Salford to move to Moor Lane?

[Robthegasman]

11 minutes ago, theswanmcr said:

Yes and moving to Moor Lane would partly be about finding our level - which is in reality halfway between SL and Championship.

We also have very little choice at the minute - it looks like this option or we’re homeless.

Not a Salford fan myself but I think that hits the nail on the head.

[Spidey]

48 minutes ago, theswanmcr said:

Yes and moving to Moor Lane would partly be about finding our level - which is in reality halfway between SL and Championship.

We also have very little choice at the minute - it looks like this option or we’re homeless.

What's this fictitious league halfway between SL & Championship?

[Davo5]

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

What's this fictitious league halfway between SL & Championship?

Superleague 1.5 ??

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

So you clearly werent reading the actual conments that read to this.  And your alternative doesnt exist so isnt an alternative. 

They have defaulted on a £1.5m bill to the council so are being shafted off to Moor Lane's tiny stadium not in the best area for growing a club. Effectively, the council saved them from administration and now are calling the shots - hence being punted to Moor Lane. SL should be stepping in and saying you will be relegated regardless in 2022 if this is your only available solution.

The SL either has minimum standards or is a Sunday pub league.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Scubby

[Scubby]

7 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

So again if you had bothered to read this i said rebuild in championship. Its easier to attract fans in tight stadiums than in empty boxes otherwise Darlington would have been a premier league club.  

Bbc and Sky have had zero problem showing moor lane for EFL Fa Cup and League Cup.  20 -30 capacity stadiums are far worse for tv deals than Moor Lane. 

If they can put a 3g pitch down they can make the best of it. 

They are not in the Championship though mate, they are in the SL, still signing NRL players, still in with a chance of staying up next season and SL are saying nothing about minimum standards. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Scubby

[Route66]

Is moor lane really as bad as being made out? Was good enough to be accepted into the football league, brand new construction and a capacity big enough to easily take Salford's average attendance, give the club a chance and see what happens 

[Scubby]

2 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Read the thread you are posting on,  not the thread you want it to be. 

Franchising and minimum standards are a completely different thing. Salford are free to play where they like and sign who they like to stay up unless minimum stadium requirements are enforced. Salford are looking to move to a toy town stadium and have no intention of dropping down to the Championship and getting relegated. That is the thread.

[Scubby]

Just now, Route66 said:

Is moor lane really as bad as being made out? Was good enough to be accepted into the football league, brand new construction and a capacity big enough to easily take Salford's average attendance, give the club a chance and see what happens 

So if Sheffield get promoted can they play in their new 2000 capacity stadium because it is easily big enough for their current crowd. Where does it end?

[Spidey]

25 minutes ago, Scubby said:

They have defaulted on a £1.5m bill to the council so are being shafted off to Moor Lane's tiny stadium not in the best area for growing a club. Effectively, the council saved them from administration and now are calling the shots - hence being punted to Moor Lane. SL should be stepping in and saying you will be relegated regardless in 2022 if this is your only available solution.

The SL either has minimum standards or is a Sunday pub league.

While I agree, the predicament is though Wakey & Cas should be booted out also

SL have made a rod for their own back now and won't make the tough calls

[Davo5]

3 minutes ago, Route66 said:

Is moor lane really as bad as being made out? Was good enough to be accepted into the football league, brand new construction and a capacity big enough to easily take Salford's average attendance, give the club a chance and see what happens 

Yeap,poor location,no parking,tiny metal stands with no corporate facilities,it’s fine for non league & tier 4 football but that’s about it.

[Damien]

This again for me shows the issue with the current low salary cap. Clubs can be artificially propped up in Super League safe in the knowledge that any promoted club has significant disadvantages to overcome and that they cant be outspent, or at least outspent enough to make a difference when it comes to building a squad in a few months.

I don't particularly like the idea of clubs being booted out but things like the salary cap are at odds with P&R and allowing the cream to rise to the top. If we are to have a salary cap then minimum standards should certainly be part of that. The sport has a real mish mash of policies to placate all stakeholders and these contradict each other and only serve to hold the game back.  

[Scubby]

10 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Yeap,poor location,no parking,tiny metal stands with no corporate facilities,it’s fine for non league & tier 4 football but that’s about it.

Hence why Gary Neville is shrewdly capitalising on Salford's poor predicament at the moment to engineer this switch. It doesn't matter if Salford FC get promoted in the next few seasons - if they draw top opposition in the cups they now have a venue to capitalise on.

However you want to dress it up, the AJ Bell Stadium was built for Salford RLFC - they have done nothing to take that opportunity and have effectively been cuckooed out of it by more ambitious rivals.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Scubby

[Toby Chopra]

3 minutes ago, Scubby said:

However you want to dress it up, the AJ Bell Stadium was built for Salford RLFC - they have done nothing to take that opportunity and have effectively been cuckooed out of it by more ambitious rivals.

