RALPH Rimmer isn’t afraid to take a gamble.

The outgoing Galpharm Stadium managing director put £50 on Huddersfield Town to gain automatic promotion, at odds of 2-1, before a League I ball was kicked this season.

With the club struggling for form and currently lying 11th in the table, some might question his faith.

But it’s certainly not the biggest punt Mr Rimmer has taken during his tenure – and he’s proved the doubters wrong before.

The 44-year-old bows out as managing director today – 11 years after he arrived in Huddersfield and 10 months after what he counts as his biggest achievement.

Reflecting on his time in the job, he said: "The stand-out moment was getting the planning permission for the HD One scheme after six years of being told it was never going to happen."

HD One is the £100m plan to turn 51 acres of largely unused land surrounding the stadium into a thriving business and leisure complex.

The scheme, including 147 apartments, a 144-bed hotel, an air chimney, a ski slope, a casino, 21 bars and restaurants, a surf simulator, 10 pin bowling alley, two nightclubs, music venue, offices and a bingo hall will create 900 jobs.

It was given approval in January. Construction is due to start in 2012.

For Mr Rimmer, planning permission was a snub to the naysayers – and the legacy that meant he felt comfortable vacating his post.

"They all said it was never going to happen," he said. "We had six years of people telling us it couldn’t happen.

"But when we discussed HD One, despite the fact the world was saying you must be bonkers, the board was really supportive.

"If that planning permission hadn’t been achieved, I wouldn’t have been leaving."

Mr Rimmer came to the Galpharm in 1999 following the ill-fated merger of Sheffield Eagles and Huddersfield Giants.

He was chief executive of the Giants before becoming managing director of both clubs.

In charge of 35 full-time staff, from cleaners to accountants, and 400 part-time staff, mainly stewards, he is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the stadium.

As well as plotting the redevelopment of the land around the stadium, he said he had two major objectives when he became managing director.

The first one was to bring Town and Giants together to work more efficiently after they had been operating at opposite ends of the stadium.

The results, he admits, were "mixed."

His second major task was to develop the stadium itself – which had been state-of-the-art when it was built in 1992, but then faced competition from new grounds in Wigan, Bolton and Hull.

Mr Rimmer said: "Everyone was still congratulating themselves on what a great stadium it was, which it is.

"In actual fact it had been superseded by another three – the JD Stadium, the Reebok, and the KC – and we are competing against them for international events.

"I decided that we needed to up our game again."

With that in mind, a new box office and reception area were created serving both clubs and a retail shop opened to replace the one that had been operating out of a cabin. A big screen was put up two seasons ago and a new surround was laid around the pitch.

Mr Rimmer also introduced a mission statement which stated that everyone who walked through the doors – from fans and opposing teams to shoppers and sub contractors – got a quality service.

An annual capital reinvestment of £250,000 now goes towards the general upkeep of the stadium.

Mr Rimmer believes such investment is essential to make sure the Galpharm is an attractive venue – and not just for football and rugby matches.

"People have no idea how many things this stadium gets used for," he said.

"From weddings and funerals, to school proms, charity matches, charity events and community group meetings. We do 60,000 to 70,000 conference banqueting covers a year.

"My staff know we have Christmas and New Year’s Day off. Every other day of the year, the stadium has to be used. It’s a fantastic asset for the town."

Among its more unusual uses have been adverts for Heinz sweetcorn and a Korean beer, featuring Manchester United player Park Ji-Sung.

Mr Rimmer, who hails from Cumbria and now lives in Glossop, is leaving what he calls a seven-day-a-week job to take up a position as chief operating officer of the Rugby Football League.

It is, he said, the only position that would have tempted him away.

He said: "This job has given me more than I have given it.

"There have been ups and downs, rows and memorable times and I think that’s all a part of the life of the stadium.

"People are fantastically passionate about the stadium and what goes on in it. They are emotional about it and sometimes that brings conflict.

"But I’m tremendously proud of my time here and I’ve worked with some extraordinary people.

"There’s only one job that would have got me away from this and it came up."

THE £100million HD One scheme will provide a financial boost to Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield Giants, Ralph Rimmer has predicted.

Under the plan, approved in January, 51 acres of land surrounding the stadium will be transformed.

The scheme will include apartments, a hotel, a ski slope, a casino and bars and restaurants.

Building work is due to start in 2012, with a projected timescale of 40 months to completion.

The project is expected to create 900 jobs.

But Mr Rimmer said it would have knock-on benefits for the two clubs once KSDL (Kirklees Stadium Development Limited) – the company that runs the Galpharm – started making money from it.

Mr Rimmer said: “We were wanting to put something in place that would sustain the success of our major partners – the clubs.

“When KSDL eventually derives income from HD One and it starts to create more commercial success, with 50, 60 or 70 big companies on site, we would expect the clubs to benefit sponsorship-wise.

“There could also be a reduction in rent, which would lessen their financial burden and allow them to spend in other ways.”