A club with a long, proud history going back to 1895 when the game began. Unfortunately, it's been some time since silverware graced their hall of fame cabinet. In the year 2000, local lad and former player Andy Kelly was ending a four year role as coach, replaced in 2001 by John Harbin. He stayed a season then moved on. Peter Roe passed through briefly and a dual partnership with Shane McNally and Adrian Vowles became must the former and he helped the side to respectable 2004 result.
On his sacking Tony Smith came in before he was shown the door and John Kear got the poisoned chalice, I mean coaching job. He remained for a colossal 153 games and had some success too in 2009. The club went into administration in 2011 and Richard Agar emerged as the coach for 2012. A wooden spoon and a revolving door policy for coaches resumed before local man Chris Chester was appointed.
One issue that wouldn't go away was Wakefield trying to get a better ground to play at. It became a long running saga with one proposal after another biting the dust. Finally, for the 2023 season, a substantial upgrade to the ground commenced.
The disappointing reality the club came last in the league and automatic relegation to the championship resulted. It could argued the club has been dicing with this for some time as the Manhattan below shows. Still, when they do return, they will have a stadium worthy of that status.
In late 2023, Matt Ellis became the new owner and it seems that a bright future awaits the club. Of course, time will tell but the fans are optimistic.
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