Richard Wright interview – part two

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.

Richard Wright interview – part one

Researching a feature on Castleford Tigers I am writing for Code13 magazine, I met up with Tigers Chief Executive Richard Wright and took the opportunity to ask him about the past and future of the club: why the club are scrapping between the divisions after being 80 minutes from the Super League Grand Final in 1999 and what his vision for the club is for the future.

In this first part of two, Richard talks about his relationship with the Tigers, the club’s plans for a new stadium and his thoughts on the club’s spectacular fall from grace (the second half can be found here).

The next issue of Code13 will be out on Friday 29 February, the first issue is out now and can be bought from ebay and 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.

 

 

 

What is your history with the Tigers?

I came down here as a kid when I was about six or seven years of age and have been coming ever since. Darryl Van de Velde asked me to do a bit of sponsorship after someone dropped out of being a player position sponsor and I said I would. After I’d done a bit of advertising and sponsorship I became a director. Then in 1996 with the dawn of Super League, we needed to fill various senior positions within the club to access RFL funding and I was asked to take the Chief Executive’s job.

It must be a pretty busy job at the moment with franchises on the way?

Yes it is, obviously we’ve got the stadium to deliver and we’ve got to get a licence and those are the two things that are occupying my time. It is an important season and it is important that the club continues to grow in tandem with those two very important things. I think we’ll get there – the licence application will be in by the end of March and we just need to push forward with the stadium, we need to maintain the momentum that we’ve got.

What is the position with the stadium at the moment?

Well we got planning permission, now we are finalising the ownership, the management, the funding package and the design. Obviously the detailed design will determine what the finished costs will be. We are appointing architects so that the detailed designs can get underway and consulting with the fans and the sponsors so that they are along the lines of what everybody wants. Meanwhile we’re working with the council on the actual ownership, the management and the financial contributions from each partner.

Wasn’t it initially a Castleford and Waystone partnership for the stadium and the council weren’t going to be involved apart from the planning permission aspect?

No, the council have always been involved. It is a three-way partnership between the club, Waystone and the council and obviously we want to ensure we deliver significant community benefits from the stadium and that is the council’s role.

Does that conflict at all with the Wakefield plans for a council-funded community stadium at Thornes Park?

Well I don’t know much about the Wakefield project and we’re just focussed on ours. Since I’ve been here we’ve been looking at ways to improve the facilities because if we’re to compete at the highest level we’re going to have to have better facilities. On this particular project we’ve been working five years and we’ve got a public initiative that a lot of work has gone into. I keep out of what Wakefield are doing.

What is the timescale for the stadium at the moment? How do you see the project commencing?

We’re anticipating resolving the funding and management issues by the end of March for when we submit our licence application. Once we can agree a detailed design with the sponsors and the fans we can submit an application for the detailed planning and that will take quite some time. Hopefully then by the back end of the year we will be able to get on with the construction which will take about 12 months.

All your eggs seem to be in the stadium basket. If worst case scenario happens and the stadium doesn’t happen what is the fallback plan?

Well an awful lot of money has been invested in this project by Waystone and in terms of the planning application you are talking about hundreds of thousands of pounds invested already in this development. People only do that when there is a fair degree of certainty that the project is going to happen. If we talk about a plan B there is the possibility of redeveloping The Jungle. It isn’t a route we’d like to take but it is a possibility that we could sell some of the land here and develop a training facility offsite. The problem with that is that it is not going to put us in a position to compete at the highest level. It will get us the stadium and comply with minimum standards but it will not give us the base to go forward and perform at the highest level.

Is it a case then that Waystone can’t afford for the stadium not to be built?

Well I wouldn’t say that and I won’t speak for Waystone but all I can say is that an awful lot of time, money and effort has been invested by ourselves, Waystone and the council into this project and we are confident that it will go ahead.

Ten years ago the club was almost at the peak of the sport – almost at the Challenge Cup final, almost at the Grand Final – what do you think contributed to the club being in the position it is in now, scrapping for survival?

Everyone seems to blame the directors for not being ambitious enough but I think if you look at the players we bought in the year 2000. In 1999 we brought in some quality overseas players and they lifted us to that next level. Obviously we didn’t do that again in 2000 and those that came in were of a lower standard and we didn’t move forward. In 1999 we brought in Aaron Raper and Dale Fritz and those overseas players were the difference. We needed to bring in better players the next year and we didn’t. It wasn’t a lack of investment though and it wasn’t a lack of ambition on the part of the directors. People won’t believe that but we don’t tell coaches who to bring in. From our perspective it is much easier to sell season tickets on the back of a big signing and we’ve always encouraged to bring big names in.

It comes down to 2004 which was a very difficult year. When we started that year I think people thought we had a very good squad and people were saying to me that they couldn’t wait to see the forwards we signed – Craig Greenhill and Shaun Ryan – and we all thought we had a really strong set of forwards and it turned out not to be the case. Then despite our best efforts we failed to turn it around. I think the one thing we didn’t have was quality juniors coming through and when we got into trouble we didn’t have anyone to underpin the first team. What’s happened since then has been a direct result of that year when recruitment was the key issue. I don’t think we brought the right balance of players in 2004 and since then we have invested trying to get back to where we were then and it has taken until now to finally get on the right track.

