SALFORD joint-owner Mason Caton-Brown says he’s happy to have got to the end of his first season – and is ready to use the experience gained to make further progress.
The 33-year-old former player, who is originally from London but has built an extensive property portfolio in the north-west of England, joined forces with fellow local businessmen Malcolm Crompton and Paul Hancock to relaunch the club after the previous version went under late last year in the wake of a dismal top-flight campaign.
It was, by necessity, done in a rush, with Ryan Brierley, who played for the old Salford for four Super League seasons, brought in as chief executive and having to scramble together coaching staff and a squad in time for the first match.
Perhaps inevitably, there have been changes during the campaign, with original team chief Mike Grady standing down six league games in and his assistant Dave Hewitt taking over, while 74 players have been used over 27 matches in all.
Against that testing backdrop, Salford still managed eight league wins, and at one stage looked like they might make a challenge for a top-ten play-off spot before finishing twelfth.
Ex-outside back Caton-Brown, who was at the original Salford from 2014 to 2016 and also played for London Broncos, Wakefield and Toronto (alongside Brierley) as well as once for Jamaica, said: “I had no expectation of year one.
“The main thing was to make sure we got through the season and we’re happy to have done that.
“It’s been an experience, and I never thought I would own any club, never mind one I played for.
“Now I’m looking forward to trying to make further progress and seeing where we can get to.”