Castleford Tigers: Stadium work forces reduced capacity for huge game

Castleford Tigers are taking a step forward in securing their Super League status via their IMG grading as they’ve provided an update on work that is set to be done on their stadium at Wheldon Road.

The Tigers have long been waiting for developments at The Jungle with planning permission having taken an extra step forward last month but there’s now been a further update confirmed by the club.

Releasing a statement via their website, Castleford Tigers have confirmed that they’re set to begin work to create further seating with the Princess Street Stand, something that will aid their plight to be a Super League side in 2025 but hinder the crowd for their upcoming games.

The club have made no bones about the situation that IMG has created with head coach Craig Lingard using his press conferences of late to discuss how it has impacted recruitment.

The statement read: “We are pleased to announce that work has started on seating within the Princess Street stand as part of increasing our stadium grading points. Due to ongoing works the Princess Street stand will be closed for the Wigan Challenge Cup fixture and the London Broncos game on the 26th April.

“Access to the Princess Street toilets and Cryer & Stott’s van will be available via the Wheldon Road end. Turnstiles within this stand will not be available to use. As a result of the ongoing works, stadium capacity for the two fixtures will be reduced to 7500, we are urging fans to buy tickets in advance for these two upcoming fixtures.”

It’s a major blow for Castleford to have reduced capacity for the weekend’s Challenge Cup game and it’s a surprise that the news has been confirmed at such short notice as well.

How do Castleford Tigers score with IMG?

Castleford Tigers are one of the current Super League sides that could be in danger of not making the cut for 2025 with a group of teams scoring very similarly within a certain range.

Under the IMG grading system it has been confirmed that all Grade A clubs (15 points or more of the maximum 20) will have Super League status and when preliminary grades were confirmed, that applied to just seven clubs.

Those teams are Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, Catalans Dragons, Hull FC and Hull KR with both Salford Red Devils and Huddersfield Giants knocking on the door of 15 points.

Championship sides Toulouse Olympique and Wakefield Trinity then featured inside the top 12 with Leigh Leopards ranking 12th ahead of Castleford Tigers in 13th and Bradford Bulls in 14th,

The Tigers were confirmed to have misreported which saw them score 0.5 points lower, something that would take them ahead of Leigh on those preliminary grades, but something that hasn’t been updated.

With all clubs making efforts to improve their grading it means that when the grades are released for 2025 there could be some major changes, hence why teams such as Castleford Tigers are so keen to get their stadium standards raised as quickly as possible.