I don't think that's quite fair. Mr Koukash himself funded a decent quality team that ultimately made 2 finals in two years, offered free entry on occasion, put bands on and tried his best to make a noise about the club.

Despite all that, hardly anyone extra turned up. 

Some will say it was the location,  others that the COVID shut down came at the worst possible time. Maybe those things made a marginal difference, but plenty of other sports clubs have overcome similar. The bigger picture is that rugby league just doesn't capture the imgaination of many people in Salford any more, if it ever did. 

Had they stayed at the dilapidated Willows, even remaining in SL like Wakey and Cas, the numbers would have caught up with them in the end and we'd probably be where we are now, or worse. 

[DoubleD]

5 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

I don't think that's quite fair. Mr Koukash himself funded a decent quality team that ultimately made 2 finals in two years, offered free entry on occasion, put bands on and tried his best to make a noise about the club.

Despite all that, hardly anyone extra turned up. 

Some will say it was the location,  others that the COVID shut down came at the worst possible time. Maybe those things made a marginal difference, but plenty of other sports clubs have overcome similar. The bigger picture is that rugby league just doesn't capture the imgaination of many people in Salford any more, if it ever did. 

Had they stayed at the dilapidated Willows, even remaining in SL like Wakey and Cas, the numbers would have caught up with them in the end and we'd probably be where we are now, or worse. 

Correct. You only need to look at the lack of community clubs to see there isn't a high level of interest in the city

[HawkMan]

23 minutes ago, Scubby said:

Hence why Gary Neville is shrewdly capitalising on Salford's poor predicament at the moment to engineer this switch. It doesn't matter if Salford FC get promoted in the next few seasons - if they draw top opposition in the cups they now have a venue to capitalise on.

However you want to dress it up, the AJ Bell Stadium was built for Salford RLFC - they have done nothing to take that opportunity and have effectively been cuckooed out of it by more ambitious rivals.

Gary Neville has engineered nowt , the leaders in this are Sale. The Nevilles have said it's too soon for them but if they don't move now the chance may be gone if Sale are sole owners. I'm guessing but I'm sure they would also prefer sharing with Salford RL rather than Sale,  less wear and tear on pitch,  especially as Sale play European matches too.

[Scubby]

19 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

I don't think that's quite fair. Mr Koukash himself funded a decent quality team that ultimately made 2 finals in two years, offered free entry on occasion, put bands on and tried his best to make a noise about the club.

Despite all that, hardly anyone extra turned up. 

Some will say it was the location,  others that the COVID shut down came at the worst possible time. Maybe those things made a marginal difference, but plenty of other sports clubs have overcome similar. The bigger picture is that rugby league just doesn't capture the imgaination of many people in Salford any more, if it ever did. 

Had they stayed at the dilapidated Willows, even remaining in SL like Wakey and Cas, the numbers would have caught up with them in the end and we'd probably be where we are now, or worse. 

If Salford managed to take 10k+ to Old Trafford then the potential is there. Covid was tough on Salford more than most but the potential is still there.

[To Be Confirmed]

19 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

I don't think that's quite fair. Mr Koukash himself funded a decent quality team that ultimately made 2 finals in two years, offered free entry on occasion, put bands on and tried his best to make a noise about the club.

Despite all that, hardly anyone extra turned up. 

Some will say it was the location,  others that the COVID shut down came at the worst possible time. Maybe those things made a marginal difference, but plenty of other sports clubs have overcome similar. The bigger picture is that rugby league just doesn't capture the imgaination of many people in Salford any more, if it ever did. 

Had they stayed at the dilapidated Willows, even remaining in SL like Wakey and Cas, the numbers would have caught up with them in the end and we'd probably be where we are now, or worse. 

Koukash left at the end of 2017, the current Board of directors have since put the club on a far more stable trajectory. the signings that have been made are in most cases an improvement of those who have left. 

If the club do move to Moor lane then this will allow them to make the stadium work for themselves, the likes of sponsorship of the stadium will go to the club, F & B sales will go to the club, currently the only income that Salford get from match days is ticket sales. the club have come out and said that there obstacles that need to be overcome before any move takes place and the likes of parking etc are clearly some of those but none of them are insummountable. 

[To Be Confirmed]

52 minutes ago, Scubby said:

Hence why Gary Neville is shrewdly capitalising on Salford's poor predicament at the moment to engineer this switch. It doesn't matter if Salford FC get promoted in the next few seasons - if they draw top opposition in the cups they now have a venue to capitalise on.

However you want to dress it up, the AJ Bell Stadium was built for Salford RLFC - they have done nothing to take that opportunity and have effectively been cuckooed out of it by more ambitious rivals.

