SALFORD RED DEVILS chief executive Chris Irwin is confident that the Super League club will “lift” their IMG points “eventually” instead of dropping them.
The financial issues of the Red Devils have been well documented over the past few months, with a takeover led by Swiss businessman Dario Berta so far not yielding the positive results that Salford fans had hoped for.
Marc Sneyd has left for Warrington Wolves, Brad Singleton to Castleford Tigers and Tim Lafai has returned to Australia, whilst the club remains under special measures and continues to operate with a £1.2 million sustainability cap, limiting head coach Paul Rowley’s effectiveness on building a squad.
And with Salford precariously close to Toulouse Olympique in the IMG gradings – the Red Devils were given a score of 13.97 and Toulouse 13.58 – and therefore at risk of dropping out of Super League, all eyes will be firmly fixed on the gradings at the end of 2025.
However, when asked about their IMG score and potential anxiety for next season, Irwin told BBC 5 Live Extra: “That goes back to my plans.
“When I was coming in, I wanted to build a strong marketing department, and a strong commercial department just to boost those points for IMG.
“A lot of points this year will be reflective of last year’s off-field, and we finished fourth in the league. I don’t think we’ll drop too many points, we’re hopeful that we’ll actually lift our points eventually.
“We’ve just got to keep working hard and do the things we can control. We’ve got a thriving future, I’ve got no doubt about that.
“The potential this club has is massive, the catchment area, Salford, Manchester, Trafford, Bury, no other Super League club has that kind of catchment.
“We’ve got huge businesses and commercial revenue we could tap into, it could really springboard this club. What we need is the resources behind us so we can tap into those things.”
