I suggest local Barnsley derby, Wombwell Town v Worsbrough Bridge, pitting my mates Molly and Nozzer against each other. However, Nozzer can’t make it and besides...it’s also off. I give Molly a list of suggestions. There’s local derbies aplenty; Ossett v Pontefract, Stocksbridge v Sheffield, Stalybridge v Avro...and Moll responds with a curveball. Wakefield v Selby Town, at Wakefield Trinity’s rugby league ground, no less. I’d see a sizeable new ground without having to watch rugby league. Super! (I actually don’t mind rugby league and will happily go back and watch Trinity.)
I worry for the rugby league side. I worry for rugby league. The ubiquitous nature of football, and the premier league in particular, casts a murky shadow over traditional rugby league hubs such as Wakefield. And with Trinity relegated last season, you can apparently pick up a season ticket for only £100 this year. With a brand new stand, they’re doing their best.
There is undoubtedly untapped potential for the football team though. The city has a population of 110,000. Moll and I debate whether it’s the biggest place not to have had a professional football team, though I think Warrington’s population is 200,000. Today, nearly 500 turn up for game at the 10th tier of English football, over 50% more than the next highest, Staveley Miners Welfare. I have no idea where Staveley is, or if it’s even a real place.
Formed in 2019, oddly, it’s the first season Wakey have actually played in Wakefield, following stints in Barnsley and at Featherstone Rovers’ Post Office Road. I went to a friendly at the latter, 0-7 (seven) to Doncaster Rovers, who promptly got themselves relegated. So it’s quite the turnaround now to see Wakefield having been promoted from the county league and now topping the NCEL Division 1 table (albeit 2nd placed Parkgate are one point behind with 4 games in hand).
The rain has followed me and I have to use the satnav to find the ground. Wakefield is bigger than I thought. I finally see the floodlights piercing the misery and park up in a street behind the ground. I’m slightly worried by the fly tipping and general detritus in the street and find myself having to follow a convoluted route to a stadium which can’t be 50 yards away as the crow flies. I am met by a massive (free) car park. Dammit, shoulda parked here.
The brand new stand is adorned with ‘Wakefield Trinity Stadium.’ What’s with the rebrand? Why tamper with the evocatively named ‘Belle Vue’? I see people entering via a side building and a bloke at a table takes my money. He’ll be busy if he has 466 others to deal with. Then it’s through the social club which is cunning, as I am lulled into buying a pint. But why, if you have Madri on tap, do you need to have Madri in bottles? Aren’t there nicer beers in the world? I peruse the souvenir stall. I can’t buy a programme, but I can buy a wonderful looking cushion emblazoned with Wakefield’s modern logo, part of a recent rebrand. (A ‘recent rebrand’? They’re 4 years old!!)
Molly walks in. He hasn’t parked in the car park either, having no knowledge of a rugby league ground he’s never been to before. In fact, I learn he’s never been to a rugby league match ever, despite it being on his Barnsley doorstep. Fair enough, if you don’t like the sport. We’re accosted by an elderly away fan, wondering if there’s an easier path into the ground itself. I tell him we’ve no clue...but the first two people I ask are with him. Oh well, I tried.
Huge plate glass windows mean a wonderful view of the ground. It turns out to be one of the most bizarre, unique stadiums I have ever been to and one which must be savoured sooner rather than later, what with planned development. The new stand, to our right, is smart yet slightly overbearing, with the vast roof seemingly out of proportion to the stand. Maybe it’s the dead space at the rear of the stand. Isn’t this meant to be a 300 capacity restaurant overlooking the pitch? Plus the front of the stand is over 6 feet in the air. Great for viewing, less so to look at. Still, the modern proclivity for multi-coloured seats at sparsely attended venues makes Belle Vue less grey.
Behind the goal, at the Sandal End, there is a monstrous 4 storey block of executive boxes and hospitality areas, unused today save for the balcony on the lower tier. It was meant to be temporary when it was built 20 years ago but the balcony affords an excellent view, being that the goalposts are a few yards off and helps me muse on this end’s similarity to one side of Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera. I guess I’m on my own there.
To our left is a higgledy piggledy collection of terraces, and roofs and buildings. There is another bar at the back of the roofed terrace, while a camera gantry sits atop the random building on the halfway line. You’d expect a constant terrace round to the other end, but instead it’s broken up by random walkways and steps. Before half-time, we go for a wander from our balcony position and find ourselves at the far end, where we encounter possibly the most bizarre bit of a bizarre ground...there’s a modern concrete terrace built IN FRONT of an old crumbling one. The old roof has remained too. More crumbling old terracing bends round from this end to the new stand. I wish I’d visited before this stand was even built, as it sounded a right wreck:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/dec/22/wakefield-trinity-renovating-stadium-belle-vue-rugby-league-clubs
For me, the absolute appeal of Belle Vue is its rundown state. I WANT to be able to amble around the stadium, free from being penned into yet another plastic seat in an identikit stand in an identikit stadium. Get here while you can. I’m off to Castleford ASAP. Oh, and Wakey won comfortably, 2-0 with both goals in the opening 20 minutes at the far end.
The Damage:
£6 ent
£5.30 Madri
= £11.30
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