or not as the case maybe, they are now putting plans forward to develop their ground and have cover for 10000 fans, but don't they have to lots of seats as well story here news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 705260.stm

or not as the case maybe, they are now putting plans forward to develop their ground and have cover for 10000 fans, but don't they have to lots of seats as well story here news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 705260.stm

Quote ="Bigpev"or not as the case maybe, they are now putting plans forward to develop their ground and have cover for 10000 fans, but don't they have to lots of seats as well story here news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 705260.stm'" Stable door. Horse. Bolted.

Quote ="Bigpev"or not as the case maybe, they are now putting plans forward to develop their ground and have cover for 10000 fans, but don't they have to lots of seats as well story here news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 705260.stm'" Stable door. Horse. Bolted.

I don't know about redeveloping it. No offence intended but they would be better dropping a big bomb on it and starting again!

it's a catch-22 situation that we've suffered from over the years too...

you know the ground isnt good enough, yet you've got to spend something on it to maintain it and at least keep it reasonable - which becomes wasted money when you are planning to move somewhere else and demolish the ground anyway.

there's been a fair few improvements to the Willows over the years (stands opposite shed, new roof on shed etc.), all of that at a cost, and yet the place is to be knocked down.

tough for Wakey to deal with given the franchise position.

I've got a soft spot for Wakey, and truly hope they can bounce back from what I think is the inevitable. Hats off to their board for trying as much as they can, but feel that other factors such as finance may have already doomed them.

It must be hard as a Wakey fan, as it must feel like your future has already been decided and nothing you try will change it.

Of course, all the rumour may just be that and it could be us dropping out but I really can't see it.

[iWakefield Trinity Wildcats should have had a new stadium in place by now and it will be a sad day if they get kicked out of the Super League just because they don't have a decent stadium ready for 2012.

Also if it came down to a two horse race between the Reds and the Cats for the boot in July well in my opinion the Salford City Reds are in a much stronger state than 'Wakey' any day of the week.[/i

I'm no Wakey fan but in terms of youth development, performance and even attendances I would think they have rated more highly than Salford over the last franchise period. That said if it is a two horse race for the final SL place I don't think Salford will be contesting it but they damn well should be, and be heavily handicapped by their failure to make any sort of impact since 2006.

The problem is most news has not really covered all the facts. This is only a temporary solution and we still intend to move to Newmarket. We will probably have a decision by December (more than likely the outcome we want). The fact that we are wanting to improve our ground now and some others are still behind us is a good thing.

So your solution would be to just give up on rugby league in Salford & Manchester at a time when the club can start selling itself much better in a modern new stadium? Maybe your ideal would be to kick out Harlequins, Catalans and Crusaders too and replace them with Halifax, Featherstone, Dewsbury and Batley. They could then rename the competition the 'Yorkshire County Superleague' sponsored by Yorkshire Airlines.

Ahhhh Yorkshire yes,a real credit to Super League especially when they can't even sort out who's playing in which kit and they have to call for Hilda to open up the kit room to wear a non-SL team's kit...

One plus I suppose would be that travelling fans could cycle to away games.

Superleague goes green!!

No mate it's Yorkshire it would be horse and cart

I am a wakey fan and don't think you should be kicked out. At least your ground is built. My only fear for you is if superleague is just going to consist of rich owners that you could get left behind. Yet again money talks in sport.

Just where did you detect a pro-Yorkshire bias in my post?
My point was that Salford should not be a shoe in for SL, as many are suggesting they are, but should be in the mix with endangered Wakey and Cas (who I think would score higher in almost every criteria except location and stadia).

Salford may be in the mix, who knows?

I doubt it though. Without going over old ground, and can be researched with a little time the only thing going against is crowds and underwhelming on-field performance. The latter is slowly being dragged forward, and the former is almost not considered (Probably due to the fact that Quins & Cru would be heavily penalised if that was the case.)

Of course I'm over-simplifying things but you get the idea...

This licence malarky, are the criteria's in any order - ie most important to be solvent and suitable stadium etc? Hows it work??

Decidedly arbitrary criteria, which look to have been set in such a way that Salford just miss out in certain categories, and which I believe are as follows (together with my assessment as to whether Salford meet the stated criteria):-

[uFootball activity[/u

First-team success (top eight finishes in each of the last three years);

Salford = Fail !

And development of juniors (number of scholarships, performance of Under-21 and Academy teams over the last three years).

Salford = Pass ?!

[uFinancial performance[/u

Turnover (at least £4m per annum);

Salford = Fail ?

And solvency.

Salford = Pass !

[uFacilities[/u

The capacity of the stadium (more than 12,000);

Salford = Fail ! (At present, The Willows' current capacity is c. 11,000)

And its quality (meeting the standard of a premier sporting competition according to a strictly defined criteria).

Salford = Fail ! (At present)

[uAttendances [/u

The size of the average crowd (at least 10,000 or more);

Salford = Fail !

And how the average crowd is measured against stadium capacity (fills at least 40% of capacity).

Salford = Possible Pass ? (Average crowd needs to be 4,400+)

[uRulebook criteria [/u

Whether the existing rules and regulations have been adhered to by a club.

Salford = Pass !

[uGeographical criteria[/u

Clubs more than 20 miles from any other Super League club will be awarded a point.

Salford = Fail !


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clubs that achieve a pass mark in eight or more of the 10 criteria will receive a Grade A licence.

Those scoring between five and seven will be awarded a Grade B licence while clubs with four or less points will get a Grade C licence.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion: Salford's point score should be improved by at least two points when the new ground is completed, thus guaranteeing a Grade B licence.

I believe that we will be awarded a Franchise - but still think the system stinks. Bring back promotion and relegation say I.

It adds so much to the game itself and is the only transparent system.

bring back the salary cap

Bring back Spangles while you're at it!

As a Salford supporter I expect a licence to be awarded to the club for the one and only reason that with the new stadium is RL's final chance to make any progress in establishing a significant presence in the Manchester area.

Over my lifetime of watching the sport, RL's meagre presence in Liverpool has been eradicated and the clubs in and around Manchester i.e. Salford, Swinton, Rochdale and Oldham are shadows of their former selves. The latter 3 have lost their grounds for one reason or another with Salford only retaining its status, though that is diminished from when my father first started taking me to the games, due to the support of the directors.

There are those that point to Salford and say that we a club in the heartlands of the game. Personally I would say that is no longer true and question whether it ever was the case.

If RL can't get on firmer footing in Manchester then what hope is there of it being a minor regional sport.

Shame that of "youth development, performance and even attendances" only 1 is part of the criteria?!




These are the criteria for the last round of licenses - Wikipedia isn't always the most reliable source of infomation!



Clubs are assessed on criteria in 5 key areas:
a. Commercial, Marketing, Media and Community.
b. Facilities.
c. Finance.
d. Governance and Business Management.
e. Playing Strength and Player Performance Strategy.

Not concerned about this is in the slightest...

The plans drawn up are a watercolour painting.... and all they are doing is throwing a roof on a couple of areas.

Clubs more than 20 miles from any other Super League club will be awarded a point.

Salford = Fail !

God the RFL really pi$$ me off! I can see it now, all their board members set round a table thinking 'How can we give Crusaders,Harlequins and Catalan Dragons a FREE Point?', Shithouses!

Commercial, Marketing, Media and Community.

God the RFL really pi$$ me off! I can see it now, all their board members set round a table thinking 'How can we give clubs that have had over 100 years to get these things in place a FREE Point?', Shithouses!