Castleford Tigers director reveals potential IMG score and crowd figure target for huge Leigh Leopards clash

Castleford Tigers director Martin Jepson has revealed that a crowd of around 7,500 for Friday evening’s clash against Leigh Leopards will secure the club maximum IMG points on attendance: and insists they have ‘every possibility’ of being a Grade A club as early as this year.

The Tigers have little to play for on the field for the remainder of the Super League season, with the play-offs out of reach and Craig Lingard’s side well clear of bottom two Hull FC and London Broncos.

But the club believe their final home match of the season against the Leopards could have huge ramifications on their IMG score and, indeed, their position in Super League next year.

They have made a concerted effort to try and push for a sell-out on Friday with a raft of ticket offers that have seen the promise of a bumper Wheldon Road crowd.

Clubs must average 7,500 or more over the last three seasons to get the maximum 2.50 points, a figure Castleford fell short of last year in the provision gradings. The Tigers are yet to disclose what number on Friday would secure them the necessary points, too.

But Jepson, speaking exclusively to Love Rugby League, insisted that he believes a number around the average required on Friday will see Castleford pass through the threshold to get a bump in their IMG score that could yet remove any doubt over their Super League status.

“Friday night is very important for us as a club,” Jepson said. “They’ve all been important games so far this season but this is the one where it’s decided, effectively. I think if we get around 7,500 through the turnstiles – not tickets bought, people coming to the game, because that’s what counts with IMG – then we will be okay.

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“Over a three-season basis, I think that would get us to the required total. Which would be great for us as a club. From what I’m led to believe, that’s what we’ll need – and ticket sales are trending brilliantly.”

The club issued a detailed update on their IMG situation last week, revealing a raft of upgrades they believe will enhance their score sufficiently by the time the gradings are revealed next month.

Jepson admitted that with everything planned, and subject to external audits, he believes Castleford may yet reach the 15-point barrier this season: which would give them Grade A status and immunity from relegation.

“We think we’ll be quite close to it,” he said. “We think we’ve got every possibility of getting it. I can’t say with certainty because it’s subject to final verifications but there are things happening all the time.

“For example, we’ve placed an order for the LED boards, that will go in after the last match. That will give us another nudge on the points. The club have been very detailed in setting out what the basis for improvement would be and how that would take us around the 15-point mark.”

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Jepson also admitted the club published its statement last week to quieten the ‘whispers’ that Castleford could be ejected from Super League due to their IMG score not being high enough.

“It was very important for our fans to let them know where we were,” he said.

“No matter what we’ve said during the course of the season, there’s been lots of doubts and unknowns because of the system. It’s a big old booklet, the IMG one, and unless you want to send yourself to sleep you wouldn’t want to read it!

“Our fans don’t need to read it if they don’t want; we’ve given them a breakdown of where we are. It’s been very easy for people to spread whispers around about Castleford not being in Super League.

“We can only do what we can do. It’s irrelevant what other clubs do. We can only be in charge of our own destiny. In terms of doing what we need to do, we’ve put ourselves in a good place.

“The missing piece is the average crowd number and we’ve had good crowds this season although some performances have not been as good as we’d have liked. We’re fairly confident that with a good crowd on Friday, we’ll surpass what we need to.”

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