Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as 'Wakey , 'Trinity , 'Wildcats , or historically 'The Dreadnoughts . Their main rivalry is with Castleford Tigers but they also have rivalries with Huddersfield Giants, Leeds Rhinos and Featherstone Rovers. Wakefield Trinity is also one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making them one of the world's first rugby league teams.

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History

Early years

I'll put this plain and simple. Including Wakefield Thornes and Alverthorpe, but Trinity's rise to pre-eminence eventually ensured that the others would fall by the wayside. Early matches were played at Heath Common (1873), Manor Field (1875-6) and Elm Street (1877) before the club moved to Belle Vue in 1879.

Prior to schism of 1895 which led to the formation of the Northern Rugby Union, Wakefield Trinity participated nine times in thirteen years in the final of the Yorkshire Cup (T'owd Tin Pot), a trophy that is nowadays contested solely by rugby union clubs.

They were one of the initial 22 clubs to form the Northern Union after the acrimonious split from the Rugby Football Union in 1895.

Belle Vue was purchased in 1895, in order to provide a permanent base for the Trinity. The money was provided by the Wakefield Athletic Club, and was also initially used for cycling and athletics competitions.

Trinity won the Northern Union Challenge Cup for the first time in 1909, beating Hull 17-0 at Headingley. The corresponding 1914 final saw the result reversed, with Hull winning 6-0.

Jonty Parkin signed for Wakefield Trinity as a seventeen-year-old in 1913. In a strangely barren time for Trinity, they won only one Yorkshire Cup (in 1924-5 against Batley) and lost four Yorkshire Cups.

Parkin decided he wanted to leave in 1930, at the age of thirty-four, and he was put on the transfer list at £100. For some reason, Hull Kingston Rovers couldn't or wouldn't find the money; so Parkin paid the fee himself to secure his release. The game's bylaws were adjusted shortly afterwards, so that no player could ever do that again.

On Saturday 27 October 1934, Leeds and Wakefield Trinity met in the final of the Yorkshire Cup at Crown Flatt, Dewsbury. The match ended in a 5-5 draw. Four days later the two clubs drew again, with Leeds eventually lifting the trophy after a second replay, the only occasion it took three attempts to settle a Yorkshire Cup Final. A total of 52,402 spectators watched the three games. ^[1]

Post war

If the pre-war years were austere then the post-war period was bright and bullish for the Dreadnoughts. On Saturday 3 November 1945, Bradford Northern met Wakefield Trinity in the final of the Yorkshire Cup held at Thrum Hall, Halifax. Wakefield began the match as favourites, they had lost only one of thirteen matches thus far in the season. However, Bradford won 5-2 and lifted the Yorkshire Cup for the fourth time in six seasons. The first Wembley final after the war produced a return to winning ways as Trinity, with names such as James "Jim" Croston and Billy Stott, pipped Wigan to the Cup 13-12.

On Saturday 27 October 1951 25,495 were at Fartown, Huddersfield to see Wakefield Trinity defeat Keighley 17-3 in the Yorkshire Cup Final. The club was not destined to return to Wembley until 1960 and had to slake its thirst for silverware on two Yorkshire Cup and two Yorkshire League victories in the 1950s. Trinity featured in the first league match to be broadcast on British television, a clash with Wigan at Central Park on 12 January 1952.

Trinity were runners-up in the league championship in 1959-60, losing in the Championship Final against Wigan.

Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 16-10 in the 1960 Yorkshire Cup final at Headingley Stadium, Leeds on the 29th October 1960. ^[2]

Wakefield returned to Wembley emphatically with a record 38-5 win v Hull FC under the guidance of coach Kenneth "Ken" Traill and loose forward Derek 'Rocky' Turner.

Wakefield won their third Challenge Cup victory in 1962, running out 12-6 winners against Huddersfield. Many of the scenes from This Sporting Life were filmed at the Belle Vue Stadium during Wakefield's third round Challenge Cup match against Wigan. The club were victorious in a dour 1962 Challenge Cup win over Huddersfield although the Fartowners went on to deny them the double a few days later in the Championship final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford. Wakefield also won the Yorkshire Cup final of 1961-62 and the Yorkshire League of 1961-62.

