Wakefield’s Belle Vue upgrade could transform club – but only if they avoid relegation

Even the Wakefield chief executive, Michael Carter, can smile when he considers the irony surrounding his club’s on- and off-field fortunes. For years, one of rugby league’s most famous clubs have kept their heads above water in Super League while trying, and failing, to renovate their beloved but decaying Belle Vue home. Just as success on that front appears to be in sight, relegation threatens.

Parts of Belle Vue remain the same as when the classic film This Sporting Life was shot there in the early 1960s. It is a crumbling wreck and that is being polite. But there has finally been progress after nearly 20 years of effort, with the club awarded funding by the local council to renovate the stadium and bring it into the 21st century at long last. The redevelopment started last month.

The only problem? Just as Wakefield finally make progress off the field, they could be about to suffer irreparable damage on it. With five games remaining in the regular season, Trinity are two points clear of Toulouse at the bottom of Super League. The trap door to the Championship is very much ajar and for a club who have no significant financial backing, relegation could be catastrophic.

“The big question we’d have to answer – and we hope this never materialises – is whether we’d have to go part-time or try to stay full-time, but that would be a challenge,” Carter says. This is the harsh reality facing whoever is relegated; unlike in football there are no parachute payments to speak of and the club in question would receive approximately £200,000 in central funding, down from about £1.6m in Super League.

Carter says: “Since I took control here over a decade ago, we have tried to be as sustainable as possible because we don’t have a sugar