [tickets] we’d sold for the semi,” Ellis admitted. “I just hope the fans who go [to Old Trafford] that are almost new to it love it and start following.”
But he warned: “We could be at 17,000 or 18,000 [for today] so we are going to have a capacity issue. It’s a tough stadium to redevelop, but if we can win it, the season tickets will fly out.
“It’s all steam to see what we can do to get the ground up. A couple of games this year we could have sold 11,000+, so let's do it.”
The new Neil Fox stand has already transformed Belle Vue, but asked how capacity can be increased, Ellis conceded: “This is the dilemma. The North [Stand] is the obvious one, the easiest one to develop, but then the West is really the one you want to develop.
“We’re an old school rugby stadium, aren’t we? The oldest rugby stadium. It’s probably going to be the North we’ve got to increase - I’d ideally do both,but probably the North.”
If Trinity do win this evening, they will face either Sydney Roosters or Penrith Panthers - who meet tomorrow in the southern hemisphere NRL Grand Final - for the World Club Challenge early next season. Ellis said he would like to stage that at either Belle Vue or Barnsley FC’s Oakwell, but Rugby League Commercial are pushing for Leeds United’s Elland Road.
When he took over the club Ellis - along with his newly-appointed coach Daryl Powell - drew up a plan to win the Grand Final within five years. That was three years ago, so what next if they are champions at 8pm tonight?
“We’re a young side so it’s not like we’re just going to drop off,” Ellis insisted. “I want to build it so it’s strong and by the time I leave here I want it to be one of the powerhouses. You don’t just win one and that’s going to be it.
“We’ve got a long-term plan to keep going. Let’s win the Challenge Cup and go and win the league again. I’d like to do what they did in the 60s again.”