Ken Davy gives new Huddersfield Giants stadium update and makes interim solution admission

Ken Davy has doubled down on his desire to find a new home for Huddersfield Giants with The Shay seen as a potential interim option. The Huddersfield owner and chairman, who was awarded an OBE in his week’s New Year Honours, has spoken on several occasions about his desire to find a more suitable home for the Giants.

The West Yorkshire outfit currently play their home games at the John Smith’s Stadium, a ground built in 1994 with a capacity of just over 24,000. However, Huddersfield regularly fail to fill a quarter of its seats, with last season’s average attendance being just 4,532.

That average would put them 11th in an attendance table for last season, with London Broncos the only side to attract smaller crowds. Such a figure takes into account the high of 6,812, but also the low of just 3,330, and comes as a drop off from the 5,237 average the club managed in 2023.

As such, it’s fair to say the John Smith’s Stadium is increasingly being seen as a venue that is far too big for the Giants needs and demands, with the lack of atmosphere and empty seats being a poor look to a television audience. Davy then is pushing to build a home ground that can be considered more suitable for the club, with the club on the lookout for a potential location.

However, the 83-year-old also admits that the Giants could make the temporary switch to The Shay, the home ground of neighbours Halifax Panthers, while they wait for a new stadium to be built.

“We can stay at the John Smith’s Stadium but with crowds between 4,000 and 7,000 we feel we are rattling around in a stadium designed for 24,000,” he said, per Huddersfield Hub. “A smaller one would be so much better to generate a real atmosphere.

“So, as fabulous as the John Smith’s Stadium is, we are looking to build a new venue and have been searching for a potential site for three years now.

“We’re exploring various options and are in close contact with Kirklees Council but one potential interim solution would be to go the The Shay stadium in Halifax. I must stress this is purely speculative at this early stage.”