Went to Salford when they moved in to the new ground.

Because of the reasons jools states, haven't been back since.

Listen, if you drive & park up either a) on Brookhouse/ $#!T#0U$€ Estate or even on the other side of the M60 roundabout, then the AJ Bell is only 10 minutes walk for able bodied people, 15 for lardy fat knackers.

Obviously this is not suitable for disabled people who need to be very close to the Stadium.

Compare to Old Trafford or the Etihad Council House where it can take an hour to get off the car park *nearly 2 hours at City after a big concert* & the travel to/from Salford looks a little easier, not easy but easier.

The biggest issue is that it is almost not in Salford & on the edge of civilisation.

The stadium is the major reason, Iestyn Harris' article was spot on the other day.

As a fan who lives 10 minutes from The Willows as many other of my many match going friends did this place is quite simply garbage, the location is the problem. Also season upon season of disappointment and meaningless games such as Friday's (I know in terms of the table it isn't but to a potential attendee it is) It just seems to be the same old story come June where our season is over and thus attendances drop.

As a life long Salford fan I know it will never take off in this city, peoples apathy towards it is to much, we had our easiest chance to capitalize on the back of our 2006 season but typically the following year we were relegated.

I honestly believe if we did get relegated again it would be the end of the club as we know it.

I think the sport in general (in the U.K) is having a bad year, doesn't give me the same buzz and I know many others who have followed it for years have said the same.

Please tell me if you think this is [ijust bonkers[/i, *I am not poking fun at Salford, as a Mancunian I would love Salford, Swinton, Oldham & of course Leigh to be thriving*.

What is the value in quitting the Stadium, both to MarwanK & Salford fans ?
Is this even possible ? (Maybe they have a 25 year contract/tenancy for example).

What is to stop MarwanK & Salford teaming up with Swinton for a purpose built Stadium somewhere beneficial to both Clubs ?
There is an awful lot of brownfield land in Salford, Swinton is in Salford & MarwanK could own the Stadium putting it to use as he sees fit.

For example, MarwanK charges a tenancy fee to Swinton Lions, he puts his own caterers in selling his own food & alcohol/beverage stock. MarwanK then can promote his own Stadia for something like *Oh, I don't know, an Elton John gig or England v France etc*.
Continuing on MarwanK & his team rent out space for business, congress rooms, events etc & creates his own Events Management Co.

Now I am [iNo Businessman[/i, however he is & supposedly a successful one at that & reportedly with tens of £M at his disposal. Could he do it ? Would he want to ? Do I need to go see a Doctor ?

Sure, fans of opposing sporting clubs don't like the idea of sharing, yet if it helps you grow, become successful & ensure the secure future you desire then is the idea so abhorrent?

Worth thinking about IMHO but as I said earlier, could be a non starter.

Genuinely interested to hear the thoughts of Salford fans.

Not possible, the previous owners of our club basically left us with a white elephant and we're stuck with it. After all the money Salford City Council have given to the stadium there is no way we are leaving.

In an ideal world it would be a great idea for MK to build a stadium in the heart of Salford and share with Swinton but I know of no real sites where it could be built aside from the Agecroft site where Swinton are looking to move to and I don't even know how that would work if were averaging even say 3,000 as the access is just as bad, the best place at the time would of been on the site of the old Ladywell Hospital which is now West One retail park (which has proven to be a waste of time) but it was too late, that would of been perfect.

We are stuck with the AJ Bell and that's that, it makes me laugh that clubs like Wakefield and Cas (no disrespect) are still playing at their old grounds but we had to leave The Willows which tbh wasn't as bad as Wheldon Road and Belle Vue, a real shame as Marwan has said if he was in charge then he would of redeveloped the old place.

Especially with the area Weaste, being redeveloped with a lot of new housing the problems we faced outside the stadium would of been a lot better and potentially a whole new market to aim at.

