Sheffield Eagles Fans Forum – Summary Report

02/07/2025

Sheffield Eagles last week held a comprehensive Fans Forum, attended by club directors, supporters, and staff.

The evening began with club shareholder and director Jeremy Levine sharing his background and journey with the club, followed by an open Q&A session which adressed topics from stadium developments and finances to player recruitment and recent ongoings, with a panel of people which included, Mark Hannigan (Operations Director), David Butler (Director) and Craig Lingard (Head Coach).

The evening was moderated and handled superbly by Phil Caplan, and we thank him for his efforts in helping ensure the event went to plan.

1. Club Overview & Jeremy Levine’s Reflections

Jeremy Levine started the evening by detailing his involvement with the club since 2019, highlighting his motivation to give back to sport after an initial engagement with Mark Aston. Jeremy helped address outstanding debts early on, and has now been involved with the Eagles for over seven seasons.

He reflected with pride on the club’s Wembley win and reiterated the long-term goal of achieving Super League status. However, Jeremy acknowledged the evolving financial landscape of Championship rugby, citing the contrast between current costs annually, and the reduced central distribution funding from the RFL.

He praised the Eagles Foundation as a standout achievement, crediting David Butler and Andrea Dobson MBE for their impactful work, and reaffirmed a desire to build a sustainable future for the club.

2. Stadium Plans & Matchday Experience

New Stadium Project
Questions were raised about the new stadium's status, possible delays, and contingency plans. Jeremy outlined how he was approached by Sheffield FC in 2022 to get on board to support a new stadium project at Meadowhead, a fellow sports club within Sheffield which he owns. They currently have a deal with their current ground outside of Sheffield for a further two years. After becoming involved with Sheffield FC, they earned an exclusivity agreement to be able to develop the stadium on the land at Meadowhead.

The project has faced planning objections surrounding cricketing facilities, traffic, lack of public transport links etc. The club continues to work with Sheffield City Council and SYMCA (South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority) to get the project commenced as soon as possible.

Jeremy outlined that the club need a stadium that works for us, and that can generate income daily. We need to work closely and collaboratively with the council and SYMCA to help and try and get the facility complete within the next two years. Councillors have a big desire to see Sheffield FC return to the city, and we can benefit from that with getting a new facility which would work for both clubs.

Relationship with OLP (Olympic Legacy Park)
The past year saw a low point in the club's relationship with the Scarborough Group, who own the currently-named Steel City Stadium. Legal tensions arose due to concerns about the Eagles’ tenancy. However, discussions between Jeremy and Kevin McCabe helped improve relations. We’re pleased to say that relationship has been much better since early 2024.  

The club has a deal in place until the end of 2026 at the Steel City Stadium, and they have expressed an interest in extending that deal further with the Eagles.

It was described that it would be a big challenge if we ever bought the Steel City Stadium. Improvements would need to be made such as shock absorbers, things would need to be considered for pitch usage, with the local schools being able to have access to the stadium throughout the day. Scarborough Group, as current owners of the facility, would highly unlikely pay for an expansion for new stands at the ground.

Game Day Experience
Supporters raised concerns about the declining game day experience. The club explained that logistical constraints, staff shortages, and the loss of a key external staff member, who took responsibility for catering, have all played a part.

Previously, all revenue from concessions supported the club, but Jeremy recognised that a potential hand back to the stadium could mean lost income and diminished control.

Storage and setup limitations were also mentioned to the difficulty of delivering a consistent experience.

3. Team Performance, Recruitment, and Retention

Coaching & Squad Transition
Craig Lingard joined as Head Coach in December with very little transition time. Staff and medical personnel changes created early-season disruption, and many player signings had already been finalised from last year. 

Recruitment and retention are led by the head coach, with player preference and financial feasibility being key factors if they choose to stay or leave the club for a new challenge.

