Sheffield Eagles announce intention for full-time team next season
Tuesday 21 July 2015 15:22, UK
Sheffield Eagles will return to being full-time next season, whether they manage to secure promotion to the Super League or not.
The Eagles have claimed a top-four finish in the Kingstone Press Championship this season and with it a place in the Super 8s Qualifiers which will determine the make-up of Super League in 2016.
Sheffield were a full-time team from 1996 to 2000, when they entered into an ill-fated merger with Huddersfield, but have since operated as a part-time club in the second tier of the professional game.
After several key full-time appointments over the last 12 months, which includes the return of former favourite Keith Senior to the coaching staff, and the planned construction of a new stadium, director of rugby Mark Aston feels the time is right for the club to take a pivotal step forward.
"It is very exciting times for Sheffield Eagles," said Aston, hero of their 1998 Challenge Cup final triumph over Wigan who helped re-form the club in 1999.
'Fantastic'
"You can see the significant difference it makes for teams like Leigh and Bradford in this division so to put ourselves on a similar playing field for next season is fantastic for the club.
"We hope that this now will give us the grounding to take this club back into Super League one day, which would be a significant achievement.
"We will officially start as a full-time club in November. Any players that we bring in now will be spoken to about signing a full-time contract so we have got a lot of work ahead to make sure that come February 2016, when we kick off the next campaign, we are fully functional and ready to go."
The Eagles conclude the regular Kingstone Press Championship season with a trip to The Hive to face London Broncos this Sunday.
The club, who are spending the 2015 season ground-sharing with Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium, are considering switching matches to Bramall Lane in 2016 as they await construction of a planned new stadium on the site of the old Don Valley Stadium.
