Jungle Stadium upgrade will secure Castleford Tigers' future 'for a generation' - if plans approved

The proposal is for a major upgrade to the stadium at Wheldon Road and a new employment development on the Axiom site at Junction 32 on the M62, which had previously been earmarked as Tigers’ new home.

The rebuilt stadium would allow Tigers to meet Betfred Super League standards and is set to include a new all-seater main stand, banqueting suite and corporate hospitality function rooms, alongside refurbishment of the Wheldon Road, Princess Street and Railway End terraces and provision of a floodlit 4G training pitch.

The Axiom site currently has planning approval for around 70,000 square metres of retail, leisure and stadium space.

But that scheme has stalled and investors Highgrove Group want to replace it with up to 141,085 square metres of employment floorspace, across approximately 13 units of varying sizes.

Funds raised by the proposed new Axiom employment development would add £12.2m to £2m already granted to Tigers from Wakefield Council’s rugby league resilience fund.

Tigers and Highgrove Group say the completed Axiom site will deliver around 1,830 permanent full-time jobs in Castleford, with another 365 created within the Wakefield Council area.

Approximately 1,500 construction jobs will be created per year during the works at both Wheldon Road and the Axiom employment site and the proposals will generate around £142 million of local economic activity, once fully operational.

Tigers managing director Mark Grattan said: “We are delighted the planning applications for both Axiom and the Wheldon Road improvements have now been submitted.

“This is a really important moment for the club and the town more widely. If both planning applications are approved, the money raised will secure the future of Castleford Tigers at Wheldon Road for a generation, at an important time for rugby league with Super League considering a move to a grading system.”

He added: “The quality of our home is critical to our future sporting success and these plans provide an upgrade to player training and medical facilities.

“Improving the matchday experience for all fans is, of course, our priority, but the significantly improved banqueting and hospitality facilities enable us to increase matchday revenue and generate income throughout the week, which in turn benefits the club’s finances.”