What is the situation at at Salford? Are they being forced out and what does this mean for them and Super League? Are they being given any say or options? Why can’t they continue to share the stadium. Multiple teams play at the LSV?

Not sure they are being forced out, It’s a logical plan based on finances. Multiple teams or sports playing at LSV don’t support finances for the Centurions.

I see that moving out may be financially viable but seems bad from a PR and profile point of view. If it means they own their own ground could make sense. Looks quite a small capacity potential new home.

The ground they're moving to is in a much better location. It's far closer to Manchester city centre, Salford precinct and the Willows than the AJ Bell is, so it's likely to be closer to where the majority of their fans live. It's obviously not as handy for away fans travelling by car or coach, but it's better for those travelling by train.

I've always thought the AJ Bell was perfectly located for Sale (if you ignore the fact that it isn't in Sale obviously), because they have a more widespread support as "The North West's team" in RU. A far higher percentage of their crowd is likely to be driving to games from 20+ miles away, so a ground with motorway links suits them.

Salford are a community club and their fans are mostly going to be people who live in the area and are more likely to want to walk or get the bus to games, drink in local pubs etc. The football ground is in a better place for that. The 5,000 capacity does seem worrying though. It's all well and good saying packing it out will create a better atmosphere than the AJ Bell, which it will, but it's not right for Super League is it? Unless they have genuine plans in place to expand it quickly, which I highly doubt, they're inevitably going to drop to the Championship eventually, and not be seen again in Super League for a long time once they do.

Far from it, they have played there a long time now without being able to fully pay their rent.

Salford FC say they can pay the rent and want to play at the AJ Bell so Salford have agreed to step down and use the Soccer stadium.

So the hope is this reduces rental costs for Salford and possibly brings back lapsed fans, or even new fans both of whom don't fancy the trek to the wastelands of Barton

Your interesting analysis looks to give both clubs better homes. But how do you view the plight of Swinton?????

Swinton's current home is actually in a nice location if you ignore the fact it's miles away from Swinton. Sale is a decent place to eat and drink, and you can get there easily by tram. I wouldn't recommend Salford move there though!

Hopefully it can make for financial security and the can developer the ground as it doesn’t look like a SL level stadium at the moment. All depends on marketing move in positive way to grow fan base. AJ Bell not worked from that point of view.

It could be a precursor that they'll be outside the top 10 teams if the split goes ahead, so 5k could be fine for tier 2 (esp. if they forecast a drop in TV revenue too)

It doesn't look to me like they're going to own the ground, unless I'm reading it wrong? It looks like it will be owned by the council, and the club will rent it.

Following Swinton into a nomadic existence in the lower divisions does seem the likely long term future for them. The move from the Willows has been disastrous.

Nothing says Salford and some extent RL is small time than this sutuation. Nothing really wrong with the AJ Bell or its location, the fact Salford despite having a recent rich backer and made both major finals recently, its 12k capacity and 8-10k average should be achievable then the rent is no problem. Salford have failed catastrophically to break 4k average if not 3k, Salford are not right for Suoer League. If they are having to down size then they should down grade a division in favour of Leigh or Fev. With less TV money going around, its harsh but fair that that money should go go clubs who can generate a bigger support.

really the drop in attendance proves the location wasn't right for their fans and a nice shiny stadium wasn't the answer but if they was replaced with Fev you'd have everyone ranting pit village

I don't know how feasible it is, because obviously I appreciate that they don't want to clash fixtures with the football clubs on their doorstep, but I'd like Salford to play as many of their non televised games as possible on weekend afternoons.

With this ground being much easier to get to from central Manchester, it will encourage more away fans from places like Leeds and Hull to see it as a potential day out on the train if it is at 3pm on a weekend. Friday night isn't so ideal for this.

They where hardly ripping it up attendance wise at The Willows, could understand if they where like say Huddersfield or Wigan downsizing from 25k to 12-15k

Fev was just an example if a progressive team who have do every right over the last 5 years or more. Leigh or Widnes would be better addition, but already expressed my view that Franchising would be the way forward.

It was kind of 2K at worst, 6K at best and an average of 4K at the Willows, with the Barton stadium dragging that down towards 3K average. Leigh and Widnes a good shout but reality dictates the best shout isn't based on attendances but rich guys.

So Beaumont and Koukash fit that bill and obviously were the SL chairmens choice......... Leigh averaged 6K in SL as well......

As stated earlier, i think this could actually be a very good move for salford, taking them back nearer to their base who have made it clear they will not travel to Barton to support them.

Barton, plus their recent relative success was a huge opportunity to kick salford on to be a credible SL club, appealing to the wider Manchester area as Sale do. There is no reason why they shouldn't have got averages of 7-9k after their GF success which would have made that stadium easily viable....That should have happened after the grand final (where did those 20k fans who suddenly appeared at OT suddenly disappear to?)
Sadly it seems the stadium location and fierce resistance to losing the 'salford' tag that has held them back from becoming a successful Manchester club, and they have probably now missed that boat!

