Part two of Love Rugby League’s exclusive interview with Martin Jepson, the new investor and board member of the Castleford Tigers, is available now.
Part one, which covers his forecasts for the IMG grading system, what total Castleford might reach, and additional information on the development plans for Wheldon Road, can be viewed here.
This is part two, where they talk about the club’s financial future, their plans for hiring this year and next, and their salary cap expenditures.
It’s safe to say that, on the pitch, this has not been the year that any fan of the Castleford Tigers had hoped for. With only two wins in 2024, they are presently languishing at the bottom of the Super League and appear destined for further hardships in the upcoming season.
But Jepson is resolved to make sure a recurrence does not occur in the upcoming years, in addition to finding the good in the midst of such hardships. He thinks the team will make improvements in the salary cap area next year, but only if the right goals are in place.
In terms of player salaries this season, Castleford is among the Super League’s lowest spenders; however, he has cautioned that they will be as competitive as necessary in the transfer market. He tells Love Rugby League, “That’s the debate we’re having right now, about the salary cap spend.”
We should spend more than we do now, but a lot will depend on the players that are available. If the right players are involved, we have no problem spending the money. We spent the cap last year as part of my due diligence, and look what we were able to accomplish.
It wouldn’t be right to just spend it. We want some senior pros to help where we are and get performances going, but they have to be right for us. One thing we’re keen on doing is setting the culture right moving forward.
The primary focus of Castleford’s 2025 hiring campaign will be experience. Despite the numerous bruises this young Tigers team has already sustained this season, Jepson is adamant that they will be stronger for it next year.
He acknowledges, “Yes, we fielded a young team this year, and perhaps in retrospect, that was too young.”
However, those players will have played in 30 Super League games by the end of this year. They’re gaining experience, and we’ve noticed that we’ve suffered in games this year when the senior pros haven’t been available.
“Sport is all about confidence. If you’re performing well and winning, momentum follows, but it also works the other way around. We might have seen a few different outcomes on the pitch if we had added a few more senior pros to our current group. Next year, we aim to introduce seniority and retain the more talented youth.
Jepson is adamant that Castleford keep improving, especially in their young academy system. Although the club has only had an elite academy licence for the past two years, their academy has already won against teams like Leeds and Wigan this year alone.
“It is imperative that our academy players, especially the better ones, play for Castleford,” he states.
“We want to make sure the best players are playing here, but we also see a lot of players from the Castleford area playing for other clubs throughout the league. Part of it is just human nature and sport. Two years ago, we had no academy at all, and now we were defeating teams like Leeds and Wigan.
At the base of the pyramid, we’ve made the correct decision very rapidly. Even though they won’t be entering the league for a few years, George Hill made a great debut last week and didn’t seem out of place. We need to add some seniority to the current group of first-team players because they will have more experience next year, but we are extremely confident in the players who are below that.
With Danny Wilson serving as director of rugby and Craig Lingard as head coach, Jepson maintains that he has complete faith in the club’s rugby department to transform this temporary suffering into a more fruitful, long-term phase of success.
“There are absolutely no issues with the rugby side of things,” he stated. Putting the first team’s results aside, the club’s rugby structure is incredibly strong. There is a strong sense of things building as you move up the pyramid to the academy and scholars. I have complete faith in all of our rugby staff members.
Jepson has made a sizeable seven-figure investment to assist in the Tigers’ transformation. Along with Ian and Janet Fulton, he owns about 32% of the shares, but would he ever think about taking a majority position?
I’m not really thinking about it, to be really honest,” he says. “I don’t rule anything in or out. What mattered was that my money was donated to the club.
“A lot of people are speculating and doubting, but I purchased the shares separately, and the money I invested was used to support the club. My investment of just under £1.2 million has gone straight into the club’s bank account; the acquisition of the shares was a different transaction.
Working with Ian and Janet makes me very happy, and we all have the same arrangement because of the provisions in our shareholding. No one is withdrawing cash from the club or receiving any profits. Our dedication is to the Castleford Tigers.
“Hopefully, this will be a completely different place in five years.” We are always willing to consider fresh investment. Every club would undoubtedly appreciate that, but we need to make it a more viable venture.
Many people are urging me to get my friends to invest, but in actuality, asking someone who isn’t an avid fan to do so is a very tough request. Fortunately, I can contribute some discretionary cash to the club, and I think it will have a significant impact.
