Salford’s much-needed stadium deal set to go through, ending ‘tragic’ sales
SALFORD are set to get the keys to the cash flow they have craved after a stadium deal was agreed.
The city’s council will take on the 50 per cent share of what was the AJ Bell of current partners Peel after wading through legal red tape.
That will see the Red Devils finally get access to money they have missed out on for 12 years – they have not received a penny of food and drink sales, nor hospitality bookings since it opened, worth about £150,000 a year.
Changes are likely to see a big screen featuring advertising pointing towards the nearby M60 Barton Bridge being put at one corner, while other facilities may be placed around the ground.
And city mayor Paul Dennett told SunSport it can propel the club, which is likely to defy cash constraints and make the play-offs, into a new era.
It also means the days of best players being sold – Oliver Partington is heading to Catalans while Tyler Dupree, Andy Ackers and Brodie Croft also left to pay the bills – may be over.
He said: “The stadium’s their home, we built the stadium for them. A notice said, ‘We’re building this as the home of Salford Red Devils, to keep them in the city and keep them in Super League.’
“The other part talks about them being able to generate revenue and hand on heart, I think we can do better working with the club.
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“The inability to raise revenue through the stadium and its activities is clearly hampering the club’s ability to make ends meet.
“And seeing them sell their best players to survive, preventing them from kicking on, is tragic in many respects.
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“The club is an institution in our city, this institution matters and the stadium could perform an awful lot better. Have I been frustrated? Yes.”
Salford City Council’s deal - which will see them pay £7 million to Peel in return for their share of the stadium and, most importantly, the land around it – will see the area which also hosts Sale Sharks RU become the rugby home of Greater Manchester.
It is likely to be rubber stamped at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, September 3 – a huge off-field boost to the Red Devils as they look to finish the job on it against Huddersfield today.
But boss Paul Rowley has channelled his inner Corporal Jones by saying, ‘Don’t panic.’
Salford are three points above Leigh in the final play-off spot with five matches left and a 26-0 thumping by the Leopards sparked worries on the terraces they would drop out of the top six.
But boss Rowley believes fretting will do no-one any good, saying: “If anyone is panicking, they’ve not been where I am. No-one has been panicking near me.
“We’re all right but that’s sport. It’s very simple, especially the fundamentals – you can’t reinvent the wheel.
“There’s no panic but there’s always pressure, internal pressure. We’ll concern ourselves with what we do and the thoughts we have within our group.”