Mixed news on stadium front for Castleford Tigers

The new twist in the club’s plans to move out of the re-named PROBIZ Coliseum at Wheldon Road promises to end worries over funding for the new stadium at Glasshoughton but a 12-month delay could cast fresh doubt over their bid to secure a new three-year Super League licence.

The Tigers, one of the few clubs to own their own ground, today revealed they have shelved plans to sell it for housing because of the slump in the market and instead have agreed with a developer to turn it into a major food retail outlet.

If approved, the club say the deal with Opus Land (North) Ltd and financial backers Palmer Capital would generate enough money to pay for the new 13,300-capacity, state-of-the-art stadium just off the M62.

The club had feared that, because of the slump in the housing market and a subsequent drop in income from the sale of their home for the last 84 years, they would have been forced to either scale down the new stadium or build it in stages.

Castleford chief executive Richard Wright said: “We are in a very fortunate position to own the land at our current facility.

“The PROBIZ Coliseum is the club’s largest single financial asset and our business plan has always been to identify the sale and future usage that would provide the greatest financial return to fund the new stadium development.

“In extremely challenging economic conditions with land values at an all-time low, the sale of Wheldon Road and construction of a new stadium is challenging.

“It makes no sense to rush through the sale of our biggest asset at a vastly-reduced price.

“However, the revised agreement announced today would enable the club to acquire all the necessary funding to deliver a new stadium the fans deserve and to build it in a single phase.

“This is, therefore, a much better deal for Castleford Tigers and the public of Castleford and is an arrangement that has well suited the likes of Warrington Wolves and St Helens, where similar deals have led to the development of first-class modern stadia.”

The Tigers have outline consent for the new stadium and hope to get detailed planning permission on April 7 but they say work will not now be completed before the start of the 2013 and, therefore, they will remain at Wheldon Road for the 2012 season.