Wakefield Trinity was invited to visit South Africa during June and July 1962. Neil Fox, Harold Poynton, Gerry Round, Derek 'Rocky' Turner and John "Jack" Wilkinson, were unable to accompany the team on the six-match tour, as they were in Australia with the British Lions. Wakefield Trinity’s Chairman Stuart Hadfield was also touring with the national team as Great Britain manager. Trinity therefore added four South African players who were playing for British clubs at that time to their squad. They were Fred Griffiths (Wigan), Tom van Vollenhoven (St Helens), Wilf Rosenberg (Hull) and Edward "Ted" Brophy (Leigh). Wakefield had three South Africans of their own in the squad in Alan Skene, Jan Prinsloo and Colin Greenwood, with the rest of the party made up of Frederick "Fred" Smith, Kenneth "Ken" Hirst, Kenneth "Ken" Rollin, Keith Holliday, Dennis Williamson, Milan Kosanovic, Geoffrey "Geoff" Oakes, Brian Briggs, Albert 'Budgie' Firth and Donald "Don" Vines. It was some squad so, not surprisingly; they were comfortable winners of all six matches. The tour opened on Saturday 30 June 1962 at Milner Park, Johannesburg, where the local Johannesburg Celtic club were overpowered by 52 points to 6.

Despite winning the Challenge Cup for a fifth time in 1963, Wakefield had still not been able to secure the league championship title. The Holy Grail would be achieved in the 1966-67 season when the experienced Harold Poynton led a powerful side, which included Neil Fox, Donald "Don" Fox, Gary Cooper and Ray Owen, to victory over St Helens in a replay of the championship final. They repeated the title feat the following year against Hull KR but were again denied the double when Leeds defeated them in the 1968 'water splash' final at Wembley, a match played during a downpour that saturated the pitch. The game produced the most dramatic of finishes, when Man-of-the-Match, Donald "Don" Fox had a conversion to win it for Wakefield, but missed it to leave Leeds 11-10 winners.

Trinity were crowned Champions for the only time in successive seasons - 1966-67 and 1967-68. Wakefield Trinity beat St Helens RLFC 21-9 in the 1967 Rugby League Championship final at Station Road, Swinton on the 10th May 1967, and won the Harry Sunderland Trophy in the 17-10 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1968 Rugby League Championship final at Headingley Stadium on the 4th May 1968. ^[2]

Wakefield absorbed a number of different coaches at the helm in subsequent years but did not return to Wembley until William "Bill" Kirkbride's talented charges fell 12-3 to Widnes in 1979 in front of nearly 100,000 fans.

Derek Turner was Head Coach for Wakefield Trinity from July 1983 until February 1984.

The ensuing decline was temporarily halted when 'the King' Wally Lewis signed up for a brief spell with the club. But even the presence of the mercurial Kangaroo Stand-off/five-eighth couldn't prevent an inconsistent Wakefield from fluctuating between the two divisions.

Former player David Topliss stabilised the Dreadnoughts' ship in 1987. He won immediate promotion in 1988 back to the First Division, retiring as a player after the final match of the campaign. He remained at Wakefield purely as a coach and consolidated the club's top tier status by acquiring the services of seasoned internationals like Stephen "Steve" Ella, Mark Graham, Brian Jackson as well as now former Wildcats' coach Andrew "Andy" Kelly and later John Harbin.

Topliss stepped down as coach to concentrate on his business. David Hobbs joined Wakefield Trinity as coach in May 1994. He then went to Halifax as Director of Football in January 1995.

Super League era

When a Rupert Murdoch-funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Wakefield were down to merge with Castleford and Featherstone Rovers to form a new club Calder which would compete in the newly formed Super League. Although Wakefield voted to merge, the other clubs refused to do so; Wakefield finished below the cut-off point of 10th in the existing top flight and were excluded from the new Super League.

Under coach Andrew "Andy" Kelly, Wakefield earned their place in the top flight on the back of their controversial victory over Featherstone Rovers in the inaugural Division One Grand Final in 1998. Wakefield adopted the "Wildcats" nickname in 1998: the year they entered Super League, having won promotion from the first division.

Wakefield put together a startling series of results early in the 1999 season, beating some of the most fancied sides and ensuring early in the campaign that they would be safe. The club invested heavily in newcomers.

John Harbin was the coach of Wakefield between October 2000 and October 2001, Wakefield's final game of the 2001 season was a relegation battle with Salford City Reds with Wakefield condemning the Huddersfield Giants to relegation. He decided to leave the club at the end of 2001.

