It used to be the case that turning up at Wakefield’s Belle Vue home was like entering a time warp.
The setting visible in Richard Harris’ 1963 classic This Sporting Life, external was the very same one observed almost 60 years later, barring the affectionately named ‘Benidorm flats’ corporate boxes. The faded blue, white and red paintwork, the ageing outhouse toilets, the tired concrete paddock steps.
It was a nostalgic relic of a bygone age. Those sepia days were successful ones for Trinity and yet, while the ground might have looked the same, the team certainly did not.
Legends such as Derek ‘Rocky’ Turner, Harold Poynton and the famous Fox brothers had carried Wakefield to Wembley glories and silverware galore, but they were deep in the past.
It felt like change might never happen. But, in an unlikely sequence of events, it has.
Wakefield Trinity has a vibe about the place, a buzz, a crackle of energy and excitement. There is a rapidly improving stadium, complete with new multi-purpose stand.
They had to go backwards to come forwards, and now there is a spring in the step after being re-admitted to Super League for 2025.
Their opening-round win at Leeds sets them up perfectly for the visit of Hull KR and the return of top-flight rugby to the city this weekend.
