HUDDERSFIELD plan to leave the John Smith’s Stadium and build their own ground as part of a bid to reinvigorate the club – but a return to Fartown is off limits.
Owner Ken Davy, who has resumed his role as chairman after being executive chairman of Super League, told League Express using the site of the club’s spiritual home has been given serious consideration, but that such a project is “not practical”.
Using the Giants’ training base at Laund Hill has also been ruled out, as has land targeted by the club two years ago but which has since been earmarked for other purposes.
Now three sites in the town for a stadium which would hold up to 8,000 with the potential for expansion are under consideration as part of a three-year plan, with the Giants in discussions with Kirklees Council, who Davy says are being “as supportive as possible”.
Kirklees currently owns 40 percent of the John Smith’s Stadium, with Huddersfield Town also owning 40 percent and the Giants 20 percent of a 24,000-capacity facility the two clubs have shared since it was built 30 years ago.
However, the cash-strapped council wants to pull out, and Huddersfield Town owner Kevin Nagle is apparently keen to take sole control, having already funded improvements.
Huddersfield businessman Davy, 83, and American Nagle are said to get on well, and League Express sources suggest the football club has no desire to drive the Giants out.
But amid another season which has fallen below expectations results-wise, the Rugby League club’s attendances have dwindled even further, with this year’s average falling below 5,000.
And Davy said: “It’s a wonderful stadium, but the reality is that we are rattling around in there. It is far too large for our purposes.
“We have a plan to transform the fortunes of the club and build back up again, and owning our own stadium of the right size, a place our supporters can really call home, is very important.
“It will help create a better atmosphere, which will in turn help attract new fans, and it will be a community asset used far more than for 15 or so home matches a season.”
Davy added: “There is no magic wand and there are significant challenges, but we wouldn’t have embarked on this project if there wasn’t a good deal of determination to see it through in as short a timeframe as possible.”
The Giants last played at Fartown in 1992, using Huddersfield Town’s old Leeds Road ground until the shared stadium was opened in 1994.
The pitch, which was for a time still used by the club for training and lower-level matches, remains.
And Davy explained: “We understand the historical links, looked into it seriously and gave going back there our best shot, but it just wasn’t practical.”
Keith Hellawell, who has stepped down as chairman, becomes club president.
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