Salford could become homeless

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Salford’s future is in doubt as they try to negotiate a reduction in rent as a bid is put in to buy their stadium. 
 

Our current tenancy agreement is simply unsustainable for the club and we have been seeking a new deal on terms that we can afford. CosCos have supported the club with rental payment arrangements in recent seasons, we hope that we can strike a new agreement that allows both parties a mutually sustainable level.

“Any ownership changes to the stadium that increases our rent above what is financially viable for the club would be devastating.

https://www.salfordreddevils.net/a-joint-statement-regarding-the-aj-bell-stadium-2/

[moorside roughyed]

Sounds a bit grim to me. The question is like a few other clubs around Greater Manchester - is rugby league big enough in these towns anymore? I'm an Oldham fan and we're lucky if we get 700 at a home game, definitely not enough to support a club, ground and wages etc. 

[Damien]

4 minutes ago, moorside roughyed said:

Sounds a bit grim to me. The question is like a few other clubs around Greater Manchester - is rugby league big enough in these towns anymore? I'm an Oldham fan and we're lucky if we get 700 at a home game, definitely not enough to support a club, ground and wages etc. 

RU clubs do it, amateur clubs do it (bar player wages obviously).  Oldham have amateur clubs with good facilities. I'm not sure why decent facilities should be unattainable for professional clubs.

[Rupert Prince]

Sale Sharks want to buy it.  Salford seem to be saying that on one hand they cannot afford the current rental (saying they do not have a wealthy beneficiary) but on the other hand claim they will try to buy it themselves.

What with... scotch mist? 

The council only partly own it. The football club would like to move in as well.

Is there a reason why Sale think it's OK for them, based miles away, to spend millions on a stadium in Salford?  They are not dim.  What about the brains trust on here... any ideas?

Could it be they have benefited from a big investment from a certain private equity company? Perhaps they want to be the big rugby club in Manchester... possibly Lancashire?

I would hope Salford Council will not expel Salford RL, but it's a poor start if it cannot afford it's rent.

This is a serious moment for RL in Manchester.

[Damien]

Just now, Rupert Prince said:

Sale Sharks want to buy it.  Salford seem to be saying that on one hand they cannot afford the current rental (say I g they do not have a wealthy beneficiary) but on the other hand claim they will try to buy it themselves.

What with... scotch mist? 

The council only partly own it. The football club would like to move in as well.

Is there a reason why Sale think it's OK for them, based miles away, to spend millions on a stadium in Salford?  They are not dim.  What about the brains trust on here... any ideas?

Could it be they have benefited from a big investment from a certain private equity company? Perhaps they want to be the big rugby club in Manchester... possibly Lancashire?

I would hope Salford Council will not expel Salford RL, but it's a poor start if it cannot afford it's rent.

This is a serious moment for RL in Manchester.

When have the football club said they want to move in? As far as I know they have never shown any interest.

[Northern Eel]

There seems to be a recurring theme here with RL clubs who sold/relinquished their grounds as part of a deal to move to a new multi-occupancy stadium, where the RL club are at the bottom of the pile in any ownership/management status and are dictated to by those above. 

[Clogiron]

5 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

There seems to be a recurring theme here with RL clubs who sold/relinquished their grounds as part of a deal to move to a new multi-occupancy stadium, where the RL club are at the bottom of the pile in any ownership/management status and are dictated to by those above. 

Quite, short term gain/thinking long term pain, the RL way of dealing with things for far too many years.

[paulwalker71]

23 minutes ago, Damien said:

When have the football club said they want to move in? As far as I know they have never shown any interest.

Haven't they recently built themselves a new stadium?

[Damien]

Just now, paulwalker71 said:

Haven't they recently built themselves a new stadium?

Yep they've redeveloped it and always said that is where they want to play. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

15 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

There seems to be a recurring theme here with RL clubs who sold/relinquished their grounds as part of a deal to move to a new multi-occupancy stadium, where the RL club are at the bottom of the pile in any ownership/management status and are dictated to by those above. 

Genuine question but which other clubs has this happened to?

At the end of the day if Salford don’t own their ground and are not in a position to buy their ground, they’ve got to expect to pay rent to play their at the market rate.

[moorside roughyed]

55 minutes ago, Damien said:

RU clubs do it, amateur clubs do it (bar player wages obviously).  Oldham have amateur clubs with good facilities. I'm not sure why decent facilities should be unattainable for professional clubs.