A real shame, I love to think where we'd of been with a redeveloped Willows.

Is a new road to the stadium still been built? Is it expected to improve things? Sounds like the stadium was built without a thought to transport, poor from everybody involved.

I think there can be a degree of unreasonable expectation from fans of many sports.

The reality is that unless you all ready have a stadium in a prime location few sports can afford to build anything close to a city centre. Brown field sites in places like Salford are selling for millions and possibly come with a large clean up bill on top.

The infrastructure around the AJ Bell was designed by someone on work experience and while it may be sorted in the next 5 years the damage has been done. As I commented earlier, the fact that first bus don't even attempt to put on extra busses on a match day is pathetic.

When they eventually finish the new road and bridge it may help but I guess even that is now another year off. ( I am no structural engineer but they appear to be drilling the bridge supports to check for structural damage and as yet haven't even started to remove the collapsed road way)

My last visit to the Willows was in 2011, when Swinton played their home games there. I went by car, arriving at the stadium without thinking about where I was going to park. I asked a steward outside the ground where would be a good place to park. "Over there" was his response, pointing to "official" parking at the ground. "How much" was my query. "Just go and park, no charge" was his response.

I also remember my first visit to St Helens at Knowsley Road. I got a little lost getting there, and parked up on a side street, got out to try and find where I was... and discovered that I was only yards from a turnstile into the ground.

Good times... with good crowds.

5270 for the Bulls/Fax game today btw.

I agree with this. We often do expect too much, especially given the generally low crowds (for a pro sports club to own & run a stadium) and the very low incomes we have in the sport. However we, as usual, often shoot ourselves in the foot. We need to start working together far more, clubs need to start sharing resources (and so share costs) including in some areas to share stadiums.
As you say I wouldn't expect a new stadium in the middle of a city centre anymore as its too expensive. However I do expect, given the luxury of a space and time to build one, that access and parking is good at new stadiums (it shouldn't take 2 hours to get out of a car park at a small stadium that's only half full) and little things like making fans go to the ticket office to buy a ticket to go back to the turnstiles is daft and annoying to fans. We shouldn't be putting barriers and inconveniences in the way of fans/customers/anyone spending money at our clubs.

Another big one tonight...

London would have been pilloried for crowds like this a few years back.

2275 tonight. Poor. Bet a quarter of that was Cas too.

Is there room for Salford in this dream SL of giant clubs if this is all they can offer with a mega rich owner after nearly 4 years?

Huddersfield STILL get hammered for crowds more than double that !

The thing is, it's still been four years of sitting at the bottom of SL. Salford public are apathetic at best with RL and consist of a large number of fair weather fans who will only come back when we actually appear in the top half of the table. In fact, they may never appear either. While the Club isn't perfect when it comes to selling itself in the community, it is trying hard.

Salford are playing decent stuff, and the players and MK deserve a lot more backing from the Salford public than they do.

Very similar to us, all those years of misery have taken it's toll, we did improve our crowds with cheap season ticket deals, and a few decent seasons without winning anything, but now those people have drifted away, we are down to our hardcore, of around 4,000 and that is dwindling away pretty rapidly because people can't stomach defeat after defeat.
We don't have a heap of money to throw at marketing so that's almost non existant, and it's a vicious circle, as the less people that stop coming and paying into the club then the club is only going one way.

Do Huddersfield still do free kids tickets?

Under 8's season tickets are free yes.

5111 for Leigh V Bradford today.

A great game it was too!

Leigh 22 Bulls 20. Reni Maitua with a late winner for the Leythers!

North Stand at the LSV this afternoon.

Brilliant atmosphere for the full 80 minutes!

Butcher's comments are spot on: there are marketing initiatives but they are not being read. I agree we do need to try harder. But there does need to be a real sea change in attitude.

