Castleford Tigers owner Martin Jepson has outlined his hopes for ‘signing news’ after his major investment in the Super League club.
Jepson came on board at The Jungle late last year when he took a 32% stake in the club but he has now moved to buy the shares of Ian and Janet Fulton, making him what he’s described as ‘effectively 100% owner’.
There remain a few other minor shareholders but the local lad and lifelong fan-turned-property magnate has taken the club over on an ‘option deal’ initially.
News of his takeover was announced yesterday with his option to officially ‘confirm’ the deal needing to be done before January 31st next year, however, he’s already begun work in the new role.
Jepson had spoken with BBC Radio Leeds about how he was starting early to try and get the jump on the upcoming season but he also reflected on 2024, assessing how the Tigers fared and even claiming that Castleford ‘slightly overperformed’.
Castleford Tigers owner outlines recruitment plans
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
On the 2024 campaign, in which Castleford Tigers finished tenth, just shy of head coach Craig Lingard’s stated goal of ‘finishing top of the bottom four’, Jepson claimed the club ‘surprised’ a few people.
“I actually think we slightly outperformed,” he explained.
“I think I said to you last year we might surprise one or two and I think we did. I was personally quite committed to make sure that irrespective of the IMG rankings we didn’t finish bottom of the league this year, so that there could be no question about the fact that we only stayed in because we spent the money wisely to work the system.
“We never really got dragged into the battle of the bottom two. Equally, we never really got into the race for eighth or ninth but I think we probably finished a place higher than most people thought we would finish.”
A mid-season surge in form saw them beat St Helens, London Broncos and Catalans whilst coming within two and one points of Super League’s top two in Wigan Warriors and Hull KR. They’d unfortunately finish the season with just one win in nine but there’s cause for optimism, per Jepson.
He said: “We know we’re not the finished article. We said at the start of the season we had a lot of young players, but they’ve now got a year of Super League under their belts. The coaches have talked about this three-year plan. It’s important that we build on that for next season.”
Building for next season will include making signings and on that, he said: “Let’s leave that for the coming days, there’s a lot to go through over the next week or so, we’re only a few days away from the rankings coming out of the IMG system.
“We have been working hard behind the scenes, there will be news on signings very shortly.”
Head coach Craig Lingard claimed the club needed “at least six or seven signings” when speaking in his final post-game press conference, with the club yet to do any business since then.
