Added to the fact that Salford as a city is such a disparate place from which to build a community team it's a collection of boroughs that differ widely as far as demographics and general outlook are concerned. Yes it's a big place with a big population when viewed simplistically but it's complex Irlam and Cadishead were in Lancs not Salford pre 1974 and there was a smattering of support for Warrington at that time. Swinton were obviously also a draw in their own right and of course there is Association Football.

This doesn't let the club off the hook completely as an exiled Wire living there you wouldn't really know that there was a game going on at the AJ Bell they need to get out and about more IMO

Do you guys have any kind of fan forum set up as a liaison between supporters and the club?

This has been the AJ Bell downfall from the start and can be laid firmly at the feet of Salford Council planning.

As will all modern planning they insist on small provision for cars to encourage more use of public transport. The only public transport to the stadium is bus, which at peak is 4 an hour, no one has ever explained to me how they thought 4 buses an hour could transport 12,000 people to and from a stadium. As loyal fan mentions above, it is even worse on exit, when 3-6k fans are supposed to get home by a bus every 20 mins! ( And no, First do not run any extra busses on match days)

Add onto that the unjoined transport system in Manchester, it takes hours to get anywhere. In fact for an evening game you would struggle to get home anywhere beyond the city centre ( even if you did get on a bus at the stadium).

The new canal crossing is now more than 2 years late ( and now further delayed), a tram to the Trafford Centre is 4 years away and even if you able to drive you will spend hours in Fri evening traffic in the never ending roadworks in the area ( being ongoing for 3 years with another 2 to go) non of which is in the hands of Dr K, but those are the reasons Sale moved from a Friday night match, and does not encourage people at a loose end to go see a match. It takes major strategic planning and hence mostly only dedicated fans bother.

I hope that MK realises all this and hence knows marketing to a wider Gtr Manchester audience could be both a waste of money and result in a negative experience. The new bridge was due to open this month ( before it collapsed) but when it eventually does it makes the Trafford Centre ( which is well served by busses from around the region) a 15/20 min walk, or an easy option to run shuttle busses too and opens all sorts of things to make a day out. Hopefully by then he will have got a professional advertising agency on board and go for it.

Awful setup. Awful stadium to get to. Poor transport links. Roads always congested- and worse on a Friday night so the switch to that time from sunday seems ludicrous to me. Parking is a long walk away -many park at the airstrip which is difficult for some and involves crossing a busy road- doing that late at night isn't pleasant - (which is crazy given the amount of undeveloped land in the area around the ground).
Add to that the ridiculous system to get in where you can't pay at the turnstiles but have to queue up at the ticket office to get a ticket (a slow process) - they don't open all the booths. You then may have to walk half way around the stadium to queue up again to hand in the ticket you bought at the ticket office 15 minutes previously. It's no wonder people don't bother.

The people crossing the dual carriage way ( opposite the airport) are simply lazy idiots trying to get killed. 100 meters further is a pedestrian crossing. You really can't do much with stupid.

Went to Salford when they moved in to the new ground.

Because of the reasons jools states, haven't been back since.

Listen, if you drive & park up either a) on Brookhouse/ $#!T#0U$€ Estate or even on the other side of the M60 roundabout, then the AJ Bell is only 10 minutes walk for able bodied people, 15 for lardy fat knackers.

Obviously this is not suitable for disabled people who need to be very close to the Stadium.

Compare to Old Trafford or the Etihad Council House where it can take an hour to get off the car park *nearly 2 hours at City after a big concert* & the travel to/from Salford looks a little easier, not easy but easier.

The biggest issue is that it is almost not in Salford & on the edge of civilisation.

The stadium is the major reason, Iestyn Harris' article was spot on the other day.

As a fan who lives 10 minutes from The Willows as many other of my many match going friends did this place is quite simply garbage, the location is the problem. Also season upon season of disappointment and meaningless games such as Friday's (I know in terms of the table it isn't but to a potential attendee it is) It just seems to be the same old story come June where our season is over and thus attendances drop.

As a life long Salford fan I know it will never take off in this city, peoples apathy towards it is to much, we had our easiest chance to capitalize on the back of our 2006 season but typically the following year we were relegated.

I honestly believe if we did get relegated again it would be the end of the club as we know it.

I think the sport in general (in the U.K) is having a bad year, doesn't give me the same buzz and I know many others who have followed it for years have said the same.

Please tell me if you think this is [ijust bonkers[/i, *I am not poking fun at Salford, as a Mancunian I would love Salford, Swinton, Oldham & of course Leigh to be thriving*.

