Sheffield Eagles head to Castle Park for opening matches in 2020

08/01/2020

Sheffield Eagles can today announce that our opening three home fixtures of the 2020 Betfred Championship will be played at Castle Park, Doncaster.

The move will see the Eagles take on Toulouse Olympique (Sunday 16 February – 3pm), Widnes Vikings (Sunday 22 March – 3pm) and Oldham (Wednesday 15 April – 7.45pm) at the South Yorkshire venue.

Home to Rugby Union side Doncaster Knights, the stadium boasts a capacity of 5,000 with 1,650 seats, situated in the De Mulder-Lloyd Stand along with other excellent facilities for spectators and players alike.

The move has been sanctioned by the Rugby Football League with the club returning to the Olympic Legacy Park for our match against Swinton Lions on Sunday 3 May, kick off 3.00pm.

Should the Eagles be drawn at home in either the Coral Challenge Cup or 1895 Cup prior May, the club will first explore playing these at the Olympic Legacy Park or other venues if required.

Construction of the new stadium at the Olympic Legacy Park is commencing with noticeable work now taking place on the wider site which directly relates build of the stadium.

Speaking of the move, Eagles General Manager Liam Claffey said, “I’d like to thank the team at Doncaster Knights for helping accommodate these three fixtures.”

“When weighing up this decision it was the view of the Board that it could be no longer than what we have announced. We are Sheffield Eagles; Sheffield is our home and we are proud to represent the Steel City.

“With so many moving parts surrounding the new stadium at the Olympic Legacy Park we as a club needed further time to ensure the Olympic Legacy Park would provide a safe and suitable match day venue with the adequate facilities in place whilst construction occurs on the site.

“This short-term move provides more time to ensure a suitably welcoming environment at the OLP ahead of the new stadium being completed in September and allows the early-stages of construction to take place without interruption from staging professional rugby league matches.”

“Whilst it is sad to have to leave Sheffield once again, it can’t be played down how big the new stadium could be for the club and rugby league in the city.”

The Eagles will be putting on heavily subsidised travel from the Olympic Legacy Park to Castle Park for all three matches along with ticket offers details of both will be announced shortly.

The club apologise for the inconvenience this short-term move causes and thank our loyal supporters for their patience and understanding during this time.