Death to the Rah Rah's

SIS did the all-weather through at Maryport and that one has shock pads in for rugby

All supporters should be very thankful to the current board for standing their ground over the stadium proposals or it really would have been a new stand on one side of the Reds ground and lets be honest here, only the current directors really know the true state of Derwent Park and how much life is left in the old girl !! Can you imagine the uproar if the board decided to stay at Derwent Park and within 5 years the grandstand was condemned or other parts of the ground failed a safety certificate! The club really would be up creek without a paddle and would have to go cap in hand to the council to play at Borough Park, and that's if the club survived the upheaval. We will end up with a nice little ground with both clubs sharing ownership that should create a cracking atmosphere

On the website it says the funding has been increased to £10.8 million so I'm guessing phase one is covered in the revised funding. In regards to bar sales and stuff like that its easy to sort out. Make it a cashless stadium linked to Epos tills, the stadium management company buys all the drink, puts a small handling charge (ie: stick 10% on the cost of the pint as a handling charge) then the respective clubs get all the profit based on their own sales - no waste as same products sold by both clubs. Any events the stadium management run would be paid out in the same way. Likewise with advertising, put up an nice LED scoreboard and some advertising hoardings then each club can sell their own matchday packages

Reds move over to DP in January 26 and both clubs move into the new stadium in July 27 - so 18 month build

The 'future proof' looks to complete a nice little stadium, which for a town of 35k, a 5k capacity (eventually) will be ample enough to accommodate supporters and generate a good atmosphere and we have to be honest with ourselves here and match ambition with realism. Couple of observations - on the popular side it looks like there are seats at the front few rows and standing behind? What's the large building on the town end? I totally get the argument about the marquee structure and whatever the building is behind the town end that isn't going to be built anytime soon, so presumably that could be the 'fanzone' area and accommodate a nice new marquee and I'm sure the Town board will already picked up on that point. Alternatively, seeing as there's a lack of facilities in West Cumbria, the building behind the Town end would be an ideal location to build something which is basically an open covered space (a bit like a large industrial unit) with a permanent stage and dressing room at one end and small office type buildings down the side for pop-up shops, bars, food outlets for events, stalls for exhibition stands etc. Basically a modern covered version of a container park to allow for Cumbrian weather! Not a huge outlay but opens up endless opportunities for the clubs to raise additional non-matchday income as it could also double up as a fanzine for both clubs on matchdays and host anything from concerts to car boots, to exhibitions etc. There's similar things in the larger cities and a venue with a capacity of say 1000 would be the largest indoor venue in West Cumbria. Certainly something to consider to help with the long term viability of the stadium I also hope the stadium management adopt the social enterprise model as this will allow them to access funding to finish off the stadium.

£1000 per bus per team for West Cumbrian teams to travel into Yorkshire, slightly cheaper for Lancs but not by much. That takes some finding, there needs to be a full game wide review and for the RFL to come up with some viable options for the community game so there can be an honest and open debate about the course of direction for the game. The NCL should also be part of the review as its crazy all the regional leagues, NCL and in most cases youth leagues all having different management structures. Wath Brow for example fall under management for the RFL, NCL, CARL, CARL youth and NWC - add in BARLA if they enter the National Cup - if this set up was shown to the Aussies they would fall about laughing!! at the end of the day clubs want competitive games at all levels, this could easily be done by having competitive regional leagues with the elite (or those that want to) playing in the NCL or rename so it falls more into the semi-pro structure to raise its profile.

We have some fantastic facilities in West Cumbria, all the clubs are financially sound. Just a pity the league structure is so weak with so many teams plying their trade in the NCL or it could be a great competition. I've often wondered why the RFL don't restructure the community game - keep the top 2 NCL leagues in their current national format but find some money to help each club with milage/transport costs, then restructure the remaining game into strong regional leagues with the number of divisions dictated by the number of clubs in that area. Finish off the season with a champion of champions cross league competition for the top 2 in each regional league and hey presto you have meaningful competition where clubs can play at the appropriate level unlike in Cumbria at present where some teams are getting 60-80 point drubbings every week and the better sides are only getting competitive games every few weeks. This would also reduce travelling and make the game more attractive (less all day travelling)

and whose going to pay for that? Cost of a single stand probably in excess of 7-8 million - and you have 4 sides to develop. No way Town could ever raise that sort of revenue themselves

