WTF are you going on about ? are you seriously saying we thought how can we pay our players " I know lets sell our ground " Was framing the future where clubs were told to move to the 21st century or the bridge is being drawn up just in my mind ? (it probably was as we still have teams playing in victorian conditions).

Yes the RFL forced us to move stadium or our time then was up same applied to everyone else, "apparently"

I call Total B.S on this post !

Solutions anybody??

Soccer??

As is every club..

Salford need to get out of the stadium contract and ground share with Salford City FC.......if that be in a lower tier then so be it, but the reality is tat the AJ Bell is a noose around their necks and 2k gates is London all over again.

If Salford are even close to bankruptcy they ought to be able to go to the stadium owners and negotiate a better deal. Stadia are ridiculously underutilised assets (one of the reasons IRRC why Widnes went for an artificial pitch to enable them to earn extra from it?) and losing the cornerstone tenant would probably lead to the stadium company itself going under or being flogged off for peanuts (to Sale?). Whilst its a nuclear type option, its not as though Salford, by essentially threatening to default, are completely powerless.

As an aside, whilst Salford and Widnes may be in difficulty, its not as though most sporting teams (from any code) make a profit. The RFU were concerned that only one premiership team made a profit last year (Exeter IIRC?). All the rest were dependent on ongoing cash from owners. SL is the same, so is the NRL, football's Championship is underwater to a mind-boggling degree across most clubs, with owners betting on getting into the Premiership. etc etc. In terms of ownership RL's problem compared to RU is that we don't have a whole bunch of upper class, mega wealthy potential buyers when any of our current owners pull up stumps.

Maybe already been done? I can't imagine they've not already tried this if the costs are as prohibitive as claimed.

Yes your right but there is a crucial difference in that the state of BV means we can’t develop success like others can. Wakefield are a well supported club when you take that into account and are imo a true sleeping giant.

If BV were as good as Salford’s ground which imho isn’t great we’d be averaging 8k a game and getting much more corporate.

Salford is not in a hotbed of the game like we are and has always struggled. The move to the new ground was badly handled and a perfect example that money and facilities are not an answer in themselves.

It funny that the two SL clubs with the most real potential Cas and Wakefield are being held back by stadium issues yet perennial strugglers like Doncaster have a great stadium. Not there fault just pointing out the unfortunate position we are in.

As for Salford I hope they survive. I think RL fans get this all wrong. The aim of the game shouldn’t be to replace heritage clubs like Salford and Widnes with exspansion clubs. The aim should be to add these clubs to an already vibrant SL.

This is where the game has failed due to greed and short term thinking. Endless format changes and no real master plan on how to move forward. Even Tolouse and Toronto if you dig it’s all very adhoc - not so much from the clubs themselves but from the game. Who exactly is in charge of integrating these two new clubs into a fully professional league.

Other than the usual exspansionist drones on here surely we have learned by now that it takes more than just cash and a dream it takes vision and skill.

Is Arnold J Rimmer the man? I fear not.

Well said sir
The vision and skill are attributes substantially lacking with those who are entrusted with the games growth/survival.
All of the changes in recent years have a strong whiff of desperation and hope, rather than a clear vision of what is actually needed to take the game forward.

sorry but for me that's a lame excuse, i travel 25 miles for a home game anyway, so to say home fans are only the walk up on the day ones is stupid, the stadium is not that far away from anywhere, and people quite happy to drive to the nearby trafford . look at NFL and to some extent NRL most teams stadiums are out of town. New york Giants don't even play in New York city or state. Patriots stadium is in the middle of nowhere. smack between Boston and Providence. Salford have poor support because they have poor support not because the stadium is 5 miles (if that) away from there last one. the rent arrangement is not good, but why no through there lot in with the Salford soccer club 8k capacity is it not, much better. bet the AJ stadium management will soon be trying to cut a better deal if Salford threaten to leave with a really viable alternative.

Cas real potential to grow? They've probably reached the limit on crowd size considering the size of the town (and it ain't going to grow either even if the new stadium ever gets built). Odd also that quite a few lower league clubs, with considerably lower incomes, have made massive improvements to their stadiums by getting off their backsides and putting in some work.......

Again the wrong kind of thinking. What about surrounding towns and areas - Pontefract, Selby even parts of Leeds. Also exspansion isn’t just about crowds it’s about spreading the game and that is where clubs with xstrong long lives foundations can do well.

If nothing else these clubs keep the game alive in its strongholds. If you ignore these areas and concentrate on chasing rainbows in virgin territory I guarantee the game will die.