Gary Neville and Co arent capitalizing on the Rugby clubs predicament, Sale Sharks are looking at buying the stadium so they can generate much more from matchdays, Neville rightly knows that if they dont move now and buy the stadium with Sale and they get promoted they will have to move out of the city which they dont want. 

They have already confirmed that this move is coming to early for them but its either move now or risk moving out of the city.

[Scubby]

12 minutes ago, To Be Confirmed said:

Gary Neville and Co arent capitalizing on the Rugby clubs predicament, Sale Sharks are looking at buying the stadium so they can generate much more from matchdays, Neville rightly knows that if they dont move now and buy the stadium with Sale and they get promoted they will have to move out of the city which they dont want. 

They have already confirmed that this move is coming to early for them but its either move now or risk moving out of the city.

He may be doing it with a heavy heart but he is doing it. He is an honest guy.

He knows where he is moving from and where he is moving to. He also knows the history of Salford RLFC and the cul-de-sac they are heading down with Moor Lane in terms of what a SL club requires..

Edited October 18, 2021 by Scubby

[To Be Confirmed]

10 minutes ago, Scubby said:

He may be doing it with a heavy heart but he is doing it. He is an honest guy.

He knows where he is moving from and where he is moving to. He also knows the history of Salford RLFC and the cul-de-sac they are heading down with Moor Lane in terms of what a SL club requires..

no he is doing it to protect his club if they progress as there aspirations are to do. 

If they get promoted they have to move out of Moor Lane

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, To Be Confirmed said:

no he is doing it to protect his club if they progress as there aspirations are to do. 

If they get promoted they have to move out of Moor Lane

Yes I get that but it seems one club is future proofing against aspiration and the other is downsizing and effectively hampering any ambition.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Scubby

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, Scubby said:

If Salford managed to take 10k+ to Old Trafford then the potential is there. Covid was tough on Salford more than most but the potential is still there.

I just don't think it is. Salford get a lot of free passes from people for a lot of reasons, but ultimately, they have a good ground (soon to be 'had'), they had a rich backer, they had plenty of good signings, they have been to Wembley and Old Trafford - but people are just not bothering. 

We can talk about potential all we want, we can talk about them being strategically important, but none of that counts for anything when they just keep returning really poor crowds an struggle to pay the bills. 

I like Salford - I used to like going to the Willows, and they generally bring a decent loud following to the HJ, but they are a really weak SL club, and I'm not sure I can ever really see that changing. I hope I'm wrong.

[sweaty craiq]

2 hours ago, To Be Confirmed said:

Koukash left at the end of 2017, the current Board of directors have since put the club on a far more stable trajectory. the signings that have been made are in most cases an improvement of those who have left. 

If the club do move to Moor lane then this will allow them to make the stadium work for themselves, the likes of sponsorship of the stadium will go to the club, F & B sales will go to the club, currently the only income that Salford get from match days is ticket sales. the club have come out and said that there obstacles that need to be overcome before any move takes place and the likes of parking etc are clearly some of those but none of them are insummountable. 

How have they put the club on a more stable trajectory, you failed to meet the cva and failed to pay rent agreed. No Koukash no club today

[Scubby]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I just don't think it is. Salford get a lot of free passes from people for a lot of reasons, but ultimately, they have a good ground (soon to be 'had'), they had a rich backer, they had plenty of good signings, they have been to Wembley and Old Trafford - but people are just not bothering. 

We can talk about potential all we want, we can talk about them being strategically important, but none of that counts for anything when they just keep returning really poor crowds an struggle to pay the bills. 

I like Salford - I used to like going to the Willows, and they generally bring a decent loud following to the HJ, but they are a really weak SL club, and I'm not sure I can ever really see that changing. I hope I'm wrong.

Harsh but fair.

And how does going to a Subbuteo sized stadium with click and build aluminium stands and zero hospitality facilities help this in any way? SL should be saying no way before this deal is done. Salford should know exactly where they stand before they move - the minimum criteria is now getting pretty silly for the game's top competition.

[Wholly Trinity]

15 minutes ago, Scubby said:

Harsh but fair.

And how does going to a Subbuteo sized stadium with click and build aluminium stands and zero hospitality facilities help this in any way? SL should be saying no way before this deal is done. Salford should know exactly where they stand before they move - the minimum criteria is now getting pretty silly for the game's top competition.

Can you give us a link to these "minimum" standards set at any time during the superleague era? 

Starting from 'framing the future' there have been SL standards,  eg min 2.5k seating, but afaik there have never been minimum standards. Even pitch size has exceptions as they backed away from enforcing full-sized pitches to accommodate those who play on soccer pitches. 

I believe Wakefield receive reduced central funding because the stadium doesn't meet SL standards, and lost points on licencing bids because of it. However, the stadium is but one of the criteria. If SL was to adopt meaningful minimum standards there would not be enough teams to form a league.