To our Friends, Staff, and Fans,
Hope you’re all well. We’re into the final stretch of the season and thought it was time for a comprehensive update. Let’s get straight to it as we have a lot to cover.
What is Wakefield AFC Today
I want us to step back for a moment and appreciate how far we’ve come since 2021. In the last four and a half years, we’ve never played a meaningless game. Think about that. Since the first day on this journey, every single game of every season has been about winning a title or reaching the playoffs. We won one title (2022), made three playoff appearances, and this year we’ll certainly make the playoffs again.
Yeah, some will say we spent money to get there. While it’s true we’ve had decent budgets, the numbers floating around social media are not the reality. Excluding last season, when we overspent and underachieved, we’ve never had the top budget in the division. That’s rare at any level, and it’s something worth appreciating, because most clubs go through seasons where half their fixtures don’t matter.
Why start the letter this way? As we get closer to the playoffs, we need to reflect as there’s a tendency at the club to treat it as title or bust. We badly want promotion, but much of this season’s enjoyment has come from some great performances in recent weeks, the squad we’ve built, and the support from fans who are more energized than ever. We also have to recognize that while being champions is brilliant, for the club’s long-term future there’s no meaningful difference between the 9th and 10th division. It’s all community football.
The logic changes slightly at Step 4, where increased travel, hosting more away fans, early upside in player sales, and the presence of well-funded ambitious clubs all come into play. At Step 3 the game gets real. Clubs without proper foundations very rarely reach that stage and those that do on the back of money alone burn through it fast and go straight back down.
That’s why we have to appreciate where we are. We’ve genuinely never been in a better position. The club still runs at a loss, but Pontefract is the best facility we’ve ever played in. We have great staff, strong community support, an excellent squad where every single player wants to be here, and a management team fully aligned with the club’s values of preparation and hard work.
We see this as a three-phase project. Phase I is complete: save the club. That took a lot of money, hours, and commitment from the board, staff, and volunteers. Phase II: stabilize and build a proper foundation. We’re here. Sponsors, the City of Wakefield, and fans are all on board, making the club a reality in the community with solid foundations for growth. Phase III: Grow within the community. That starts now and includes facilities, which we’ll cover later in this update.
Football and Plans for Next Season
We’re second in the league. Jason Blunt has won 84% of points available since taking over in August. For context, the overall season sits at 76%; previous management was at 26% before we made the change. Last year’s title was won with 75% points. Dearne currently sits at 86%, which shows how much stronger this league is this year. At the current pace Dearne will have the best campaign in the NCEL since Campion comfortably won the league in 22/23. This year’s top six would have been strong title candidates last season.
We have to deal with the reality that Dearne have a comfortable lead and the title is theirs to lose. All we can do is maximize our points every game and be ready if they slip. The pressure is entirely on them and we must forget everyone else and just focus on preparation and execution.
In terms of squad we believe it’s different from anything we’ve had. Every single player wants to be here and they’ve turned down better financial offers to finish the season at Wakefield. Mostly local lads, they train twice a week with real intensity and genuinely care about this club and community. That shows character, a massive change from last season when players yanked the ball from each other at the end of games for an extra goal bonus. After three playoff exits without scoring a single goal, we believe we’ll present ourselves much better and be far more competitive and professional this time.
We can also see the results of Jason and the squad’s work; in most games we are at full speed after 60 minutes, and other teams struggle to keep up with our fitness. Players have full-time jobs and reaching this level of fitness requires complete buy-in; training twice a week and putting in extra runs after a hard day’s work isn’t easy. This group does it without complaint because they and Jason are aligned.
Finally one important commitment from the board: if the chairman and board remain in place next season, the intention is to re-sign every current player, promoted or not. This squad is good. It’s time we maintain a core group for the next few years and build an identity.
Facilities and a Close Call
When Featherstone Rovers collapsed into administration mid-season, it was a stark reminder of how fragile non-league clubs are. Within a single year, we were asked to leave Trinity, moved to Featherstone, watched Featherstone change owners again, and then found an exit right before the club risked total collapse. Make no mistake: if the board hadn’t found a solution at Pontefract, which took enormous effort in just two weeks, we would have gone down with Featherstone, or at minimum been forced to forfeit the season.
Moving to Pontefract saved the club. In many ways, we have rescued Wakefield AFC from the brink twice in less than five years, and we now believe the situation is permanently solved with the right partner in Pontefract. The facility and pitch suit us perfectly, and this is where the club should be built for the next few years. It’s also the first time in club history we’ve played home games in a proper football stadium rather than rugby grounds that were never fit for purpose.
On Brook Farm: we need to be completely honest. The project will be 100% privately funded. That means we need to see significant growth in crowds and community involvement before we can invest more than the £1.5 million required to build at that location. We are still actively pursuing it and currently negotiating a lease with Wakefield Council, which we believe will be signed before month-end. After that it’s fundraising, community engagement in Walton, and then planning permission to start building a small pitch for training and rental.
If we can’t reach agreement on a lease before month-end, we’ll walk away from Brook Farm. It’s that simple. The application alone will cost over £30,000 for studies, drainage assessments, environmental reports, and architect fees and that’s all before we lay a single brick. Our attendance numbers are strong for Step 6 (over 300 average), but we’d never get close to recovering a build cost of over £1.5 million on that particular land until there’s significant support growth. With that in mind, we’re looking for partners and alternative revenue streams at the location to make the project viable and move the club toward sustainability.
What’s Next and General Items
This Saturday we’re offering tickets for £3 to any rugby club or EFL season ticket holder. If you have friends who follow other clubs, invite them to experience our matchday for the first time. Between the volunteer effort and the football we’ve been playing, we’re confident they’ll come back.
Club 100: not nearly good enough. We’re not even at Club 50 right now. We need to improve those numbers. That money helps cover gameday costs that increased when we moved to Pontefract. Please sign up if you can.
April 10th fan forum: The board and Emma are organizing a fan forum with food and drinks ahead of the April 11th game. Decca, Jason, and Emma will be there to take questions and have a proper chat. More details on social media over the next two weeks.
School visits: Jason and Decca will visit schools in Wakefield during the week of April 19th. We’ll be donating football equipment and running training sessions. Schools have been pre-selected, but if your school wants to be included, email secretary@wakefieldafc.co.uk. We’ll cover as many as we can.
End of season kit sale: No more kits will be issued from this season. On April 3rd vs Ilkley there’ll be an end-of-season sale ahead of the playoffs. Sizes and quantities are very limited so please come early.
Finally, thanks to our sponsors Recruit a Driver, Cantidad, CPMS, and Nigel Davis Tyres, and to every single volunteer for the support this season. Keep in touch, come to the games, and let’s finish this season strong.
All the best,
Wakefield AFC Board of Directors