Belle Vue (Wakefield)

About

Belle Vue, also known as the DIY Kitchens Stadium for sponsorship reasons, in Wakefield, England, is the home of Rugby League club Wakefield Trinity RLFC and, previously, Association Football club Wakefield A.F.C. It is on the A638 Doncaster Road, a mile south of Wakefield city centre.

Wakefield Trinity originally played on Heath Common. In 1875–76, they moved to a ground near the Borough Market (near the current Trinity shopping centre). They returned to the Belle Vue area of Wakefield played on a ground behind the Alexandra Hotel near Elm Street. This is on the opposite side of the road from the present ground. It remains unconfirmed when Wakefield Trinity moved to the present ground as Belle Vue is both an area of Wakefield and the name of the ground and people can confuse a mention of one for the other. Reverend Marshall in "Football – the Rugby Union Game" (first published 1892) wrote, "the club migrated to Belle Vue on the opposite side of the road to the present field, and where the first cup ties were played. In the following year a move was made to the present field." The Cup referred to is the Yorkshire Cup which was first played during the 1877–78 season. Wakefield Trinity's first Yorkshire Cup game was played on 8 December 1877 during the 1877–78 season. If Trinity played the "first cup ties" on the Elm Street ground in 1877, the "following year" would have been 1878. However, in, "The Grounds of Rugby League" by Trevor R. Delaney gives the opening of the present ground as Easter Monday, 14 April 1879. This is based on the evidence of former Wakefield Trinity treasurer Ernest Parker, who remembered that Trinity debuted their new (and now traditional) colours of blue and red on the same day and he was present at the match (He would have been approx. 10 years old). There is no mention of the ground move in the local newspapers and Parker's recollection was many years later. D. W. Armitage writing in J. C. Lindley's "100 years of Rugby – the history of Wakefield Trinity 1873–1973" said "From minutes of the committee it is evident that by the time the club was about ten years old [this would have been around 1883] the field on which Trinity still play had been occupied and was looked upon as the permanent home." In J. C. Lindley's "100 years of Rugby – the history of Wakefield Trinity 1873–1973" states "Their move to the arena which still forms their home did not come until late in 1892. In December of that year the club agreed to lease a field adjacent to the St Catherine's School and there they made their headquarters which have remained so throughout the rest of their history." Lindley goes onto explain, "But that move of playing area, obviously caused by their inability to continue the lease on two grounds on which they had progressed, bought severe problems. Here was a "field" – an area of grass which needed fencing and developing, in direct contrast to their previous home, enclosed with two stands, on which athletics, cycling and lacrosse as well as rugby football, were given adequate facilities. In 1892 a completely fresh start had to be made, and until such developments, athletics (including the popular annual sports) had to be staged on Wakefield Cricket club's ground." In 1892 newspaper reports that Trinity may "have to quit their present ground at Belle Vue at Belle Vue as it is required for building purposes." Delaney comments "Fortunately, the only development was the building of St Catherine's Road which stopped at the present turnstiles." This however may be incorrect and the reference to the "present ground" was actually a reference to the Elm Street ground and the redevelopment was a reference to the building of houses on Elm Street. Lindley explains that in January 1895 "some three years after taking the lease for this Belle Vue field", the club planned ground developments and to finance these, a Limited liability company "Wakefield Trinity Athletic Company Limited", controlled by but separate from the rugby club, was formed to both buy out the lease and raise finance to develop the ground. On 24 September 1898 Lord Milton, Wakefield's MP official opened the re-constituted ground, which now included a cycle track around the perimeter of the rugby field, with a game between Wakefield Trinity and Halifax.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.