When Dr K first came in there was great talk of building a retail/hotel complex around the stadium area and that being a part of the club's infrastructure providing extra revenue streams. That seems to have gone very quiet recently and I suspect has become mired in local authority politics coupled with Peel Holding's long term ambitions.
Unless that situation changes I fear for the long term future, however looking at the squad for next season, the improvements in the coaching side, better management and adminstration there is plenty to be cheerful about as a Salford fan

It has nothing to do with the lack of supporters, of course we would like to have a few thousand more through the turnstiles but where the majority of clubs make vast amounts of income through corporate hospitality, events, catering, bar/snack sales etc we earn close to zilch (we do take a small cut of the match day corporate). The reason Koukash is continually banging on about increasing numbers of season ticket holders etc is because for Salford, that and sponsorship is the only genuine income stream we have. If we owned our own stadium, I guarantee you attendances wouldn’t be such a hot topic and Marwan would just accept the fans will come when the team produce.

At the moment, without the input of a wealthy owner such as Koukash the club just simply isn’t self-sufficient and viable hence why we were hours from going under. This is Marwan’s biggest task IMO as our chairman, it isn’t winning Super League or the Challenge Cup as eventually silly amounts of cash on good players will achieve that it’s about leaving the club with a prosperous future for years to come. Unfortunately the only way he is going to achieve that is by building us a new stadium elsewhere, or buying a majority share in the AJ Bell Stadium – both will cost millions.

A year or two back there was talk that Koucash was looking to buy the stadium. Is this now no longer the case?

Quote: John Gilbert Reds "Unfortunately the only way he is going to achieve that is by building us a new stadium elsewhere, or buying a majority share in the AJ Bell Stadium – both will cost millions.'" Do you reckon this is related? www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ew-6857690

Quote: John Gilbert Reds "Unfortunately the only way he is going to achieve that is by building us a new stadium elsewhere, or buying a majority share in the AJ Bell Stadium – both will cost millions.'" Do you reckon this is related? www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ew-6857690

Not really. I believe they’re looking at a 3,500 capacity stadium for Swinton which before all the jokes start is obviously much lower than our 2014 average and therefore wouldn’t be suitable for Salford to ground share. In addition, I don’t think Salford City Council would be daft enough to approve planning for a stadium any greater in size knowing full well they could be left with a white elephant on their hands at Barton.

I think that is more a case of Koukash learning from the problems at Salford and wanting to ensure the same wouldn’t happen should he take over ownership of Swinton.

No worries, didn't think you were having a pop. I think you're right that we don't have the income streams yet to be viable and a big factor in that is the stadium. You're right that it is early days and there was a lot of investment required to improve on and off field facilities. So losses at the beginning are no surprise. Still more to do but we're in a much stronger position with both so hopefully we can start attracting more fans and more corporate spending. Koukash repeatedly says he's in it for the long term and if he wants a return on his investment he needs to be. He's made the right noises about his role being to resurrect the club but then to make it as close to self sustaining as possible. Let's hope he can do it

Central funding wasn't 1.6 million per club last year nor the year in question

How much was it then?

I'm sure a guy who has his business interests also has an accountant who can make a 5 million loss into an interesting deduction on his tax return.

This year that ends with Decembers payment was 1.26 million. Off the top of my head I can't remember what last years was, but it would have been slightly lower then this

Not seen the accounts but there is probably a bit of a "getting all the bad news out of the way now" type scenario, whereby assets have been written down etc as a result of the purchase from admin. This way next year's accounts are only likely to be an improvement and everyone can say that Salford are "on the up". It may also be a bit of shock and awe to get the Salford "support" woken up to the fact that they need to get more people through the turnstiles/season tickets sold.

Obviously results like that aren't sustainable unless Koucash wants to bankroll them for ever more.

Bingo

I have no particular interest of axe to grind with Salford.

However, if this guy is super rich and enjoying being part of the RL family (whatever that really means), he will be better off indulging in our sport as opposed to football for example.

That level of loss could be acceptable and written off if his wealth is sufficient.

I don't think the money is as much of an issue as the season ticket sales, which are the barometer of commitment from supporters.

I'm not totally surprised by the slow ST sales at Salford.

I don't think they've adjusted for the change of location.

I am a Koucash fan, but I think he was a little naïve at the claims he was making early on and the expectations he continually expressed. It was made to look like a circus by them falling short on the field.

I believe that he loves rugby league and being a part of it. Now's the time to get into the slow and steady mode.
I'm informed that he's made investments into the local grass roots system. If he wants to chuck money about, perhaps plans like investing in the facilities at somewhere Eccles ARL (just over the road) would be a good way to go, creating a real attraction for the local kids to join the minis/jumior section. The community need to start to love rugby league as much as he does.

Did he get anywhere trying to buy Oldham?