The Greatest Game

In the second half of my interview with Castleford Tigers Chief Executive Richard Wright, Richard discusses the club’s licence chances, plans for attracting new fans, the small playing squad and the club’s relationship with the fans.

Are you feeling confident about the licence application?

It is going to be very competitive but with the new stadium, junior development and the fanbase we have here I’m confident.

If the club does get a licence, what work needs to be done then for retaining that licence in 2012?

With the new stadium and the 50% rule on the salary cap removed I think we can move towards a B or possibly an A category within the RFL’s strategic aims. If we can get into the B category we can’t be considered for losing our licence in 2012. Once the stadium is delivered I don’t see a problem but at the moment we are going to be judged on what we have at The Jungle and that is obviously going to affect where we are.

The club is seen as a small town club whilst the licence system is looking at a bigger picture: big cities, Europe-wide. Castleford is sat in close proximity to four other Super League clubs, does that ever play on your mind?

I think we need to change that mindset, we have fans from a much bigger area than Castleford itself and we also have superb transport links – especially at the new stadium. I think our catchment area is bigger than it’s ever been, with fans from East Leeds. I also think the stadium will see us grow and the economy of the whole area is improving. It is a densely populated area in any case so I think we need to change the ‘small town’ mindset and I think the stadium will be the catalyst for that: it’ll attract bigger brands, it’ll attract more people and I think we’ll be seen as a far more serious competitor and a much bigger organisation.

Last year’s Grand Final saw 10,000 Castleford fans at Headingley, what plans do the club have to tap into that potential?

We had a massive turnout at the semi finals in 1999 and 2002 and in the Grand Final against Whitehaven in 2005 but there were even more fans at Headingley. It was interesting to see so many people turn up, there were so many shirts from a bygone era and all those people have an interest in the clubs and its fortunes and rugby league in general and we need to tap into that. There were also a lot of people who were just after an evening’s entertainment and we provide a lot of that.

This season you have a weak squad, do you think that if the club suffers badly on the pitch this season that would detract some of those potential new fans?

Yes I do and we are trying to address the squad. We are being more thoughtful about the longer term but will try and bring in players as we go along. We’ve got to be competitive – we’ve got pride, we don’t want any games where we get tanked by 60-70 points and we want to get back that reputation we’ve always had of being a tough team to beat, especially at home. We certainly want to bring more players in but I suppose we need to try and get people to believe in the longer term. It’s about achieving a balance.

Do you see this season as a gap year?

No not really because it is an important year to continue building. The community programmes, the stadium, the licences. It will all generate a lot of goodwill and publicity and we need to develop the excellent young players we’ve signed. We don’t want to finish bottom, we want to be competitive and if there are one or two quality players available we’ll try to bring them in.

Financially how viable is it to bring in more players?

There is some budget available, we’ll see what is available and if we can get off to a decent start and get some good attendances that will give more finances. We’ve lost money for the past three years but you can’t do that forever and we try to manage the club responsibly. But there is some money available.

How do you see the relationship between the club and the fans?

Well we need to consult with the fans more and regain some trust that has been lost in the last few years. I think we have to build their trust and get them to believe in what we want to achieve. We need to do that so people can see we have a long term goal.

Have you got a plan for how that’s going to happen?

I think we need to take their views on board and we’re doing that at the moment. We need to consult with everyone, particularly over the stadium, and I think that acts as a catalyst to everything else. We need to find out what their thoughts are about the club, what they think we’re not doing that we should be and what we’re doing that we shouldn’t – trying to take everyone with us in what we want to achieve. We want to build upon the ‘meet the directors’ nights and the supporters’ club and we’re always accessible to the fans. We want to encourage and increase the amount of interaction and we have a massive community programme and soon people are going to be aware of the amount of work we do in senior and primary schools and our role in the community will become much bigger.

This interview was conducted as part of research into a feature I am writing for Code13 magazine’s second issue, out Friday 29 February. The excellent first issue is out now and can be purchased from ebay as well as the following club shops: Wigan Warriors, Wakefield Wildcats, Warrington Wolves, Harlequins RL, Leeds Rhinos, Castleford Tigers, Sheffield Eagles RLFC, Bramley Buffaloes, South London Storm, Dewsbury Rams, Barrow Raiders, London Skolars, Gateshead Thunder and New Earswick All Blacks.

For more information, visit www.code13magazine.co.uk.