Staying at Barton they are a sitting duck...no club is going to survive with huge rent costs and no support. The problem is not so much the stadium cost, but the fact that you can't make it viable on the back of 2-3k average attendances. Unless you find a way to push up to 7k plus crowds it is never going to work.

So their hand is forced. ....They will probably push back up to their old averages of circa 4k back in Salford, but the problem is that, in a non SL standard capacity ground of 5k is not good enough for SL. So they will need to moderate their expectations back into the championship / 2nd SL tier imo.

If they are moving back there though, surely there is opportunity also for swinton? Would make much more sense for them both there, and perhaps even looking to purchase that stadium together?

Sale don't appeal to the wider Manchester area. I've lived and worked in Manchester for nearly 19 years and I don't know a single person who supports either Salford or Sale. Sale appeal to the rugby union community around the North West as a whole as they're the only club, but even then they're probably only the fourth best supported "rugby" club in the NW after Wigan, Saints and Wires. They obviously have more money because they play a sport that generates higher revenues than RL does, but they don't have thousands of fans across Manchester.

Salford trying to rebrand as Manchester would be a pointless gimmick that would annoy long standing fans and appeal to no one. Sale actually did it years ago I think, and then reverted back once they realised. Those 20,000 fans at the GF, who probably would have gone to Wembley too had they been able to, will be a combination of lapsed fans who don't go regularly anymore, friends and family of regulars who went along with them, and locals who simply jumped on the bandwagon. Every club has that at finals, it's not exclusive to Salford. The fact that the GF is literally a five minute walk away from the City of Salford boundary, and Man United are by far the best supported sports club there, probably helped too.

I think the location of this ground is far better for the community than Barton is, and I agree it would be good for Swinton too as it is a lot closer for them than their current home in Sale. I worry about the capacity though. Average attendances being lower than that or not, I don't see how 5,000 is sustainable as a Super League venue when you have clubs like Leigh and Widnes playing in the Championship with far more suitable facilities.

Cas and Wakefield have both been hammered for years over their grounds not being up to scratch, but Cas in particular can at least get decent sized crowds in for big games.

Lots of innacuracies here being posted as usual from the likes of Donny and an embarrassing lack of local knowledge from someone who has apparently lived and worked in Manchester for almost 20 years. So (as a Salfordian and a fan of both the Red Devils and Salford City) I'm sure I'm in a better place to comment than trolls like Donny. I'll even make it easier for some of the less intellectual on here by bullet pointing.



- Salford City will be BUYING the AJ Bell stadium, not renting it so the current extortionate rental costs are irrelevant as they won't exist

- Contrary to our local expert Murphy's claims... The Peninsula Stadium won't actually be easier to get to for the majority of Salford Red Devils core support which comes from Weaste, Eccles, Swinton, Walkden etc. There are no direct bus services to the ground apart from the 1 or 2 that go from Salford Precinct. The majority of direct bus services are from Manchester or Prestwich/Whitefield and they aren't exactly hotbeds for the Salford fan base. The AJ Bell actually is (although not ideal) actually better served by bus services for the majority of Salford fans.

- For any Yorkshire based away fans, the Peninsula Stadium is actually easier to get to being barely a mile and a half off Junction 17 (Prestwich/Whitefield). The lame excuses of "Friday night traffic" will no doubt still be rolled out by away fans not wanting to make the effort to attend away games (I regularly commuted from Salford to Halifax so I'm fully aware of the M62 btw)

- Feel free to mock Salford's new ground but please feel free to show me photos of how Wakey & Cas's new ground are coming along. I mean that was one of the criteria of getting a SL license was it not all those years ago and the reason Salford were forced out of The Willows?



- Any crowds of 4500-5000 at the Peninsula Stadium will be far more financially viable for Salford than similar crowds at the AJ Bell. The club will have far lower overheads and they will also get all the proceeds from food/beverage sales etc. Is the location ideal or the ground perfect for SL rugby? No. But it will at least be a financially viable option until a longer term solution can be found (that's assuming land can be found to potentially build another community stadium and that the council don't just keep selling it off to to$$ers like Fred Done to build overpriced/poorly built new build homes on

)

- Please bore off with the continual drivel about Leigh/Widnes/Feb being a better SL option that Salford. If they were then they'd be playing in SL already. However, they aren't and I'm sorry that little old Salford pi$$ you off so much.

I suggest you just learn to live with it and it might not bother you so much.



Anyway, I look forward to listening to the further waffle you guys can come up with as it's always entertaining listening to people who generally have no idea what they're talking about.

