Matt Ellis is too young to remember the glory days of the club he has supported all his life and is now the proud custodian of, but he is reminded often enough to concede it serves as his greatest motivation to bankroll one of Super League’s sleeping giants.

For supporters of a certain age, Wakefield Trinity represent one of rugby league’s great names. In the 1960s they were league champions twice and Challenge Cup winners three times – but it is 60 years since they last won a major trophy. For younger fans like Ellis, Wakefield have been associated with one thing: mediocrity.

Barring a brief flirtation with the playoffs a decade ago, the majority of Trinity’s Super League existence has been at the bottom of the competition. Their previous owners did a commendable job keeping them afloat on a shoestring budget for so long but, in 2023, they were relegated from Super League for the first time. That dark day proved to be the catalyst for real change.

Ellis and his family, who have run DIY Kitchens in West Yorkshire for years, bought the club after Ellis initially invested £250,000 in that relegation season. He immediately set tongues wagging by claiming Wakefield would win a major trophy within five years; this at a time when they were preparing for life in the second tier for the first time since 1998.

They won the Championship at a canter in 2024 and today, with seven rounds of the season remaining, Wakefield sit second in Super League, in between the heavyweights Leeds and Wigan. Ellis estimates his family have invested around £10m so far on big-money signings and transforming their famous Belle Vue home, with plans for a new training ground rapidly accelerating, too.

“I want to make this club one of the biggest in the country,” he says. “To bring back the glory days that we’ve had previously. There’s a room in the town hall that’s designated to Wakefield Trinity that’s not seen much life lately. There’s a balcony on there where they used to celebrate the trophies in the 60s. One of my goals is: let’s get in there and make Wakefield famous.”

He is speaking inside Wakefield’s newly built restaurant and cafe attached to the stadium, which he estimates cost seven figures to build. The new-found riches Wakefield have means NRL superstars like Roger Tuivasa-Sheck are heading to Trinity in 2027, but there is a determination to simultaneously ensure the club does not lose touch with its roots and its people.

Wakefield is a city with no football team to speak of, where rugby league is woven into the community. Trinity’s crowds are now hitting heights not seen since their heyday, with around 9,000 every week – but Ellis is not stopping there. “The club had a period of 60 years without success – you almost lose a generation of people in that time,” he says.

“If we reach a final, even win something, I’d like to think you could have over 10,000 people in here. Then we’d have to think about how we extend the stadium.” Ellis’s first appointment upon taking over was to bring in the former Castleford coach, Daryl Powell, to lead their revival. It has proved a masterstroke.

He has helped establish Wakefield among Super League’s most eye-catching and successful clubs. “We’re changing the way we’re thinking as a club,” he said this week. “You only have to have a walk around the place; wherever you go it’s changed and that’s credit to Matt and his family.”

They are on course for their highest league finish since 1981, and finishing top of the first division for the first time in their history is not out of the question if they can beat Leeds next week in front of a capacity crowd at home. “I think it’s gone from people being surprised to see Wakefield in there to now talking about us in a better light,” he says.

“Michael [Carter], the previous owner, did a great job of keeping things going before. It’s my job to take that forwards now and get the people of Wakefield fully on board with what we want to do. After that, it’s about how we take Trinity beyond Wakefield and attract new people.”

Does Ellis stand by his original goal of ending Wakefield’s 60-year wait for a trophy within five years? “I’m not going to put loads of pressure on it,” he says, laughing. “I think we’re building to it, hopefully in the next couple of years we can make a Grand Final. But next year, people will talk about us differently; it would be very Wakefield if we could do it this year, as the underdogs.”

If Ellis and his team get their way, this will not be a one-off: Wakefield will be here to stay for good.