And now the future’s looking bright?

It is, we’ve been investing heavily in juniors since 2004 and we’re seeing that now with Michael Shenton, Craig Huby, Ryan Boyle, Richard Owen and Joe Westerman who have all looked comfortable in the friendlies and will play significant roles this year. We have a lot of good kids coming through and I think over the next four or five years we’ll see a significant percentage of the first team squad being from Castleford. That along with the stadium will finally give us the ability to compete at the highest level. We’ve never been able to sustain that challenge before, we’ve had some good teams and we’ve always been up and down because if you don’t have the money, it’s hard to sustain it and I think we now have an opportunity to do that.

 

For more information on Code13, visit www.code13magazine.co.uk.

Wood: “18 into 14 may not go”

The BBC have taken a relatively slow news week in the sport to hop back onto 2008’s big topic - Super League franchises – with a vox pop from RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood revealing that the top flight would only expand if there are enough quality applications.

Inevitably, rumours have been circulating that this announcement ties in with the reported meeting with Toulouse representatives at Red Hall this week and that the French application may not be up to scratch with the levels the RFL expects.

The key quote from the Beeb article from Wood is that, “subject to standard, we will be moving to 14 but that is not carte blanche on accepting inferior applications.” Of course this is the case, and the only thing it does confirm is that the RFL is serious about only allowing in clubs that have done the groundwork and are ready for promotion to the elite.

And the only club outside of Super League that realistically ticks the boxes is Salford City Reds. Widnes join them if they recover sufficiently from their financial debacle at the close of 2007 but Celtic Crusaders and especially Toulouse simply have not had the time to prepare for such a leap.

Celtic are nearly there, but one cannot help but think that another three years to develop their fanbase and facilities will leave them hungry and primed for a licence in 2012. Toulouse on the other hand have only been preparing for a year – it took Catalans Dragons three years to prepare and still they took time to settle in to Super League. With another three years of preparation, and following the example of Catalans, Toulouse will be ready.

Indeed people talk about economic pressures on the issuing of licences and that clubs such as Salford, Castleford, Hull KR and Wakefield do not fit the ideal of big sporting business whereas clubs in Wales and France do. One thing that should be highlighted is that the Sky TV deal for rugby league in Britain will run until the end of the 2011 season. That would indicate that the RFL know that the expansion sides need time to prepare and are willing to give them a further three years to get ready. I would say that is wise, but people will still want rushed expansion – and that is more likely to do more harm than good.

Super Bowl points to league’s onslaught on the States

Staying up past bedtime last night, it was interesting to see league getting a mention during the New York Giant’s shock 17-14 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII as BBC pundit Mike Carlson compared one of the biggest sporting events on earth to the greatest game.

Of course, Carlson was trying to give British viewers a good comparison between the games but the mere fact he knew what league was is a positive sign. Given the BBC’s amateurish coverage of the sport over the past decade and the fact they once compared the sport to Shinty (me neither) it is unlikely that they will have been in a position to tell him much about the game before going on air.

Not that this is a sign that league is conquering the globe but for what is essentially still regarded as a regional sport by the national press and the BBC, to have any mention is testament to the ongoing growth of the sport. The USA in particular is a key demographic, mainly because of the similarities between league and American football and of course the valuable pull of Russell Crowe.

And after Crowe’s South Sydney – Leeds match-up in Florida two weeks ago, that game has been receiving coverage as far afield as Malaysia and South Africa as well as significant coverage across the state of Florida. Perhaps the next step is to increase coverage of Super League and the NRL in the States, to get a broadcaster signed up. Echoing a point already made, celebrities and publicity are all well and good, but the rugby league community needs to push the sport more in the US and more support for organisations like the American National Rugby League (AMNRL) would be a great start.

Northampton on course for £50,000 grant

Northampton Casuals have launched a campaign to be awarded a £1,000 grant from the Norwich Union Community Sports Fund to help fund the sport’s continuting development in the county since the club formed in 2007.

The first part of the campaign involves encouraging league fans to visit www.joinourteam.com to vote for their initiative. Currently, it is the fourth best supported initiative in the UK but requires 200 votes to be awarded the £1,000 grant from which they then have the chance to win the silver award grant of £12,500 and the gold award grant of £50,000.

Northampton have teams from 10 to open age and have been led by a group of dedicated individuals determined to increase the profile of the sport in the area. Needless to say, for our great sport to expand into more areas, we need grass root schemes like this. The Greatest Game put the 137th vote onto the site, it needs more league fans to get behind the initiative so that rugby league in the East Midlands continues to thrive.

Visit www.joinourteam.com to vote.

Image from www.northamptonrl.co.uk (usage policy)