Wakefield Trinity plan ambitious Belle Vue expansion as owner details plans

Wakefield Trinity owner Matt Ellis has revealed plans to extend the club’s DIY Kitchens Stadium home in 2025 after selling out Saturday’s Championship Grand Final: with hopes they could even push to a five-figure capacity before too long.

Trinity attracted a crowd of over 8,000 as Daryl Powell’s side defeated Toulouse to be crowned winners of the Championship and complete a clean sweep of trophies in 2024. They are expected to be readmitted into Super League on Wednesday when IMG reveal their gradings for 2025.

And Ellis said Trinity will ‘100 per cent’ up the capacity next year after an impressive return on attendance figures throughout this year. Plans to install terracing behind the posts are guaranteed to be completed for the start of next season.

He said: “We’ve got five or six elements of the stadium that are in for planning permission. That’s five or six different things. We’ll 100% do something in the off-season to increase capacity to 9,000 by doing some terracing under the hospitality. That’s a definite.

“For 2025, it’s going to be the terracing and maybe a cover on there. The season after we’ll do something different.”

And Ellis revealed if interest continues to rise in Trinity’s fortunes throughout next year, he will not rule out further plans to push the stadium’s capacity over 10,000.

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“We need to see the numbers and what the interest is,” Ellis said. “If we’re close to filling it next year then hopefully we can get it to over 10,000. It’d be lovely to come here every week with over 10,000 here and then we’re back in with the biggest teams in the league.”

As Wakefield await their gradings score and a likely return to Super League, Ellis admitted he hopes they can emulate the success of the likes of Leigh and Hull KR, who have returned to the top-flight a bigger and better force than before.

He said: “We’re not going to be the big fish next year. We’re going to go into Super League at times as the underdogs but we want to work out how we can do something special over the next two years and try and get the club really rocking.

“We don’t want to be second-bottom of Super League, we want to build a team who can challenge, like Leigh and Hull KR have. They’re the blueprint for us. The city are behind us but we want bigger numbers so the club can be successful and self-sufficient in the years to come.”

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