I agree, it took years actually and we had to endure some horrible stuff but we got back up eventually - with little money I would guess!

I would think the transition wouldn’t be as difficult if we were to drop down next season. We would even with our modest crowds in SL be able to run a mostly full time team minus some big earners.

I dare say we would see some fans returning on the terraces and it would be a refreshing change to be one of the front runners in the league. Of course I wouldn’t want us to finish bottom but I don’t think it would be the end of Wakefield trinity at all.

I wouldn’t expect us to be front runners in the Championship
Teams like Leigh, Featherstone and Halifax are far better funded than we would be

If you think some of our players look disinterested now wait until they have to play Barrow away on a cold dark rainy night in March or go to Batley and play up the hill against a team who know how to play a slope.

Just because we climbed up once before means nothing, the games changed massively and the competition isn’t fair and even as it was in 98.

I think we would be a part time outfit and middle table. There will be teams in the league with backers to provide the cash which we don’t have at the moment so there’s nothing to indicate we would be any different in the lower league

Highly doubt that. We wouldn’t have the backers but we wouldn’t necessarily need them.

We would have the largest fan base and attendances. I dare say some success of winning games would bring a few fans back.
We would receive a parachute payment I think.

The worst thing we could do is go part time especially first year down. That would be a huge error. If we go down we must set our stall out to come straight back up.

The best thing to do would be stay mainly full time (or your initial 21 man squad full time with rest made up of part time/academy prospects.

I’m not too sure but I think sometime in the past michael carter said we wouldn’t be going with a full time squad if we were relegated

He did if we lost to Bradford.

I don’t think we would. We don’t get great attendances now.

We getv roughly 3-4k fans in SL. Half that and that's what we'll get in the Championship. Bradford, Leigh/Featherstone, Widnes will have bigger crowds or similar.

Rather than have to battle to try and gain promotion, we need to throw all that we have into staying up.

Running a FT squad in the Championship, capable of gaining promotion doesnt come cheap and IIRC, the monies given to Championship clubs will be massively reduced from next season.

It looks highly likely that either Fev or Leigh will be promoted this time around, both of whom looked better in the 1895 cup that we do currently, plus maybe York.
A couple or few seasons in the Championship would be horrendous for the club.

Attendances would likely drop to 2-2500 which doesn't seem enough to fund a promotion chasing side ?

You get it however some still believe relegation will result in a golden period it will not.

There is a "best case" scenario, if we were to go down, storm the Championship and win the GF, it "could" result in us coming back into the top flight with some momentum.
However, this is a long, long way from certain and every promoted side has struggled in their first season in SL and we would be no different.
Plus, the loss of revenue would be catastrophic and depending on the squad that we were able to put together, we could go further down the league pyramid before beginning to climb.
Bradford seem to be the perfect example plus, London, who are now looking like relegation candidates from The Championship.

Far better to maintain our position in SL, consolidate and then try to grow/improve. It's not easy but, it's preferable to play in the Championship.

Always worth remembering that there could always be a change in the structure or, new criteria, which could make it impossible to return.

The old saying about "being careful what you wish for" certainly applies here.

Nobody is saying it will result in a golden period. That’s just a rediculous statement. And nobody is wishing for relegation I believe either.

I do think however we would be getting more than 2200-2500. Is that not around our current season ticket base line/hardcore support?

I think we are more or less down to our core fans now and have eroded to this point over the past few years since 2019.

I think realistically we would be looking at 3000-3500 attendances most games inclusive of away fans. If we were to be challenging at the top of championship I could see a modest increase on that as the season progresses.

As I said before I think that may be enough to fund a full time starting 17/21 man squad with the rest made up of young/part time players. You have to consider that some of our older high earning players would likely not be on the books.

Should we get relegated we would most certainly need to come back up the following year or it could be disastrous. I would hope the club approach it as such. That said we need to ensure with whatever is in our power that we don’t end up in that last spot this season.

One of fev/Leigh you wouldn’t expect to be in the championship next season also.

This is all what ifs but I think building a team to challenge for promotion would be highly possible for next year if needed. What we wouldn’t want to do is a Widnes/London. Not coming straight back up they look to have fallen into a decline of sorts.

You forgot to include the revenue lost in servicing the stadium loan which will be due regardless of the division we are in.

Even more reason to ensure we are challenging for promotion should we find ourselves in the championship. I would anticipate that this loan repayment would be covered by the income generated by the new facilities with some profit to spare.

Seems to be working at Featherstone on such gates, wren, as you allude to in an earlier sentence in your post.

I would imagine it’s Mark Campbell the chairman bankrolling Fev

He can't do it forever.

If they don't get up this season, it could look like another Bradford Bulls.

Both Fev and Leigh are spending loads this season and one of them is going to be very disappointed.

Unless they both go up?!

I've generally thought Fev was the better of the two favourites but after watching the cup final at the weekend they suddenley look second best.

I agree with that. I don’t think there’s too much in the backs between them but the forwards are where Leigh have the better of Fev. Leigh have a relatively young, big and mobile set of forwards. Fev have a lot of older heads in the forwards who can probably be great on a given day.

Hard to see past these two for the final anyway.

How would that work?

No relegation & expand to 14 teams.