Questions were raised about the departure of contracted players (for example - Bayley Liu, Mitch Clark, James Glover & Ben Jones-Bishop). The club acknowledged each individual circumstance, the impact of new contract rules, and competition from other clubs playing a part in players moving clubs. ‘Exit’ interviews didn’t happen, but Craig felt that these weren’t needed as he always has regular contact and conversations with players at training and away from training, should they request to chat.

Craig highlighted how this works two ways, mentioning Martyn Reilly as an example of someone that the club were able to get in early, for the next two-and-a-half years, whilst also explaining that we would hopefully get a new addition to the squad, in which Billy Walkey joined the club yesterday evening from Keighley Cougars.

He has regular ongoing calls regarding player recruitment for next year, and he’s had several players who have played under him at previous clubs, who've expressed an interest in working under him next season.

Injuries were talked about which have had an impact on the team throughout the campaign so far. The team has used different combinations at 1, 6, and 7 in 66% of games this year due to injuries. Efforts to recruit a halfback are ongoing, with returning players, such as Matty Marsh and Jack Bussey, expected to bolster the squad in coming weeks.

When asked about why Simon Brown wasn’t given a chance to step up to coach, it was explained that he helped the club at the end of the season last year, but with the uncertainty around the Mark Aston appeal, the decision was made to bring in a new full time Head Coach in Craig ahead of the new campaign.

4. The Mark Aston Situation

Numerous questions addressed the handling of Mark Aston’s suspension, the Sports Resolutions appeal, and the club’s communications. Since the forum questions were submitted, the RFL and Mark Aston have both released statements confirming resolution of the matter. The Eagles also made a statement ourselves, but this was to assure that we were now in a position that the club were going to say that we had nothing to say if we didn’t regarding a topic, rather than not publicly speak at all.

Concerns were raised by supporters about the perceived lack of support and recognition for Mark, including his absence from certain club features and the announcement of his change in role being buried within another statement. The club clarified that this was coincidental and that Mark was not removed purposely from the 40th Anniversary content, his 40 from 40 post just sadly fell on the same day as his suspension was announced.

When asked about what changes have been made to help prevent a situation happening like this again, it was addressed that several changes have been implemented following the incident. This was after the club agreed to an ‘agreed decision’ with the RFL, which we’re still waiting to hear back on. This meant new things had to be put in place to prevent this happening again. This included improved medical protocols, digital record-sharing between doctors and medical staff with shared calendars and increased visibility to player welfare, and reallocation of medical oversight to avoid conflicts with coaching duties.

A question was raised by an attendee if Mark Aston had been invited to the forum. The Fan’s Forum was an open event, and anyone could have turned up. The day previously, Mark Aston had spoken to Mark Hannigan about whether he could just turn up or not, in which the answer to this was ‘yes’.

5. Staffing & Operations

Current Staffing Levels
Mark went into detail about what his role as Operations Director involves, which includes the day-to-day running of the club, working closely with Craig, managing gamedays and third-party stewarding, acting business club council member with the RFL, and has recently started to take care of the ticketing aspect following the departure of Natasha Burt.

The club acknowledged the loss of staff such as Natasha and clarified that while day-to-day operations now rest largely with Mark and Brad Saxton (Media Executive), they are supported part-time by Aleshia, whilst Mark Aston remains in his full-time Commercial role.

Leadership & Accountability
While Jeremy is the major shareholder, there is no named chairman. Communications from "the board" are meant to reflect collective responsibility, though concerns were noted about transparency.

Mark and David addressed criticisms about late kick-offs, medical preparedness, and kit delays. They stressed that contingency plans have been created, and some delays, such as the anniversary kit, were outside of their control (e.g., supplier timelines). Accountability had been taken in-house by the relevant individuals.

Volunteer Engagement
One supporter suggested tapping into the knowledge and availability of match day volunteers through a skills matrix. The club confirmed this idea is under consideration and will be discussed in an upcoming planning meeting with volunteers.

