NEWLY-PROMOTED Championship side Hunslet have bemoaned the lack of council support in comparison to Super League club Leeds Rhinos.
Of course, being the much smaller neighbour, the Parksiders have considerably less attention focused on them whilst the Rhinos are one of the biggest household names in rugby league around the world.
For Hunslet chief executive, Neil Hampshire, who oversaw the club’s fantastic promotion to the second tier following a number of superb play-off wins, it has always been a case of being the ‘lowly’ neighbour.
“Look at the comparison with Leeds. They have done a fantastic job of sorting out Headingley Stadium yet when we took a £23 million proposal from an investor down south to purchase the vast majority of South Leeds Stadium and upgrade the pitch but the council turned us down blank,” Hampshire told the League Express podcast.
“Now the council are facing a £45 million loss and that was two or three years ago.
“So what you see on one hand is that the council works hand in hand with Leeds and Yorkshire Cricket to improve those to be the jewel in their crown but then look down on South Leeds Stadium and say ‘we will leave that to one side’.”
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