Derek Beaumont has gone above and beyond in turning Leigh Leopards into a force in Super League this season with the Leopards third in the league after 15 rounds and now looking ahead to a Challenge Cup quarter-final and likely a place in the semi-finals.

However, last week Beaumont came in for some criticism from fans for the Leopards’ lack of an academy.

However, Beaumont hit back at this criticism revealing that the club are doing all they can but you “can’t invest” in a bank that won’t let you.

He said:

“You can’t invest in a bank that won’t let you open an account! It’s wrong to criticise the club. We are on a Journey now with the RFL regarding this which we hope will enable us to open that account and invest in an academy soon. Until then we will support the best we can.”

The club are clearly putting plans in place for a proper academy but are currently not allowed to have one.

This is not the first time a Super League club has been in a situation like this but it is good to see so many working towards amending it.