New Wakefield Trinity owner Matt Ellis opens up on what makes him tick as he taps into business success

He may be the proud new owner of Wakefield Trinity but his kitchen business is his bread and butter – and ultimately the vehicle that will take the fallen Super League club back to the top flight.

Eight weeks have passed since Ellis' takeover was ratified and the passionate Trinity supporter has not wasted a minute.

He was making big decisions even before obtaining the keys for Belle Vue, namely sacking Mark Applegarth and replacing him with experienced head coach Daryl Powell.

It was an assertive first statement that reflected Ellis' personality as a successful businessman with a thirst for small wins that soon add up.

"I'm a competitive person," the millionaire owner of DIY Kitchens tells The Yorkshire Post.

"I'd be absolutely terrible being a house builder where you have a long project to earn money at the end of the year.

"I need that day-to-day buzz. I could tell you how many season tickets we sold yesterday.

"The first thing I said we need at the club is a piece of software that runs the whole business.

"Yesterday, I would have checked my sales order panel for my kitchen business six or seven times.

"A lot of people go on Facebook when they wake up in the morning but I go to see if we've sold anything – and I might have only checked it at 9pm the previous night. That's my hobby and obsession.

"If in 10 years' time we haven't been in a Grand Final or Challenge Cup final and have just become a top-six team, I'd be disappointed. When I go for it, I go for it."

Trinity's season ticket sales passed the 5,000 mark this week, thanks in no small part to the cheapest adult prices in rugby league with a monthly payment option and free junior add-ons.

Ellis has given Powell a sizeable £1.4million budget for the Championship, driven by a desire to get back to Super League the right way.

Once there, Ellis plans to spend the full salary cap and take advantage of the marquee exemptions.

He has full autonomy at Belle Vue – and would not have it any other way.

"At the minute, I'm working on Wakefield Trinity stuff five or six hours a day and four or five hours working on the other side," says Ellis.

"The good thing about a sole ownership is you can just make decisions and don't have to run stuff through people. It's your money that's backing that decision so you live and die by it.

"My start point was coming up with a budget for the playing squad. We've got budgets for the Championship and Super League that I believe we need to be successful.

"I've got to get the business side up to that. Our previous owner Michael (Carter) would say, 'If we get the business to this, we'll spend this', so it was always a 6,500 capacity to spend up to the salary cap.

"I'm more like, 'That's what we need if we're going to get to the top' and then it's for me to come up with ideas on how to get there. I'm an ideas person.

"I looked at the club previously when they were just bombing season tickets out at £250. It was pay up front just before Christmas and you wonder why season ticket sales are poor."

Ellis is making a good fist of spinning plates thus far after waiting for the right time to commit to a club that has been in his heart since the late 1990s when he attended his first game at Oakwell in his native Barnsley, one of the areas he will look to tap into during a marketing campaign aimed at attracting new fans.