Sale and the future

[Robthegasman]

Well it has been a year not far off since the Lions arrived at Heywood Road,a year near enough that has gone quite quickly and has been a pretty good year there for the Lions with consolidation achieved in the Championship and an increase in gates all in all and from what I gather a few people from the Sale area starting to attend the games with possibly more to come as the club are quite rightly targeting the local areas to gain more support and help push the gates up.And it is a strategy that I think will given time work and gates of 900-1000 plus will become the average.

I believe that the contract signed was for 3 years,of course with the hope that Agecroft would be up and running by the end of it.Now I personally don't think that Agecroft will happen being honest because of the same thing that has prevented it in the past,yes money and funding,but of course I would love to be proved wrong and would like to see,once again the underdog prevail(like it did with the EU referendum and subsequent vote for Brexit )and see the proposed new stadium open it's gates and welcome all Swinton fans new and old,along with the away fans and see a huge massive historic wrong put right.We of course must live in hope.

Now if despite the best efforts Agecroft doesn't happen then I think it would be very safe to say that Swinton Lions simply will never return to Swinton as of course money but also I am not sure that any other land would be available anyway.Now if as I think this will be the case then I for one will be happy for Swinton to sign a further contract with Sale as it is a good venue,nice club house with a good decent bar and nice friendly staff but also a nice pub,the Little B behind the ground which is nice and no doubt the landlord is happy on match day as his takings increase by a fair bit and I believe that both Lions and away supporters have said positive things about the set up which is good to hear and that in itself should I think help see attendances rise.

So yes as far as I am concerned if Agecroft fails to happen I would be happy to see Swinton stay at Sale as I think unlike other venues perhaps Swinton can make this move a big success both on and off the field.

[Robthegasman]

And maybe looking further forward,if say Agecroft fails to materialise but the club can continue to thrive and prosper both on and off the field,so much so that one day in the future they can dare I say become a Super League club then of course Sale would unfortunately no longer be adequate and if that day ever was to happen,then I would think that a venue like the Manchester Regional Arena would suit.Of course anything like that is a long way off yet but who knows what could happen in say 10-15 years time.

Of course I said earlier that I and everyone else want Agecroft ,or a move back Swinton was not to happen,I will go on record and say that I for one would not want Swinton Lions to ever play permanently at any venue within the boundaries of Salford City Council as in my eyes they have never really done much for Swinton Lions so why pay rates to them,or rent or whatever.I would say let one of the neighbouring Greater Manchester boroughs have the benefit instead.

[moorside roughyed]

I'm an Oldham fan and that's a thing we've both got in common, being homeless. Through loosing our spiritual homes to go on to lead a nomadic existence.However the last couple of seasons have been great for both clubs with promotion and finding grounds that both sets of fans are satisfied with.It's the best result for both clubs.At the end of the day neither club gets the crowds big enough to finance such ventures, the money just may not be there.I think we all need to enjoy the ride for the moment and have higher hopes for the future.Your happy at sale,we're happy at bower fold,I'm never happy about Rochdale. :-)