Super League legend speaks out as his special occasion ruined by controversy

Wakefield Trinity were meeting Wigan Warriors in a terrific clash between the favourites to win Super League and the favourites to win the Championship in 2024.

This was a brilliant contest and a perfect celebration for Matty Ashurst on his testimonial as was the fact that the game marked the first game in front of their redeveloped stadium which was also sold out.

However, this celebration was undermined by a floodlight failure which led to Chris Kendall having to end the game early due to a safety concern for the players.

Despite having his big night effectively ruined, Ashurst was still pleased with the occasion taking to X:

“Unreal night last night. Unbelievably proud to play my testimonial game for Wakefield Trinity.

“So grateful for the support and to everyone who played a part in the day, means the world to me.

“Looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Wakefield Trinity reveal reason for floodlight failure

Wakefield have apologised to fans, Wigan Warriors and to Matty Ashurst for the issues which saw the match abandoned after just 63 minutes.

Prior to the game the club identified an electrical issue with the new sub station which was installed by contractors. This resulted in the big screen, Brookey’s Bar and Street Kitchen being closed down and switched off in order to try and manage the problem.

Throughout extensive testing in weeks leading up to the game, the club had multiple successful floodlight tests and have encountered no similar issues.

As the game went on, the club realised the issue had not been solved and we continued to attempt to isolate the problem alongside our duty electrician within the ground.

Unfortunately they were unable to solve the problem which led to referee Chris Kendall abandoning the game due to a player safety issue.

The club will now be doing everything in their power to swiftly resolve the issue and guarantee that this issue will never happen again. Plans are already in motion to hire a new electrical team to source a backup generator.