December 2001
December 6 Today and this evening are very busy for the players, during the day a massive Tag rugby tournament was held involving 300 children from 21 schools,which took place at Birchwood High School.This evening Fans will be able to meet the players and get autographs at a special event to launch the Wire's new strip Picture The shirts as shown by the picture of Matt Roswell will be on sale for the first time they are priced at £42 for adults and £32 for juniors.
A number of Warrington players are expected to turn out for Chorley Lynx in the NFP on Sunday at Keighley,Dale Cardoza John Hill and Paul Noone are all on loan to the Lynx as part of an agreement whereas Chorley become Warrington's new football partners.The agreement allows Chorley coach Graeme West the use of Wolves players whilst Warrington will gain by keeping players match fit due to the Wire not Fielding an Alliance team next term.
Warrington's community programme continues apace with a number of players visiting the childrens ward of Warrington General Hospital,this is a continuing project which sees players visiting schools hospitals and youth clubs to talk to young people and answer questions etc.
Gina Coldick Warrington's press officer said :we have had 17 new players join us this year so we want to make the players known to the people of Warrington,the players spend a lot of time with the children and the response is fantastic,the whole scheme is working out to be a big success
December 13th Papua international Tom O'Reilly is seen as a strong rival to Lee Briers and Craig Weston for the Wolves stand off spot, the 26 year old has been named as stand off for the Wire in the pre-season game at Widnes on Boxing Day the kick off is at 3pm.Warrington Wolves fans will be located in the West Stand,the West Stand is all ticket with no reservations on seats,tickets are available from the Wolves shop before Christmas Eve,Adults £10 Concessions £5.The team selected to face Widnes is as follows players with another club last season will have the name of the prior club in brackets;Lee Penny;Leroy Rivett ( unattached );Leon Felton ( Canterbury );Kevin Crowthers ( Dewsbury );David Alstead;Tom O'Reilly ( unattached );Gary Hulse; John Hill;Mark Gleeson;Mark Hilton ( Wigan ) ; Matt Sturm ( Workington );Paul Noone;Dean Busby.SubstitutesDale Laughton ( Huddersfield ) Jon Clarke; Darren Burns ( Brisbane );Lee Briers. Those not selected are expected to play against St Helens on New Years Day,i.e. Matty Rodwell and Sid Domic.
The players have been subjected to extensive medical examination over the past week,ECG tests along with urine tests to ensure players do not suffer from any nutrient deficiency ,results will ensure players are guided to the correct diet to correct any problems, a physiological profile is to be built up on each player,all the findings will feed back to performance director Steve Anderson.
Nick Owen and Ste Maden have been at Penketh high school recently coaching the schools rugby league players,children of both sexes and all age groups have received tuition.Carol Collins the schools PE teacher said the Warrington Community scheme brings together stall pupils and the Wolves,its success can be measured by the fact that a number of our teams have been unbeaten this season.
Warrington are still waiting on a decision concerning the new ground a club spokesperson said we are being optimistic,work is expected to start immediately the go-ahead decision comes through.
Wednesday19th December A red letter day for Warrington Wolves the new stadium gets the go ahead.The stadium is expected to cost in the region of £8 milliom pounds and be in use by 2004 .Wolves chief executive Andy Gatcliffe sais it has been a long frustrating journey but we reached the end and we are all elated .The story started two years ago when Tesco sought permission to build a large multi goods store selling everything from food to TV's and computers,this was refused planning permission at the time by Warrington Borough Council on the grounds that it was outside the defined retail area for the town centre.Tesco then hit on the ploy of using the Warrington Wolves's need for a new stadium as a means of getting the Superstore built.Tesco to all intents are building the stadium for Warrington so a good deal has worked out for the Wire, Tesco and the town of Warrington.
The initial plan was for part of the store to be built underneath the main stand of the stadium,this was later changed to allow the developement to be pushed back away from the road and housing.The new plans which included the Stadium were approved by WBC.After a momentous public meeting at Warrington Town Hall which was relayed to a crowd of hundreds outside who arrived with flags banners and even a band played throughout,it must have been one of the happiest council meetings ever in Warrington,the banter was tremendous especially when a speaker at the meeting proffered views contrary to what the milling crowd wished to hear.
