Castleford fight on amidst more ground woe

Castleford CEO Steve Ferres has admitted the club are failing to provide suitable facilities after suffering another setback in their hopes to make improvements to their Wheldon Road ground.

The club suffered cable theft over the close season, and now a burst mains pipe leading to the ground has contributed to further issues.

But Ferres was full of praise for the club’s fans, after they cheered the Tigers on to a 14-12 victory over Super League champions Leeds.

He said: “We had a lot of changes to implement in what was not only our first home game but what will be one of our busiest games of the season. Under these circumstances, I thought we coped admirably.

“I cannot deny that there were some issues but we are reviewing how the day went and will be making the necessary tweaks to try and make the game day experience as smooth as possible over the course of the year.

“We are still failing to provide suitable facilities, namely the toilets which I know have been a cause for issue for some time now. As I said before the game, the cable theft was a definite setback for us and has impacted on ground developments we had hoped to implement.

“To make matters worse, we have discovered a burst mains pipe leading to the ground which no doubt exacerbated Sunday’s issues, which we have now had repaired. I would like to reassure fans that we are working towards trying to make these changes but I’m afraid they cannot expect quick fixes.

“The turnout at the game on Sunday was absolutely fantastic and whilst I know that turning the Wheldon Road End in to a members-only area has had a mixed response, it was a real sight to see the club’s most loyal fans cheering on the players together! There is no doubt that the huge support of the fans lifted the team to that victory.”