Friday almost caused a divorce in the HBR household: I live in Rochdale and used public transport to get home. I decided to use a no. 67 bus to Manchester rather than going for a drink with friends and getting a train from Patricroft. Currently there are no trams from Eccles to Manchester. The bus didn't appear (or was late) so I jumped on a 10 ; the 10 goes everywhere in Salford rather than the direct route of the 67. I had by now missed the last train so took the Rochdale tram. This takes 40/50 mins. as it meanders through Oldham. My phone went down. Missus could not be contacted. She expected me home about 11:00 - 11:30. On arrival in Rochdale, I then went to find a taxi and they were not easy to find (it's Ramadan). Match ended c 10:00 p.m. HBR got home 12:45 a.m.

OK, I am unusual in that I use public transport and support a team far from where I live. I am not unusual in that I live in Rochdale and support Salford: there are several other Salfordians in the town.

Imagine if I had brought a friend or my wife!

That sounds like a Broncos game for most London Fans

Which is annoying when comments come from people who can and do walk up to their ground.

Mind you, I do feel as if I am supporting a dying game. RU is now far more entrenched in the NW. Association Football has taken over almost every sport.

You could bike it to Salford from Rochdale in an hour, it's about 15 miles and all downhill, getting back mind is a different kettle of fish.


In all seriousness the location and huge failure to ensure you have ease of access/egress was the most heinous and shocking decision for a community based club and unless you had lots of success then a huge drop off in attendances (and all the massive downsides that follow from that) was a gimme.

If it weren't for the fair-ground land adjacent to the KCom, parking would be horrendous, as it is getting away from the stadium car parks isn't what i would call ideal but by no means the worst though we always parked up at my nan's and walked over.
Access isn't too bad and the stadium is within walking distance for many, train station is about a 15-20 minute walk too and this is were Salford massively falls down as being said it's literally miles away and unless you have access to a vehicle for those living in the Salford RL catchment area it's not within reasonable walking distance.

I'd still like to see clubs provide for secure cycle parking facilities however, I'd certainly bike it from the other side of the city with my mum when I'm up visiting Hull and tbh there's not a lot in it time wise cycling back compared to using the car. There is what looks like a canal path that runs to the back of the AJ, maybe some promotion for people to be able to bike it on a Sunday afternoon as opposed to using the car?

How do Sale overcome the issues?

Firstly, they haven't for all fans: when they were in Stockport, the ease of getting there from North Cheshire and South Manchester meant that fans were spoiled : late trains allowed a few drinks after the match. The move meant that transport had to be put on but not everyone took part. This is not something that Salford could do : I cannot think of one area where you know the fans could congregate before and after the match. I used to drink with many before they went to Edgeley and I set off for Salford (I work in Stockport). Secondly, by being positive. www.salesharks.com/1515.php#.V3uenUbLk8k www.salesharks.com/tickets/trave ... 3uewUbLk8k www.kingsofthenorth.net/saleshar ... g-here.php Thirdly, the nature of much of their fan base is different. It is almost pyramidical. They could play for a local team, support a more regional team, and go to Sale as the super-regional representative team. Fourthly, from friends who have attended the games: the match figures can be questioned (allegedly).

Firstly, they haven't for all fans: when they were in Stockport, the ease of getting there from North Cheshire and South Manchester meant that fans were spoiled : late trains allowed a few drinks after the match. The move meant that transport had to be put on but not everyone took part. This is not something that Salford could do : I cannot think of one area where you know the fans could congregate before and after the match. I used to drink with many before they went to Edgeley and I set off for Salford (I work in Stockport). Secondly, by being positive. www.salesharks.com/1515.php#.V3uenUbLk8k www.salesharks.com/tickets/trave ... 3uewUbLk8k www.kingsofthenorth.net/saleshar ... g-here.php Thirdly, the nature of much of their fan base is different. It is almost pyramidical. They could play for a local team, support a more regional team, and go to Sale as the super-regional representative team. Fourthly, from friends who have attended the games: the match figures can be questioned (allegedly).