The news came out today that Salford Red Devils have been charged with allegedly breaching salary cap regulations, but it isn’t the first time it has happened.
If Salford are found guilty, it will be the ninth occasion that a club has been found guilty of the charge, with the most recent incident involving Wigan in 2007.
In the past, every club charged has been handed a two-point deduction on the Super League table, other than Wigan, who were given a four-point penalty.
The salary cap rulings have changed over the years following confusion on some of the finer details. When Wakefield were punished in 2001, clubs were not allowed to spend more than half of their income on player wages. Now, of course, there is a fixed cap of £1.85 million, making it a lot easier to understand.
The first incident was in 2001 when Wakefield were found guilty of breaching the rules.
In 2003 St Helens, Halifax and Hull FC were handed two-point bans, with Fax getting relegated with zero points after only winning one game all season, they’ve never been in Super League since.
There wasn’t another offence until 2006, when both Bradford and Wigan were handed penalties two seasons running for overspending.
Since then all clubs have lived within their means, although Salford fans will be hoping they are found innocent, or a points deduction is on the cards.