Peter Roe was appointed Head Coach in October 2001. After years of struggling to keep up with the Super League pace which saw the Wildcats finish next to bottom on most of their attempts they finally got around to making headway up the league. Peter Roe was sacked in July 2002 and was replaced by his assistant Shane McNally. With Adrian Vowles as his co-coach the pair guided the Wildcats to their first-ever SL play-off position, finishing in 6th place.

In 2004 after a slow start to the season the Wildcats finished stronger than any other team in the competition giving their fans some hope of a little glory at the club which had been missing for too long. Away at the KC Stadium in Hull the Wildcats produced a remarkable performance and managed to beat Hull despite having 2 men sin-binned.

The semis saw a visit to Wigan and there was real hope in the camp that Wakefield would make the elimination final play off and all looked to be going that way when the Wildcats led 14-0 but some strange decisions went the way of the Wiganers so it wasn't yet to be but Wakefield fans will look back on these 2 games with fondness for many years, The away support was outstanding for both efforts.

Shane McNally was sacked in June 2005 after a disappointing start to the season. Tony Smith took over as caretaker coach from Shane McNally and led Trinity to survival in 2005 but following four straight defeats which saw Wakefield drop into the relegation zone Smith was sacked on Monday, 17 July 2006. Smith's last game in charge was a 26-20 defeat against Huddersfield, a match in which his side squandered a 20-point lead - one of several occasions this season the Wildcats have collapsed in the second half.

On the 24 July 2006, Wakefield announced former Hull F.C. coach John Kear as Head Coach until the end of the season.

The Wildcats defeated their arch-rivals Castleford Tigers by 29-17 at Belle Vue on Saturday 16 September 2006 to preserve their Super League status in an epic match which saw both teams leading for spells of the game. Had Wakefield not won the match they would have been relegated. Instead, their win, dubbed as "The Battle of Belle Vue " sent Castleford Tigers down to the National League One. The match was attended by a sell out crowd of 11,000.

In November 2006 the Wakefield Metropolitan District Council set out plans for a new sporting village to be built at Thornes Park that would incorporate a new stadium to be used by the Wildcats, along with gymnastics and boxing facilities and swimming pools. The council published results of a feasibility study on the 12th September 2008, into the project and which concluded that it is not feasible for a new stadium at Thornes Park.

This now leaves Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in a precarious position - Belle Vue is not suitable for the long-term future, and a new stadium is crucial to their Super League survival.In 2009 a new stadium was proposed.it would be 20,000 all seater in Stanely.It would be sponersered by sir Rodney Walker

On 22 July 2008 Rugby Football League awarded the Wildcats with a Super League licence for the 3 seasons from 2009 to 2012. They had been widely tipped as one of the existing Super League clubs (along with Castleford Tigers) who were most at risk of missing out on one of the new licences.

Honours

Rugby League Honours

• Championship: 1966-67, 1967-68 (twice)
• Challenge Cup: 1908-09, 1945-46, 1959-60, 1961-62, 1962-63 (5 times)
• Yorkshire Cup: 1910-11, 1924-25, 1946-47, 1947-48, 1951-52, 1956-57, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1964-65, 1992-93 (10 times)
• Yorkshire League: 1909-10, 1910-11, 1945-46, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1961-62, 1962-63 (7 times)
• Division One¹: 1998
• Challenge Cup (Runners Up): 1913-14, 1967-68, 1978-79 (3 times)
• Yorkshire Cup (Runners Up): 1926-27, 1932-33, 1934-35, 1936-37, 1939-40, 1945-46, 1958-59, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1990-91 (10 times)
• Player's No.6 Trophy (Runners Up): 1971-72

Footnote

# For the seasons 1996 onwards the term Division One in fact denoted the second tier of rugby league, coming below Super League.

Rugby Union Honours

Prior to schism of 1895 which led to the formation of the Northern Rugby Union, Wakefield Trinity participated in the final of the Yorkshire Cup (T'owd Tin Pot) nine times in thirteen years, a trophy that nowadays only rugby union clubs compete for.