What is the value in quitting the Stadium, both to MarwanK & Salford fans ?
Is this even possible ? (Maybe they have a 25 year contract/tenancy for example).

What is to stop MarwanK & Salford teaming up with Swinton for a purpose built Stadium somewhere beneficial to both Clubs ?
There is an awful lot of brownfield land in Salford, Swinton is in Salford & MarwanK could own the Stadium putting it to use as he sees fit.

For example, MarwanK charges a tenancy fee to Swinton Lions, he puts his own caterers in selling his own food & alcohol/beverage stock. MarwanK then can promote his own Stadia for something like *Oh, I don't know, an Elton John gig or England v France etc*.
Continuing on MarwanK & his team rent out space for business, congress rooms, events etc & creates his own Events Management Co.

Now I am [iNo Businessman[/i, however he is & supposedly a successful one at that & reportedly with tens of £M at his disposal. Could he do it ? Would he want to ? Do I need to go see a Doctor ?

Sure, fans of opposing sporting clubs don't like the idea of sharing, yet if it helps you grow, become successful & ensure the secure future you desire then is the idea so abhorrent?

Worth thinking about IMHO but as I said earlier, could be a non starter.

Genuinely interested to hear the thoughts of Salford fans.

Not possible, the previous owners of our club basically left us with a white elephant and we're stuck with it. After all the money Salford City Council have given to the stadium there is no way we are leaving.

In an ideal world it would be a great idea for MK to build a stadium in the heart of Salford and share with Swinton but I know of no real sites where it could be built aside from the Agecroft site where Swinton are looking to move to and I don't even know how that would work if were averaging even say 3,000 as the access is just as bad, the best place at the time would of been on the site of the old Ladywell Hospital which is now West One retail park (which has proven to be a waste of time) but it was too late, that would of been perfect.

We are stuck with the AJ Bell and that's that, it makes me laugh that clubs like Wakefield and Cas (no disrespect) are still playing at their old grounds but we had to leave The Willows which tbh wasn't as bad as Wheldon Road and Belle Vue, a real shame as Marwan has said if he was in charge then he would of redeveloped the old place.

Especially with the area Weaste, being redeveloped with a lot of new housing the problems we faced outside the stadium would of been a lot better and potentially a whole new market to aim at.

A real shame, I love to think where we'd of been with a redeveloped Willows.

Is a new road to the stadium still been built? Is it expected to improve things? Sounds like the stadium was built without a thought to transport, poor from everybody involved.

I think there can be a degree of unreasonable expectation from fans of many sports.

The reality is that unless you all ready have a stadium in a prime location few sports can afford to build anything close to a city centre. Brown field sites in places like Salford are selling for millions and possibly come with a large clean up bill on top.

The infrastructure around the AJ Bell was designed by someone on work experience and while it may be sorted in the next 5 years the damage has been done. As I commented earlier, the fact that first bus don't even attempt to put on extra busses on a match day is pathetic.

When they eventually finish the new road and bridge it may help but I guess even that is now another year off. ( I am no structural engineer but they appear to be drilling the bridge supports to check for structural damage and as yet haven't even started to remove the collapsed road way)

My last visit to the Willows was in 2011, when Swinton played their home games there. I went by car, arriving at the stadium without thinking about where I was going to park. I asked a steward outside the ground where would be a good place to park. "Over there" was his response, pointing to "official" parking at the ground. "How much" was my query. "Just go and park, no charge" was his response.

I also remember my first visit to St Helens at Knowsley Road. I got a little lost getting there, and parked up on a side street, got out to try and find where I was... and discovered that I was only yards from a turnstile into the ground.

Good times... with good crowds.

5270 for the Bulls/Fax game today btw.

I agree with this. We often do expect too much, especially given the generally low crowds (for a pro sports club to own & run a stadium) and the very low incomes we have in the sport. However we, as usual, often shoot ourselves in the foot. We need to start working together far more, clubs need to start sharing resources (and so share costs) including in some areas to share stadiums.
As you say I wouldn't expect a new stadium in the middle of a city centre anymore as its too expensive. However I do expect, given the luxury of a space and time to build one, that access and parking is good at new stadiums (it shouldn't take 2 hours to get out of a car park at a small stadium that's only half full) and little things like making fans go to the ticket office to buy a ticket to go back to the turnstiles is daft and annoying to fans. We shouldn't be putting barriers and inconveniences in the way of fans/customers/anyone spending money at our clubs.

Another big one tonight...

London would have been pilloried for crowds like this a few years back.