Superleague contract joy

EMMA Dovey in action against Team Bath last season.

NETBALL: NORTHERN Thunder have secured a contract to compete in the Fiat Netball Superleague for the next four years.

Following a lengthy application process, which included a presentation in front of the England Netball board in London, the North-West franchise scored highly in all departments and join another seven teams competing for 2011-12 season.

Debbie Hallas, director of Northern Thunder, said: “It is great to know the hard work we have put in has paid off and we have been rewarded with another four-year contract for the Superleague.

“We have made huge progress on and off the court and I can only thank all those involved for the help and support along the way.”

Thunder will boast a new venue for home matches after securing the facilities at Wright Robinson Sports College, Gorton.

The college, along with Sport England and Greater Manchester County Netball, have pumped in £200,000 to make the site a centre of excellence for the sport in the North-West. The arena will eventually seat 700.

Thunder officials are delighted to have a permanent home after using Castle Leisure Centre in Bury and Oldham Sports Centre last season.

Meanwhile, England Netball received 10 applications, including one from Birmingham, to play in next season’s competition. However, the Midlands side were unsuccessful. Glasgow Wildcats also missed out.

The new-look Superleague is made up of Northern Thunder, Yorkshire Jets (formerly Leeds), Team Northumbria, Loughborough Lightning, Team Bath, Hertfordshire Mavericks, Surrey Storm and Celtic Dragons.

There is also a new format to the season. In phase one, all teams will play each other once, phase two sees the league split in half and the top four play each other three times, with the bottom half mirroring the format.

The winner of the lower section will get the chance to reach play-offs with a one-off game against the bottom team of the higher league. It will all culminate in a grand final weekend.

These are exciting times for the Superleague, with ever-increasing crowds and a growing list of sponsors.

Last season saw a league record crowd of 1,200 watch Team Bath take on Northern Thunder at Bath University.