Belle Vue is joining the 21st century, but several other Super League clubs face big decisions about their grounds
By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required
Crossing the pothole cratered car park, past random toilet walls tilting like abandoned tombstones, and climbing steps where vibrant flowers emerge defiantly from the brickwork, to enter what is left of Wakefield Trinity’s ground, you could be forgiven for assuming that it has been left to rot since This Sporting Life was filmed there 60 years ago. Instead, Belle Vue has staggered on as an increasingly embarrassing Super League venue. But not for much longer. By spring there will be little left of the ground that served as a location for so many epic scenes in the Oscar-nominated masterpiece – and the jokes from visitors will have to stop.
By the time Trinity host Hull in their opening home game of the season on 13 February, a big screen and new floodlights will be in place. Later in spring, the 1924 main stand will be demolished and a new one-tier stand twice the height, with a 300-seat restaurant facility overlooking the pitch and offices in the back, will start to rise. Temporary seating will enable Trinity to continue playing at Belle Vue, the cost of moving out for a season considered too expensive.