Barrow Raiders outline Super League ambitions as Cumbria’s representatives
Photo: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix
Barrow Raiders chairman Steve Neale has outlined his Super League ambitions. However, he fears their home of Craven Park falls short of minimum standards for the top division.
Paul Crarey’s side currently sit sixth in the Championship table and have had an impressive return to the division following their promotion last season.
Chairman Neale is hoping his Barrow side can be Cumbria’s representative in Super League in the near future. He has wrote to supporters hoping to involve more partners so that the club can reach its high ambitions.
He also hinted that a possible stadium move could be on the cards if the club was to achieve Super League status. Otherwise their home at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium would need improvements.
Barrow Raiders chairman writes open letter to supporters
“The club has made no secret of its ambition, shown by our continued progress on and off the pitch. We believe that we can become Cumbria’s representative in Super League,” Neale wrote in an open letter to fans.
“At present, our current facilities do not meet the minimum standard criteria for promotion to Super League. The fact that we are engaged in these sorts of discussions with the RFL signifies the progress we are making.
“We have a number of areas where we fall short. With the main issues being less than 2,000 seats in the ground, with us currently only having around 900 in the main grandstand.
“Our floodlights not being at the required lux levels, lack of suitably sized TV gantry, lack of media facilities; and we need to add in the lack of stress tested crush barriers that severely restricts our capacity.”
He continued: “The mere fact that Super League is a topic for discussion, together with a possible league restructure on the horizon, means we must now start to seriously consider improvements to our facilities, be that at Craven Park or elsewhere.
“It is unlikely that we will gain promotion this season but the boardroom is ambitious. We shouldn’t be shy in saying that we want to be Cumbria’s representative in Super League, just as our Ladies currently are.
“We want to make it clear to the rugby league world that we are serious in our ambition to reach and maintain a formidable team in Super League.”
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