6. Moving Forward

IMG 2024 Grading Score Update

David provided attendees with a valuable insight into our current standing within the IMG 2024 Grading system. He outlined the key scoring pillars: Community, Facilities, Fandom, On-Field Performance, and Finances. Each area is actively monitored via an internal IMG spreadsheet, forming part of our ongoing efforts to improve our overall grading score.

Foundation and Facilities: David highlighted our strong position in the three-year Foundation score, which is expected to place us in a higher bracket within that category.

However, facilities remain an area of concern. Our current stadium is not considered up to Super League standards, and investment, such as installing LED boards, a big screen or a bigger gantry is required even to be considered for compliance.

On-Field Performance: This metric is assessed based on the average of the past three seasons. Achieving maximum points here requires finishing top of the Super League, winning the Grand Final, and securing the Challenge Cup, making it the most competitive and challenging area.

Fandom, Finance & Engagement: To improve our score in the Fandom category, we need to consistently average 1,500 attendees at home matches. More people on seats and at the food concessions helps with the club’s finances.

This category also includes media presence, which factors in website views, digital engagement, and social media following. Regular content drives are in place to increase engagement on our digital platforms, which also support commercial objectives by attracting potential new sponsors through a visible and growing online presence. If anyone has any ideas to help improve our social media output, Brad is very open to hearing ideas from people. 

Club Stance on RFL Grading
The club reaffirmed its support for the RFL’s grading system, seeing it as a sustainable model for long-term growth. The aim is clear: to build steadily across all measured areas and ultimately achieve our goal of Super League status.

Injury Updates

The club explained that the primary reason for limited injury disclosure is due to GDPR regulations, as medical information is classed as confidential and cannot be shared without a player's explicit consent.

There is also a tactical element involved, particularly around return-to-play timelines.

However, Craig has stated that he has no objections to injury information being released on his behalf. He has no issue with doing an injury update, but this would also need to be approved by the club’s medical team.

Gameday Club Shop

It was raised that the club shop had faded on a gameday, offering very little merchandise to home and away supporters. Whilst it was recognised of the restraints and challenges we face with not being based at the stadium and transportation, Mark said it was something of which we’re looking to get back underway as soon as possible

Future of Championship/League 1

The club expressed caution over such a restructuring, particularly due to concerns that it could potentially result in reduced attendances, which could have negative implications for the club’s sustainability.

While the board is supportive of a clear and progressive route forward, especially one that allows Sheffield Eagles to grow and move up the rugby league ladder, there is frustration at the ongoing uncertainty. The constant changes in structural planning make it difficult for the club to form long-term strategies or make informed business decisions to drive improvement.

Craig Lingard’s relationship with Supporters

Craig admitted that he had previously been quite distant from supporters, using the term ‘feeling like a stepdad coming into a family home’. He explained this further by saying he hadn’t been his normal self out of respect of the situation with Mark Aston.

He would like to move forward with the fans and be able to show them who he really is. He understood that it was not a normal situation in which the club have found themselves in over the last year, but he wanted to personally apologise if he had come across in the wrong way in his first seven months in post.

David added to this, explaining that when he met Craig for the first time, he told him that he wouldn’t sign a contract without knowing a role that Mark Aston would step into, proving he is a good person and cares about Rugby League.

Meadowhead Alternative

Jeremy was asked about the other options if the Meadowhead proposal didn’t go ahead. He said that plans would then be put in place to seek an alternative outcome, whether that would be the Steel City Stadium, or another location.

Jeremy added that the driving force is to ensure that if he does hand the club over in the future, that it is in a better position than before.

Conclusion

Jeremy concluded the evening by reaffirming the club’s commitment to sustainability and growth, despite financial constraints and recent turbulence. Additional investment has been made in areas of need too.

Supporter engagement remains a key focus, and lessons learned from recent challenges are actively shaping improvements behind the scenes.

Thank you to all fans who submitted questions and attended the evening.