• Yorkshire Cup: 1879, 1880, 1883, 1887
• Yorkshire Cup (Runners Up): 1881, 1882, 1888, 1890, 1891

Records

Player records

• Most Tries In A Match: 7 by Frederick "Fred" Smith vs Keighley, 1959 & Keith Slater vs Hunslet, 1971
• Most Goals In A Match: 13 by Mark Conway vs Highfield RLFC, 1992-93
• Most Points In A Match: 36 by Jamie Rooney vs Chorley, 2004
• Most Tries In A Season: 38 by Frederick "Fred" Smith 1961-62, David Smith 1973-74
• Most Goals In A Season: 163 by Neil Fox, 1961-62
• Most Points In A Season: 407 by Neil Fox, 1961-62

Team records

• Highest Attendance: 28,254 vs Wigan, 1962
• Highest Super League Attendance: 11,000 vs Castleford Tigers, 2006
• Biggest Victory: 90-12 vs Highfield RLFC, 1992-93

Head Coach History

Name	Former Wakefield Player	Contract Started	Contract Ended
James "Jim" Croston	Yes	1946 +/-	1946 +/-
Kenneth "Ken" Traill	Yes	1958	1970
Neil Fox	Yes	May 1970	March 1974
Peter Fox	Yes (First-Half in 27-13 Defeat at Swinton on 17/9/1966)	June 1974	May 1976
Geoffrey "Geoff" Gunney (MBE)	No	June 1976	November 1976
Brian Lockwood	No	November 1976	January 1978
Ian Brooke	Yes	January 1978	January 1979
William "Bill" Kirkbride	No	January 1979	April 1980
William "Bill" Ashurst	Yes	June 1981	April 1982
Raymond "Ray" Batten	No	May 1982	July 1983
Derek 'Rocky' Turner	Yes	July 1983	February 1984
Geoffrey "Geoff" Wraith	Yes	February 1984	May 1984
David Lamming	Yes	October 1984	April 1985
Leonard "Len" Casey	No	April 1985	June 1986
Anthony "Tony" Dean	No	June 1986	December 1986
Trevor Bailey	No	December 1986	April 1987
David Topliss	Yes	May 1987	April 1994
David Hobbs	No	May 1994	January 1995
Paul Harkin	Yes	January 1995	January 1996
Mitch Brennan	No	January 1996	June 1997
Andrew "Andy" Kelly	Yes	June 1997	May 2000
Tony Kemp	Yes	May 2000	October 2000
John Harbin	No	October 2000	November 2001
Peter Roe	No	November 2001	July 2002
Shane McNally & Adrian Vowles	No & Yes	August 2002	September 2003
Shane McNally	No	October 2003	June 2005
Tony Smith	No	June 2005	July 2006
John Kear	No	July 2006	Current

Number	Nat	Player	Position	Previous Club
1		Matt Blaymire	Full Back	York City Knights
2		Damien Blanch	Wing	Widnes Vikings
3		Tony Martin	Centre	New Zealand Warriors
4		Ryan Atkins	Centre	Bradford Bulls
5		Matthew Petersen	Wing	Gold Coast Titans
6		Jamie Rooney	Stand Off	Featherstone Rovers
7		Danny Brough	Scrum Half	Castleford Tigers
8		Jason Demetriou	Utility	Widnes Vikings
9		Brad Drew	Hooker	Huddersfield Giants
10		Danny Sculthorpe	Prop	Wigan Warriors
11		Steve Snitch	Second Row	Huddersfield Giants
12		Oliver Wilkes	Second Row	Widnes Vikings
13		Scott Grix	Utility	Widnes Vikings
14		Sam Obst	Hooker	Whitehaven RLFC
15		James Stosic	Prop	Gold Coast Titans
16		Ricky Bibey	Prop	Leigh Centurions
17		Kevin Henderson	Centre	Leigh Centurions
18		Frank Winterstein	prop	Canterbury Bulldogs
19		Sean Gleeson	Centre	Wigan Warriors
20		Tevita Leo-Latu	Hooker	Cronulla Sharks
21		Michael Korkidas	Prop	Huddersfield Giants
24		Dale Ferguson	Second Rower	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
25		Richard Moore	Prop	Leigh Centurions
26		Luke George	Winger	Huddersfield Giants
27		Aaron Murphy	Centre	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
28		Kyle Bibb	Second Rower	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
29		Jay Pitts	Utility Forward	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
30		Cain Southernwood	Scrum Half	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
31		Luke Blake	Hooker	Hunslet Hawks