The RFL has been running on autopilot for far too long, and it's painfully obvious that the leadership is out of touch with the needs of both the professional and community game. The fact that Sport England has pulled back support speaks volumes — why would they keep funding a sport that seems to have no clear direction or development strategy? The 'Community Board' is a prime example of dead weight. No visibility, no accountability, and no tangible impact on the grassroots game other than implementing a 'pay to play' scheme. It’s frustrating because the community game should be the foundation for growing the sport, yet it’s been left to drift without any proper oversight or investment. Likewise with the NCL, once the pinnacle of the amateur game, but one which is partly responsible for the weakening of the regional leagues by allowing clubs to join despite having no A teams or youth structures in place, again governed by people who have been in position since Adam was a lad ! And that's why we have stagnation — keeping the same people in place for decades with no fresh ideas or urgency to modernise has led to exactly what we’re seeing now: declining participation, poor governance, and a complete lack of innovation. A full top-to-bottom clear-out is long overdue — new leadership, fresh ideas, and a proper development plan are essential if rugby league is going to have any kind of future.

There is an emotional attachment to Derwent Park for everyone, but the danger is, and its a real danger, if at some point the grandstand fails a safety stress test then what then? It has what looks like an asbestos roof, and you can see the steel work isn't in the best of condition. The club can't generate the money to rebuild and there isn't any money available unless the Workington Town ladies can tap into FA funding, even then it wouldn't rebuilt a modern grandstand to replace the one at DP, I doubt you would get any change out of £6-7 million to built a modern equivalent. I can't see any other option, be stubborn and stay at DP or embrace change, move to BP and hope finances can be secured in future to finish the stadium. Neither option is perfect, so it's Hobson's choice I'm afraid !

This project has been made possible by £5.4 million from the Town Deal and £1 million from Cumberland Council. The funding from the Town Deal will fund an initial phase of development with further phases being subject to additional funding being secured. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has approved an exciting new multimillion pound masterplan which will help transform Maryport’s town centre, harbourside and promenade. different pots of money pal

the Maryport schemes were funded from a totally different pot (High Street Fund) and the council had to submit a new proposal to government for the revised schemes, whereas the stadium money is ringfenced for Borough Park and funded through Levelling Up funding I think. Yeah, it does feel like the decision was made long before any public consultation or consultant reports. Borough Park was always the focus, despite the more practical advantages of redeveloping Derwent Park into a proper sports village. The whole process just seemed to push one outcome regardless of what made the most sense. Not sure if you ever read the report on the stadium, but the financial projections in that report were wildly optimistic. There was no way either club could have consistently hit those attendance figures, which would have left both struggling to survive. It’s frustrating because the wrong choice now could mean long-term damage to both clubs. At this point, it's just a case of making the best of what’s on the table, even if it’s not ideal. But if the new stadium turns out to be sub-par, it’ll feel like a massive missed opportunity. If they get it wrong, we could end up like other clubs that lost their identity along with their ground. Let’s just hope whatever gets built is at least fit for purpose and doesn’t end up another botched job.

you can't share the finance!! It's government money allocated for a specific scheme, so not a cat in hells chance the government would sanction grant funding for 2 stadiums in a town of 33,000 !

you would expect that the value of the land at DP would have increased at the same rate of building materials and I would have hoped by this point the land at DP would have already been marketed by the council's land agents to see if more than one operator wanted it in the hope which might cause a bidding war to add more money to the pot. At the minute it all seems to be speculative with Town looking like they are the minor partners when in fact they are fetching more to the table than the Reds, who other than giving up the remainder of their lease aren't actually putting any finances in towards the build

the stadium should have been designed as part of the sports centre as it would have utilised the facilities already in place such as 4G pitch, changing facilities, gym, catering etc with a wider vision to incorporate office space hotels etc as the scheme progressed which would have regenerated that area of town. But since then we have since seen a million + investment in a travelodge, the NHS diagnostic centre innovation centre, plus the sports centre which cost nearly 12 million - so combined cost of circa £50 million !!! With a bit of foresight and planning they could all have been incorporated into a scheme which had a pitch and 4 stands around it as there's ample land on Brow Top for parking etc. plus its proximity to the town centre. Unfortunately the area is full of councillors who are badly advised usually by consultants from outside the area about what's best for the town and its population