Weaste and Swinton are closer to Kersal than Barton. Eccles obviously isn't, granted. I commented on away fans travelling by train which would obviously mean alighting in Manchester. It takes nearly an hour to get the bus from Shudehill to the AJ Bell. It would probably cost about £15 at least to do it by taxi. It will take half the time by bus and cost half the fare by taxi to Moor Lane won't it? I never once said central Manchester was a hotbed of Salford fans. It obviously isn't. I said it was easier to get to for people getting off trains from other places, and also closer to Salford Precinct and the Willows as well as Manchester city centre. What part of any of that isn't true? Does no one in Ordsall or Broughton support Salford? If they don't then being in a more local ground might encourage them to

Will the new ground be cheaper in a taxi for you?

Top Post!
I'd rather see Salford with a 4k average but making money rather than a 4k average and haemorrhaging cash paying landlord and not getting a bean from the matchday. I really hope they do well next year.....I suspect a few yorkshire sides will be looking over their shoulders at the drop into the abyss come next September. Anyone who thinks SL neds Fev to join Cas and Wakey in SL needs their bumps felt!

EDIT.
According to google maps, the journey between the old site of The Willows and Moor Ln is 20 minutes by push-bike or half that by car. Perish the though to a short walk, a bus, a trainn and another short walk taking 30 minutes.....because it's a well known fact that ALL MANCHESTER UNITED FANS live 3 minutes from Old Trafford

[i"Plans to build Salford City Reds' new stadium at Barton have been given the go-ahead by Salford City Council. The Reds aim to move into the 20,000-seater stadium by 2012 and are hopeful that it will mean they do not lose their Super League licence. Chairman John Wilkinson told BBC Radio Manchester: "It will put us on the same playing field as the clubs around us. Wilkinson said: "The new stadium is a huge part of our licence bid. We have to tick so many boxes and the old stadium doesn't really comply with Super League standards. If all goes well we will have a stadium that is compliant with Super League criteria. Look at where Manchester city were at Maine Road and now where they are at Eastlands he said The move attracted new investment and helped put them in the position they are in today. The new stadium at Barton is an opportunity for us to increase our fan base, sponsorship and commercial activities The stadium opens doors for us that were closed previously."....................."[/i

Whilst Wilkinson did see Barton as a way to "comply" with Superleague criteria, clearly Wakefield and Castleford were not going to be railroaded into new grounds they could not afford due to the intransigence of Wakefield District Council. Salford took Barton on but history shows they clearly didn't have to. Not if they had stood their ground with Cas and Wakey



Indeed as the piece above shows Wilkinson was not actually scared of being thrown out of Superleague if he stayed at the Willows. His thinking was that the move to Barton would attract...

New Fans
More Sponsorship money
More money from commercial activities

He got this idea from Manchester City's relocation from Maine Road to Eastlands, and he copied this move with Salford. However the new fans didn't come (nor did many old fans





) The sponsorship money didn't come, and the commercial activities didn't come........

[uYour the one who is "inaccurate" with the idea Salford were forced out of the Willows[/u, the facts show Wilkinson thought the move would make Salford the "Manchester City of Rugby League"...................

Mind reading now, or just window dressing your skewed opinion as usual?

Salford did what was asked of them by the SL Franchise regulations...applauding Wakey and Castleford for not is hardly "the high ground".....both clubs should have been fined for non compliance along with other clubs including my own, for not doing what they said they would.

It's not is it. Not now I've posted the real reason Wilkinson made the move, he was going to make Salford the Manchester City of Rugby League



Once Wilkinson realised his massive mistake he could not get out of Salford City Reds fast enough.......

[i"John Wilkinson is finally getting a good night’s sleep again.After a turbulent and troubled final 12 months of his 31-year reign as chairman and owner of the Salford City Reds, Wilkinson is now genuinely delighted and relieved to see the club rescued and saved from going under. Wilkinson believes Salford is in safe hands under the stewardship of the multi-millionaire race horse owner Marwan Koukash, who intends to transform Reds’ fortunes on and off the field.And he believes the future is bright for Salford in Super League. Wilkinson told M.E.N. Sport: “I really do like the way Marwan is going about his business. He wants to be a winner and [uI am there for him.[/u
[/i

And so the fact is Wilkinson dumped his white elephant on Koukash and was far from "[ithere for him[/i"







Koukash obviously realised his mistake, and quit. But now he has Derek to hold his hand he may feel a bit more confident going back into club ownership with Degsy. No need to reply as I don't believe your a genuine poster who wants a serious discussion shall we say.....It's game set and match anyway

Nope. You've posted your opinion....wrapped it up in drivel and then claimed it to be fact......as usual.

The only reference I can find to Salford becoming Manchester City of RL was from well after Wilkinson left and reported in the daily star.....is that your daily oracle?

as for Marwan. Hmm....like plenty of other well intentioned owners, he knows SFA about RL as does Del Boy at Leigh...who dummy spits almost as regularly as a two year old not getting its way. Marwan ran for the hills citing not being allowed to buy what he wanted.....him and argyle gave it the "big i am" then bolted when the bill arrived....

...I have no idea what "game set and match" in terms of RL means BTW?...