In order to avoid upsetting those who must be obeyed I decided to start a thread to answer the question of the wooden stand as I remember it. When we were going through one of our financial problems many years ago the then Labour council in order to keep us going agreed to buy the ground which caused them a great deal of problems with both Castleford and Featherstone.
With regards the wooden stand following the fire at Bradford all grounds were subject to a more rigorous inspection. With regards our stand unfortunately due to its structure and the fact it had a bar underneath and it's own tunnel it was doomed. The ownership of the ground would not have changed this outcome.
To carry on a little further during the blue period in the UK and the abolishing of Metropolitan Council, Wakefield had to dispose of some of its asserts and Belle Vue was one. The Labour controlled council in order to save money sold the ground back to the club for a minimal amount. They were however not daft enough to go with the free market which was all the rage at the time and placed certain conditions that the ground could only be used as a sports facility in order to prevent its sale as building land. This was done to ensure that we always had a ground and could not be thrown out should the ground be subsequently sold to property developers.
What became of the ground ownership after this time is still somewhat shrouded in mystery, so before some of you get on about how badly we are treated by the council just remember if they weren't willing to step in many years ago a lot of you would not have a club to follow or moan about.

Thats answered quite a lot of questions i've meant to ask. The big regret i have is that i always stood i the north east corner as a young kid and always dreamed of one day being able to sit in the west stand but it was demolished before i ever got the chance. Just wish some times it was possible to turn the clock back.

I did manage to sit in the old West stand on at least one occasion when I was a child. As it was quite high up you got a somewhat different view of the game. Always enjoyed it but that might have been due to watching a great side (1960- 1965).

agree with that SP but its not the same council we have now and the balance isn't the same to which club it favours

Yes, same as any governing body, the council, or government or even Wakefield board has the same name through time but not the same people, ethics or political agenda.

The council at the time saved us, there is no doubt.

I sat in the stand once. We tended to be on the other side but my dad must have switched us for a game or two. Felt posher somehow. Probably the elevated view.
Anyone remember Mrs Gott?

I never sat in it , but walked under it a fair few times as a kid . Bit of a squeeze as i can remember at half time ,so i started walking down the edge of the pitch to swap ends along with many others - how times change !

The opening poster is very selective with the truth and he/she has not presented the full picture.
The poster neglects to mention that within days of handing the ground back to the club the council then
presented the club with a huge bill for 'ground improvements' they had under taken whilst in their ownership.
Also they then came to the ground and condemned the floodlights and this also presented the club with a
huge financial problem.

The club did not come out of this deal as good as some politicians would like you to believe.

I doubt that the council could ask the club to pay for work already completed without it first being agreed before the title was changed.
We have also used the ground on more than one occassion to raise money that would not have been available if we did not hold this asset.

My memories are.

Sitting in the stand last game of the season and bring fascinated as the groundsman had cut the grass in a circular pattern the smallest circle being on the centre spot. (Was it this game where Trevor Midgely handed his shirt to a fan behind the posts who thought he could do better)

The hospital radio commentary booths at the front.

The snack bar on the outside wall my mates sister worked in it.

Walking through the tunnel at the back and seeing folk drinking in the bar.

Never realise till recently that bar used to be the changing rooms.

I'm sure many in the crowd could have done.

I remember meeting up with friends before each game in the bar. Always packed out.
You had to pay extra to get in the West Stand so I never went in for a full game. Sneaked in late on in one game just out of interest but always prefered the South Stand.

My recollection is that whilst the Council did buy Belle Vue when the Club was in financial difficulties (when have we not been) for which we are grateful they sold it back for the same price they had bought it for. You may argue that they could have got more in an open market sale but that brings me on to the covenant regarding use for sport.

I don't think it was the Council that placed that covenant when they sold it back. I seem to recall the covenant being mentioned well before the ground was sold and that it may date back to when the land was originally bought around the turn of the last century in order ensure that there was land on which to play rugby on.

Like jack in the box I also seen to recall the Council presenting the Club with a bill for all the work/improvements they had made to the Ground whilst it was in their ownership - whether it was paid or not is another matter. They also condemned the floodlights as unsafe but did not give the Club an opportunity to "fix" them if they could be fixed but came down to the Club and "cut" them down and left them at the back of the East Stand leaving the Club with a massive bill for new floodlights. They may have been "cut" down just before the transfer of title but I'm not sure on that.

Its strange that the floodlights were exactly the same as the ones that were installed at Keighley's Lawkholme Lane Ground and were erected at the same time and I believe Keighley's floodlights are still standing.

Whilst we are grateful for all the assistance the Council has afforded the Club I don't think the Council has been as helpful as some may think.

Look pretty similar to the lights at The Jungle too.

The floodlights at Castleford are even older than the ones the Council "cut" down.

Castleford were one of the first Club's with floodlights and may have been winners of the BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy I think it was called which not surprisingly was only open to Clubs with floodlights.

Wrong. The floodlights at Castleford are new. They were installed this season.

Yes because the old ones were a death trap, well done Cas for putting up new ones.

That brings me to another thought, despite Belle Vue having its problems we've never had to cancel a game or stop a game early due to structural safety of the stadium.

A further recollection is that while the ground was still under council ownership, new bigger bulbs were installed but then some of the pylons were deemed to be unsafe so they used steel cable "guide ropes" to make them more stable. This would have been around 1990 as I think it was done in time for the Australia match.

not been down there since the our game last season . However I can't
comment on the lights but the pylons were the same as they have always
been.

So do you mean lights or pylons ?

Didn't mention the pylons - I said the flood LIGHTS are new.

So you've put new bulbs in?

So the actual pylons must be about 50 yrs old by now.

By the way ,when our 'lights' were condemned by the council it was the pylons
that were deemed unsafe and they were about 15 yrs old.

No we've put new LIGHTS in. You know - its like a casing that the bulb screws into and then you fix the ligh case onto the top on the pylon and then turn the swicth on and then the flood lights turn on.

Neither have Cas.

It was stopped because someone thought there was an issue with a floodlight. Turned out it was a false alarm but an engineer and fire brigade were contacted to check it out as a precaution.

AFAIK the whole floodlights have been replaced. One of the sponsors completed the work for us and the lux is above the RFL's requirements.

It seems like every thread of this ilk becomes an attempt to have a dig at Cas or try and raise some conspiracy theory. It just sounds bitter to be honest. Especially since a lot of you won't have a clue what Cas have done, or are in the process of doing.

Cas have been praised for the extensive work carried out over the off-season, their compliance with H+S. This has been notified to the RFL, to be used as a case study for all clubs moving forward.

There were sparks raining down on the terracing!

The game was stopped early because of a health and safety problem within Wheldon Rd

A mutual friend of ours, who knows the full facts, is clear about this. The club bought the ground back from the council for a much larger amount than the council bought it from the club for originally. It is a complete myth that the club were sold the ground back for a minimal amount. The council and therefore Wakefield residents made a profit from the whole deal, and it was a significant profit for the time. It is not clear if it was sold back at the current best market value, given land values did continue to rise, so maybe not and that is maybe where this whole myth came from, but they still paid back much more than they got for it!

He also has told me that the what you and Jack in the Box have posted is correct, not only did they make a profit they also did slap a very large bill into the club after it was bought back for 'works to the ground'.