Rugby League: Lindsay's put-down for angry Trinity

Dave Hadfield
Thursday 14 May 1998 00:02 BST
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WAKEFIELD TRINITY have hit back at suggestions that they could not be admitted to Super League, even if they win this season's First Division.

Trinity, three points clear at the top of the table, are understandably concerned at comments about their prospects made by Super League's managing director, Maurice Lindsay.

"You have to add to the quality of Super League and not detract from it," he said. "If anyone thinks that they can come into Super League just by winning Division One, with a dreadful ground, a group of players who may be good enough to win the title, but who are in other respects ordinary, and with no real back-up wealth, then they are misguided. I don't think Wakefield in their present form could join us."

Trinity's chairman, Ted Richardson, said that Lindsay's comments "dampen the aspirations of the fans, and that's what we've been trying to re-generate". The club has plans for a new stadium on the motorway network and has recently appointed Steve Ferres as the new chief executive.

"It is perhaps unfortunate that Maurice's comments are made without the advantage of seeing the club's proposals," said Richardson. Lindsay's remarks will heighten the fears of clubs outside the elite division that Super League is bent on becoming a closed shop. They will also do little to repair relations between him and the chairman of the Rugby League, Sir Rodney Walker, who is also a former Wakefield chairman.

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