Top-flight team reveals plan to LEAVE city and move 10 miles to new stadium before ploughing £10million into expansion

RALPH RIMMER admits Huddersfield had to leave the town to avoid “death by a thousand cuts”. And playing out of Dewsbury can boost the IMG grading score that decides their Super League status. Huddersfield are heading to Flair Stadium Credit: Huddersfield Giants Big plans have been unveiled for the Giants’ new home Credit: Huddersfield Giants Giants owner Ken Davy has bought the Championship Rams’ Flair Stadium and will add a third stand at one end, boosting its capacity to about 8,000 by next May. The existing two structures will be redeveloped and it will be branded as their home, something the Accu Stadium is not. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! And chairman Rimmer, who admits the move 10 miles across the borough is necessary because there is nowhere in Huddersfield to build, insists the club would die if it stayed put. He said: “It’s death by a thousand cuts at the moment. We’ve got to do something radical. READ MORE ON RUGBY LEAGUE “If we just moved to Dewsbury, we were dead in the water. Even if there had been no disruption to the contract, it was death by a thousand cuts. “We tried it for too long, it wasn’t turning around, we needed to get our own stadium because we’re virtually no presence in the Accu anymore. “And there are another eight acres on that site that are not in the stadium footprint. I’ve had three experts in to say how much recurring income can be developed from them. “They have basically come in and said, ‘You can generate between £1.5million and £2m’. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS Flair Stadium will be given a new look Credit: Huddersfield Giants “I’ve got support from the local authority and I have interest from other investors.” Huddersfield may play their matches at Dewsbury, but they will still be based in the birthplace of rugby league. Their training base at Laund Hill has been revamped and offices will be situated at The Zone. So even though the place where the 13-a-side code was created will not see matches, it will not be lost completely. Rimmer added: “Our IMG score will be loads higher. Lots of it’s about stadium fill, how close you get to capacity. “At the Accu, if we get a 4,500 crowd, we’re at 20 per cent capacity. At this place, if we have an average of 6,000 we’re at three quarters full. “It’s not without risk, but is it in my mind ten times better than what we’re doing now? Absolutely. “The line’s going to be ‘two towns, one club’. We live in Huddersfield, our stage is in Dewsbury, but the eventual aim will be to have our own stadium in Huddersfield itself.” Plans have been made to add a third stand Credit: Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield are preparing to leave the town Credit: Huddersfield Giants Despite being made to look like Huddersfield Giants’ stadium, it will still be home to Championship side Dewsbury Rams. And Rimmer allayed concerns that club will be elbowed out, telling SunSport: “Dewsbury have secured their future in it for a long time to come. “In truth there will be some dual branding. They’re very much a secondary partner but they have secured their place. “They will be in the branding that goes on the stadium and they’re in there and they’ll have access to a fantastic facility and shop and office space. “Maybe rugby league fans will say, ‘Dewsbury is essentially losing its presence in its own home’, but it isn’t. “It’s getting a fantastic new home right where it is. Everyone’s going to come out of it pretty well.” Comment now