After the meeting Peter Deakin came onto the same balcony that had witnessed the visit to Warrington of King Edward VII ,Queen Alexandra and The Princess Victoria in 1909,he announced that the Tesco developement had won planning permission,joy however was short lived,on the 7th March letters were sent out notifying interested parties that the Secretary of State had called in the plan and that a public inquiry would be held.The date of the inquiry was set as 15th May 2001 at the Parr Hall Warrington.
Parties represented at the Inquiry were -:Warrington Borough Council , Warrington Wolves R.L.Club , Tesco Stores and Carlsberg Tetley , Halton Borough Council , Asda Stores , Modus Properties , Fordgate ( Halton Lea centre ) Watkin st Residents and Tenants association , Pensioners on Melville Close , Pro-Active solutions , Coucillors Fairfield and Howley wards , Rev F.Stephens St Mary's Priory.Members of the public were also to be allowed to speak after notifying the inquiry of their intention.
The result of the inquiry should under the rules of the planning inspectorate,been made known by September but a number of things happened in the meantime like a General Election.Anyhow the result came in the Wire get a new stadium, Tesco get a new store now all we need is a team worthy of it all ,and who knows under the stewardship of Steve Anderson we might be getting there.
Updates to this story will appear as and when .
Others news Dean Busby has been appointed club vice captain matt Rodwell is captain.
December 20th Warrington's game against Widnes on Boxing Day will see the Wire adopt a different style of play,it is the flat line style of play which is used to great effect by the Australian World Champions,It has been devised by Chris Anderson and Steve Anderson using beer mats on a table and is something they picked up on after watching a game of rugby union ,it is something the Warrington players have been striving hard to perfect during pre-season training.
The flat line style involves the ball carrier running forward to create depth for the ball receiver who must time his run to perfection to meet the flat pass from the ball carrier.A few forward passes are bound to be given untill the team gets used to the style ,it might not look pretty to begin with and at times the team might look disorganised but I believe it is something we should stick with said Anderson.
It is intended that Warrington will play a tight game to start the season,expansion should come as the team becomes confortable with the new style of play.The players look good in training but it will be a different matter in games and they have to learn not to drop back into the old style when things get difficult.At times it will look awful put patience will be rewarded Anderson concluded.
December 30th Warrington lose to Widnes at the autoquest by 18-12 before almost 8,000 spectators.The cooperation with NFP outfit Chorley Lynx continues with Chorley coach Graeme West visiting Warrington twice a week to look over game videos and to study the latest training techniques,Matty rodwell and Sid Domic are both expected to make their debuts for Warrington in the New Years day friendly against St Helens,kick off 3pm.
With the news that the stadium gets the go ahead suggestions for a name are being canvassed,The People's stadium is one idea,it is rumoured that Tesco who are putting upwards of £ 5 million into the project would like the Stadium to be called the Tesco Stadium,and who can blame them,perhaps a compromise in the best British tradition would be The Tesco People's Stadium.Go to www.thisiswarrington.co.uk to suggest a name please keep it clean.
Whilst it will be sad to see the end of Wilderspool as a home for the Wire the stadium has seen a lot in the past 100 years and will be missed ,toilet facilities however will not.Although in recent times the capacity due to safety fears has been slashed to 9,000 ,the stadium has a proud history ,indeed during the second world war the main stand was used as a store by the military,at wars end and with a public crying out for sport Wilderspool in the late 40's and 50's saw its best crowds with over 20,000 as a regular gate,indeed on the 22nd January 1949 34,034 were packed in to see Warrington beaten by Wigan 8-4.Wolves coach Steve Anderson said that the new stadium will bring welcome revenue into the club,it should attract the corporate business side of things with a new state of the art facility helping to bring in sponsorship revenue.It is hope that an improved supporter base will be attracted to the new ground and it's more confortable facilities.
I would like to Wish every one a Happy New Year where ever you are and wish you and your club ever success " except of course should they be playing Warrington.
