Second coming for Trinity is '˜almost definite'

And now bosses are planning to bring back Wakefield Trinity by scratching Wildcats from the Rugby League club’s name.

Chairman Michael Carter said plans to drop the Wildcats suffix, added in 1999, and be known once again as Wakefield Trinity next season were “almost definite”.

The team competed against Catalan Dragons using the Wakefield Trinity title in their Magic Weekend victory in Newcastle last weekend.

Mr Carter said: “It’s a bit of a gut feeling.

“I get fans saying to me ‘we need to drop the Wildcats’.

“I think that’s generally the reaction we’ve had when we’ve been talking to people.

“I just think if you are talking about Wakefield as a rugby league club it will be forever known as Wakefield Trinity and we need to get back to that.

“It isn’t finalised yet, but I think from next year we will just be Wakefield Trinity.”

Under the banner of Wakefield Trinity, the club won five Challenge Cups, two Rugby Football League Championships and 10 Yorkshire Cups among a string of other accolades.

David Hinchliffe, a lifelong Wakefield Trinity fan and the city’s former MP, said: “I’m delighted and I welcome the fact that Michael Carter is going back to the traditional name.

“He and the club have listened to the fans and it’s the right thing to do.

“I have never liked the idea of adding Wildcats to what I think is a historical name.

“In a sense I think it cheapens the club and the game that these kind of Americanised names have been used in Rugby League.”

Mr Hinchliffe said the Trinity part of the club name comes from an association with the city’s former Holy Trinity Church.

He added: “The church is no longer there but I think an appreciation of that heritage should stay there. Wildcats is utterly meaningless.”

The team is currently sixth-placed in the First Utility Super League.

Mr Carter said there are plans to keep a Wildcats junior section at the club for children, and the team’s Daddy Cool mascot could also remain despite the name change.