Wakefield hero Kelly fears the worst as RFL to wield axe

The Wildcats are set to be confirmed as the club that will miss out on a licence – and £3m over the next three years – when RFL chairman Richard Lewis makes his address in Manchester.

It means the famous old club, one of the sport’s founder members, will be ejected from the elite in all likelihood until 2015 at the earliest.

For Andy Kelly, a former player at Belle Vue who was in charge when Trinity won the 1998 Division One Grand Final to secure promotion, the realisation is looming large.

“It will be an incredibly sad day for the club and a step backwards,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“Having got into Super League, I remember people predicting we wouldn’t even win a game in that first year and we’d go straight back down.

“But we did pretty well and, in the years that followed, with different coaches and different players, Wakefield have done their best to maintain the highest standard of rugby league.”

Indeed, Trinity are set to be demoted to the Championship despite never suffering relegation in the summer era.

However, on-going problems with their search for a new ground and the fact they entered administration in February are seen as conclusive factors against them as they make way for Widnes Vikings’ arrival from 2012-2014.

“The ironic thing is, if they go down now, they do so having probably gone a long way to rectifying a lot of the problems that hurt them in the past,” added Kelly, local businessmen Andrew Glover having cleared their debts.

“They have got the old board out and a new owner (Glover) in to become more stable financially than they have been for a long time.

“Having gone through the process, they will be well aware of the criteria needed to get back.

“They will have removed a lot of the hurdles and barriers already and you’d like to think they’d be in a stronger position.”

Wakefield fans rankled by their imminent exclusion from the elite are especially riled given Welsh-based franchise Crusaders are set to continue despite twice entering administration and attracting paltry crowds in Wrexham.

It remains to be seen whether Trinity would be the correct choice, the RFL Board’s decision arriving on the back of a detailed assessment of each club’s application augmented by specialist contributions from property consultants Savills and management consultants KPMG.

But Kelly, who spent three years in charge, admitted: “I’m sure if you were privy to all the information you could find some (other clubs to miss out).

“You’d say at least one other club’s place must have been questionable but it’s a case of trusting the system and hoping it’s transparent enough.”

Kelly, 50, fondly recollects Trinity’s dramatic Grand Final win over Featherstone Rovers when their rivals were denied a late try which would have swung the game the other way.

“I remember the ball being knocked down and looking at the touch judge saying ‘Please be strong,’” he said.

“He was, thankfully, as if that had been given, the outcome would have been very different.

“Then, watching all the players celebrating when Francis Stephenson scored the try that won it, was great; I knew they’d earned the right to play in Super League.”

However, their expected demotion is set to lead to a mass exodus of the club’s current leading players.

The majority are already lined up for moves once the licence decision is confirmed with Julien Rinaldi (Harlequins), Chris Dean/Stuart Howarth (Widnes), Josh Vievers/Glenn Morrison (Crusaders), Paul Johnson (Salford) and Luke George/Aaron Murphy (Huddersfield) among those set to find new clubs.

Glover has made strides since taking over but it looks like his impact will have come too late.

“The administration is going to count against us,” admitted Wakefield chief executive James Elston.

“We accept that. The licence process looks at history but also the current and the future and it’s what we can do in the next three years we would like to focus on.”

Castleford Tigers will face Leeds Rhinos in the Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium on Sunday August 7, kick-off 3.15pm.

Wigan Warriors and St Helens meet at Warrington the previous day, kick-off 4.30pm.