Correct.

Also the flats themselves are temporary constructions with no real foundations. So building a permanent terrace right up to them may be problematic. Maybe I’m wrong and there is a way, but what I do know is that temp seating is cheap to buy and install and because it would be fairly shallow would have very few safety requirements. Terracing would need to be far stronger, need crush barriers etc.

Fair point. I did wonder if crush barriers may be an issue but some of the points you make about it being cheaper make sense.

Ultimately if we can increase capacity by a few hundred then this should get utilised for our big games vs likes of Leeds etc when I expect we will sell out.

Talking about seats actually. You may know but I had a brief look at the handbook recently and it mentioned that hospitality is to have a physical barrier to receive points…

Our hospitality seating has no physical barrier as such however it is separated by a walkway. I’m just wondering if this is classed as a physical barrier being a break in the seating?

I remember JM talking about that. It doesn't need to be major fixed wall. Just something to identify the difference. I'd guess we'd put hand rails down the side if needed

Thanks PT.

Leaving that one a bit late in the day. Would be a shame if we dropped points on a simple barrier like that. Maybe because we haven’t done it we perhaps don’t need to or maybe it’s something in the pipeline. I suppose you could put a few posts up and have a connecting chain running fl down the sides for a very cheap option. You could open and close it off when needed I guess.

I suppose the club would need to know what img define as a physical barrier. If it’s a physical gap, stewards enforcing then that’s easily done but if it is in fact something tangible then I would think Ellis would be all over that.

Just always wondered as would be a shame to lose points on something we actually have but for a technicality.

I agree.

I know they have opportunities to meet RFL to discuss so hopefully it's all under control.
Personally I'd allocate IMG strategy to someone as a role, not just Ellis looking. He's a busy guy and this needs someone in the detail.

Absolutely agree but I firmly believe Ellis will have had a consultant or someone go through the detailed handbook in detail and identify opportunities like these barriers where we could not only gain points but also avoid losing points.

I would actually hope they’ve consulted Mynards as he was heavily involved in the last one where we scored quite well last year.

Totally agree about a person dealing with it. I’d certainly have someone going through it with a fine tooth comb and getting regular clarification from IMG in things like this barrier.

While we’re discussing hand rail’s I’m reliably informed that to comply with IMG requirements, the blue/purple hospitality seats are to have hand rails down the outside seats to cordon off from the none hospitality section. This work will have to be done before the grades are announced end of October.

We have been discussing that on the last page. There’s no more reliably informed than the handbook itself and it’s in there. Expected as much and I’m sure that Ellis will get it done.

I do however suspect that it won’t need to be before October announcement. It will I believe need to be done sooner before the club I assume has its IMG grading visit where it will be scrutinised against the handbook. This is when it will need to be installed for (so not much time at all).

It doesn't say hand rail it says 'physical barrier'.
They will need to clarify what that means.

Quite right, I’m just thoughtful that a handrail would be beneficial to quite a few people including me when climbing those steps.

I think the flats have served us well in the past, what 25 years or so, and have brought a lot of revenue into the club.

They do look better since they have been freshened up.

I do recall earlier in the the season what ME said about his plans for the west terrace, and the part above the covered terrace. If my memory serves me right, he said a rooftop area with hospitality there. I haven't heard anything changing on that front, so I can only presume that it is still the long term plan.

If that is the case, then could some of the hospitality side be moving from there to the west terrace, or will this be extra boxes etc.

If it is moving, I wouldn't be surprised to see something further down the line on the south end which is part hospitality, and part stand for supporters.

Exciting times ahead

Hospitality isn't really in the flats now.
The players area is there and boxes for sponsors.
There is obviously still facility to do it but I'd say the Neil Fox Stand covers what used to be there.
West stand is all about supports for me.
Clearly Ellis knows more about business than me but I'm not on board with the rooftop.
I'd either have home stand like Hull KR for the length of the area or a seating area with media area above.

Talking of stadiums.

I noticed on TRL that Cas reckon their stadium will be a grade A by the end of the season. I’m trying to be open minded but I can’t help but laugh. In what universe is this even remotely possible.

Cas have to be the greatest set of deluded bull ***** in the game of RL. If that heap is a grade A then I’m a rock star.

Like I said on a previous page Vasty, I was there 2 weeks ago and you are spot on, it’s absolutely dreadful and god knows who does the grading, probably Stevie Wonder. I know we have been way behind in the years gone by but we have done something about it, and don’t get me started on the stand we had to remove after the Bradford disaster which still grates me to this day and that thing that they call a stand is still being used

If they used the phrase "Grade A Stadium" they don't understand what they are doing.

Maybe they could get full marks on the stadium section but that doesn't give them a Grade A.

They could possibly get the 1.5 points for facilities but I can't see how they will do the sponsors and directors area.
The handbook makes a point of saying the seats have to be permanent so we'll see what they think of their new ones.

They don't have LEDs and do they have a permanent big screen I can't remember.

And its fairly impossible to get full marks on utilisation.

So I'd say they are only talking about facilities score of 1.5.

The big screen had moved from one side of the away end to the other PT but unsure if it was temporary

They have revalued the ground from just over 2m to just over 8m in the last twelve months.

The Cas ground? Wow.

The whole of Castleford is not worth 8m!

All of Cas and the surrounding areas wouldn’t come no where near that

Not only due to the Bradford disaster, BLM. The old main stand was absolutely riddled with wet rot. I was working for WMDC at the time and had some involvement in the survey of the structure

I was reading the handbook today and the directors area/sponsored seats. Do we have this in the new stand? I’ve not been in the central part. Are the hospitality and the sponsors seats one and the same?

I’d like to think we can get the full 1.5 points on that. Obviously that means physical barrier on the hospitality.

Looking at our accounts, from what I can make out, our tangible assets, which is just surely the ground, land and Stadia and we've had ours revalued, obviously because of the upgrade and it's taken us from 6.3million to 14.6 million.

The blue seats in the middle are more padded.the top row of blue seating all the way across where the directors of the clubs would sit are even more deluxe with extra comfort!

I would hope that for declaring to IMG they would need a professional evaluation on the property which the club owns, otherwise it's pretty pointless if clubs can just make things up.

On LED advertising boards, Cas are just about to put them in, Cas seem to think they are going to get a grade A licence which I have no idea how they could get close to the 15 required.

I'm still wondering why nobody in Leigh seems to be worried, being that they scored below us last time even without the new stand / facilities and other improvements (and below Cas apparently with there mistake that cost them 0.5). They have on the face of it made no improvements and will be down 0.25 points with the Challenge cup win not factored in.