bigbaldnmad

For match tickets they have gone to Adult and Kids, no concessions. The memberships still allow for for concessions, kids and I believe young adults.

I'm not all doom and gloom, more a realist. As it stands at the moment we don't have a full side. In the past few days we have lost 2 players we were expecting to re-sign (Hankinson and Longstaff) and have signed one reasonably good player. We have just 6 backs, 7 if you count Josh, who I don't expect to play in the backs, and expect him to be eased gently back in. The forwards are starting to come along, but we are still 3 or 4 short as a minimum. I understand we have some players on trial, but I doubt we will be looking at a starting centre being a trialist. Our first game is just 7 weeks away and players need time training together to create understandings. I have little to no confidence that the DR with HKR will work even half as well as the one with Leeds did. I expect the attendances will drop, I would be really surprised if we are not in the top 3 or 4 in overall matchday income, from membership, match tickets and food / drink sales. Bearing in mind they are selling memberships on the back of being a top 6 side, with the highest membership prices, even higher than a lot of SL sides. I don't expect us to throw the money that Wakefield and Bradford obviously are, and fully understand we are working on a reduced budget. I look at some of the other squads, and I think we may struggle, especially if we pick up a couple of injuries. I would love to be proved wrong. Will I still go to as many matches as I am available to attend, yes... and I will probably enjoy more of them not fearing if we are going to lose, as I expect to lose some. It may make some of the wins that bit sweeter.

Wellington Albert signed for next year. More happy with that than the likes of Kyle Trout.

Just read the title of the thread, self explanatory really.

I'm not confident that we will be anywhere near a playoff place, if anything we are looking more likely to be in a relegation battle.

Looking good. This was always what Wakefield should have done years ago instead of clinging on to the hopes of an identikit stadium. This way you get all the profits from food and beer sales.

Good to see Josh has signed for next year, and looks like he is fit to resume playing. Very good news!!!

While paying top end SL admission prices...

I was born in Fev, but have lived in Wakefield since 1975, a lot of mates support / follow Wakefield. I hope you have success with this new guy, and you become a big club, but the sleeping giant bit seems to intimate that you were once a big club and will be again. Which is what I don't agree with.

So Bradford, London and Newcastle were allowed to run one last year? I fully understand Newcastle and London, even though that blows your well run arguement out of the water, but Bradford have had well documented financial issues but still allowed to run an academy throughout the 10 years they have been in the Championship. The academy system needs to change, maybe regionalised, but needs to allow Championship / League one clubs to access some of the talent that is currently rejected and lost.

They are not the same though, are they. There are lots of pros and cons around academies, and you quite rightly point out the impacts on the community game. But one of the big problem with how academies are run is that very few of the ones that don't make the grade, who feel rejected, drift away from the game. Only a small proportion return back to the community game and few filter down into Championship / League one. But it is surely unfair, to clubs not selected to run academies, to have to 'buy in' players. So perhaps it is time that academies were taken out of the hands of the clubs and regionalised, allowing clubs from within that region to be able to sign players from that academy. I'm sure a Cumbria academy would do a lot for the 3 Cumbrian clubs. It does no good for teams like Halifax, who see youngsters from local clubs go to academies miles away. A perfect example being Ryley Dean, in Warrington's academy yet signed from Siddal, a local Halifax club.

You are aware that the RFL decide who are allowed to run an academy, not the clubs.

Fev also manage to upgrade the facilities at POR while still being the most consistent team of the last 15 years in the championship, going broke every single year

But still not a sleeping giant, let's not pretend.

Born in Fev, lived in Wakefield for 47 years... now't against Wakey fans, most of my mate's support them. What more can I say, local rivalry and all that...