After an historic victory over Widnes Vikings to send them to their first Challenge Cup Final since 1992; Castleford Tigers Rugby League Club are going to Wembley to play West Yorkshire Rivals Leeds Rhinos for one of the most coveted trophies in Rugby League: the Tetley’s Challenge Cup. I was given the opportunity to work for Castleford Tigers to see how a professional Rugby League club deals with getting into a cup final.
Day One – Monday 11th August
When I arrived at Castleford Tigers, there was a surge of people queuing up outside the ticket office. I was given many tasks throughout the day. My roles included processing ticket orders/ booking everyone on coaches for the trip down to Wembley, discussing with Castleford Fans where they wanted to sit for the big day and also, taking details from the customers in the queues with an iPad (all linked to a CRM system).
While doing all these jobs the time working went really quickly. It was strange to think that the shop at the stadium served over 2,000 fans who were all purchasing match day tickets and the 60 coaches that were organised for the final were over 3/4’s full.
When it quietened down I was able to get a tour of Castleford Tigers Stadium (Wheldon Road) and see how the Rugby Team worked behind the scenes. This showed me the difference between a normal week in the life of a club in comparison to a team getting to Challenge Cup Final.
Day Two – Tuesday 12th August
For the second day of working at Castleford Tigers, I helped the Castleford Tigers fans who were purchasing tickets find out which sections of Wembley Stadium were available and how many coaches were still available before I was assigned to work in the ‘Tigers Den’ (Official Club Shop in the Main Shopping Centre).
The main role I was given was speaking to the members of the public (mainly Castleford Tigers Fans) to ask them for their opinions on the plans for their new stadium. Plans for a new 10,000-capacity Castleford Tigers stadium have been unveiled as part of a £135m scheme that developers say could create 2,000 jobs for the local area.
It was truly a amazing experience, I feel that I am returning with some valuable contacts, experience and new found skills that I have learnt and I am currently planning to keep In contact with Castleford Tigers and working for them in the future, since rugby league is an industry I want to work in after my final year of study.