Roughyeds had Watersheddings, Hornets had they're own ground. But they lost them. All I'm saying is that amongst the smaller clubs the fan base has shrunk and aged a fare bit. Rugby league seems to me to be shrinking in greater Manchester. 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Clever move by Salford with the Salford City Council elections due to 6th May 2021 as it puts pressure on the politicians who own 50% of the stadium to block a sale and helop out the club with rent.

I would strongly advise any Salford fans to question candidates in the upcoming elections as to what their position is on the AJ Bell stadium situation and hold their feet to the fire so to speak.

 

[Northern Eel]

2 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Genuine question but which other clubs has this happened to?

At the end of the day if Salford don’t own their ground and are not in a position to buy their ground, they’ve got to expect to pay rent to play their at the market rate.

Hull FC, Wigan?

Did they own the old ground and sell it?

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

RU clubs do it, amateur clubs do it (bar player wages obviously).  Oldham have amateur clubs with good facilities. I'm not sure why decent facilities should be unattainable for professional clubs.

Would love oldham to move in with st Anne's,  can't get any closer to the town centre, and develop the site. Or Waterhead, a drop kick from the old Watersheddings ground. But there are too many obstacles and egos for that to happen.

[iangidds]

18 minutes ago, The Art of Hand and Foot said:

Would love oldham to move in with st Anne's,  can't get any closer to the town centre, and develop the site. Or Waterhead, a drop kick from the old Watersheddings ground. But there are too many obstacles and egos for that to happen.

No time for egos with regards to RL and Oldham; the game needs to understand where its heading

[Wellsy4HullFC]

28 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Hull FC, Wigan?

Did they own the old ground and sell it?

Pretty sure Hull sold the Boulevard to the council during their financial issues, not because they are to move to the KC, bit I could be wrong. It was a long time ago!

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Could Salford not move in with the football team? It's a smaller ground and they'd probably appreciate the financial support!

[Josef K]

I remember Stockport County fan’s not being happy with the attitude of Sale when they played their game’s there. 

[Northern Eel]

4 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Could Salford not move in with the football team? It's a smaller ground and they'd probably appreciate the financial support!

It's about 5k capacity, but absolutely no room for genuine expansion. 

[langpark]

Did Salford own the Willows and if so, did they get much for it when they sold it?

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

13 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Pretty sure Hull sold the Boulevard to the council during their financial issues, not because they are to move to the KC, bit I could be wrong. It was a long time ago!

Wigan were the same I believe 

[graveyard johnny]

what happened to the good dr?

[Rupert Prince]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

When have the football club said they want to move in? As far as I know they have never shown any interest.

The Manchester Evening News suggests it.

[ATLANTISMAN]

What ALL clubs need to be is financially sound with MULTIPLE REVENUE STREAMS.

The days of relying on the gate money and even now the SKY + gate money have gone.

One needs all that extra revenue coming in from 

* Sponsorship

* Merchandise

* Hospitality 

* Bars

* Functions 

* General stadium hire 

* Etc etc etc 

I read on another thread about HULL FC wanting to own their own ground maybe that would be a good move and even BETTER with HULL KR  (Hard for some to swallow however it would be fantastic for both clubs stadium in a joint trust that can NEVER be sold and then let each club get on with it)

 

French teams like the Dragons and now Toulouse have a huge advantage with not only the maire letting them use the stadiums FOC but also putting in monies and letting the clubs keep most of the revenue steams (If not ALL:)

 

I am NOT party to all SL club situations but from a laymans point of view I see it as follows.

LEEDS RHINOS/ST HELENS/WARRINGTON WOLVES/CATALAN DRAGONS/TOULOUSE and to a lesser extent HULL KR/HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS/WIGAN WARRIORS are way above anyone else followed by (And think about this) NEWCASTLE THUNDER 

HULL FC are being strangled by Hull FC owners the Allams 

CASTLEFORD TIGERS/WAKEFIELD TRINITY need new stadiums with all the facilities that go with it 

LEIGH I have no idea about 

 

 

I dont know what the relationship is with the stadium owners but clubs maybe in a better position could be DONCASTER BATLEY DEWSBURY 

 

Another factor to consider is years ago when clubs like Oldham/Swinton etc sold their stadiums bank interest rates where horrendous.

 

 

My opinion thats all folks:)

 

Paul

 

 

 

 

[Rupert Prince]

1 hour ago, Northern Eel said:

There seems to be a recurring theme here with RL clubs who sold/relinquished their grounds as part of a deal to move to a new multi-occupancy stadium, where the RL club are at the bottom of the pile in any ownership/management status and are dictated to by those above. 

It depends on the terms of the lease and whether clubs keep up the payments.  Plus in terms of councils what covenants they apply.