After the appointment of former Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves and Castleford Tigers boss Daryl Powell, it was clear that new Wakefield Trinity owner Matthew Ellis had big ambitions for the club.

However, his vision for the club far exceeds the playing side of things with Ellis looking to make Wakefield one of the leading clubs off the field to impress IMG and gain a Grade A status under their new system.

This ambition has seen a lot of redevelopment of the facilities in 2023 and that is not set to slow down any time soon according to Ellis who provided the following update on the club’s website today.

“Good morning everyone, we are all eagerly anticipating the completion of the new East stand,” Ellis said, “The latest date submitted by Morgan Sindall is the 24th of November. The stand will look fantastic and we will have a facility ranking up there with the best in rugby league. With a 250+ seat restaurant with 2 bars + conferencing facilities.

“We will have a 365-day facility which will provide a significant increase to the club’s turnover. Once we have full access to the stand no expense will be spared to develop a phenomenal finish in the restaurant and conference/office facility.”

He went on to confirm plans for two kiosks at the stadium, a superior PA System and work to maximise the use of the North Stand.

“We will also have 2 kiosks on match-day serving a wide range of food and drinks,” Ellis revealed, “Within the new stand, there will be vastly improved dressing rooms and we will be creating a recovery room for the players which will include plunge pools and sauna. The new stand puts us in a great position to score very highly against IMG criteria to enhance our overall stadium score. I would like to thank all the previous owners for their hard work on the stand negotiation/build.

“We will look to add Digital advertising boards to the perimeter of the pitch to improve sponsorship revenues. An improved PA system is also planned. Whilst most of the games for next season will be Sunday fixtures we would like to make our first home fixture a special event with fireworks/pyrotechnics and further entertainment to celebrate the opening of the East stand and the new look Wakefield Trinity.

“We are also planning the utilisation of the area at the back of the North Stand with plans for food and beverage concessions to be located there. We will be communicating regularly through surveys with supporters over the coming months regarding favoured events/entertainment and match-day experiences. I will go into more detail on this in my next statement regarding fandom.”

Lastly, Ellis also revealed an ambition to enhance the West Stand as well as the ongoing work to develop a social area for players.

He said: “We are also working with architects to look at new ideas for the West stand. Lastly, on this matter, we will start work this week on a new players’ social area for use mainly after training. Daryl and I feel this will be a key element of building team morale amongst the squad for years to come. This will be located in the Rocky Turner suite (an old hospitality restaurant).

“The squad will also be having nutritionally prepared meals in this area. I have attached a video of our plans for this area. We feel that the social area and recovery rooms alongside squad investment will help us to attract the best players available to the club.”