WAKEFIELD TRINITY will enter a new era at Belle Vue at the end of the season when chief executive Michael Carter steps down.
The news took a number of people by surprise given Carter’s ten-year presence at the West Yorkshire club, but for chairman John Minards, it is something that has been talked about for a while.
“Some people would have been surprised by Michael’s announcement but I wasn’t, we have been talking about this for a year. Eras come to an end and Michael has done ten years here,” Minards told Trinity TV.
“Without Michael Carter over the last ten years there would be no club here, I’m as certain as I can be. He is the guy that has carried the club through the last ten years and that needs to be said.
“There are plans in place for succession, these things have to be dealt with confidentially and behind closed doors. There are people being talked to, we have got this all covered.
“We are changing as a business here, the stand, pitch, north stand and that reinforces to me that it will be a different business this time next year. When you change the business sometimes you need to change the leadership too. Great opportunities arise from this.
Minards and Carter attended last week’s IMG meeting at Huddersfield Giants with the former believing that it is a positive direction for the sport.
“We remain positive about the direction of travel here, we are not in favour of promotion and relegation at the moment and we prefer the grading system. There is still a lot of detail to be filled in,” Minards continued.
“There is a lot of things included in the presentation that we need to really understand, critique them and ask questions and then go back to IMG privately and raise those concerns privately if we have them. And then we would see where we stand.
“We will not vote for anything that we don’t think is in the best interest of the game and if it is fair to Wakefield Trinity.”
There is now a six-week consultation period before clubs vote on the proposals on April 19.
