hi i'm doing some research for my final year at university and would appreciate it if anyone would be able to answer these two questions.

a) What does it mean to be a rugby league fan?

b) Has the relocation of the salford ground to Barton changed what it means to be a Salford fan?

Thanks to anyone who is willing to take the time to answer them

With the development of the Barton stadium, do you feel there has been a change in the type of people Salford are trying to attract to games eg. Is it more corporate and business orientated?

I actually agree with some of the stuff you have put on here (wigan is quite a walk from the centre) the difference between us and the others was the availability of city centre brownfield sites, I had long thought that the Ladywell site would have been ideal for Salford's new ground, it has all the transport links and pubs nearby, but at the time it became available the council were not so SCR friendly and allowed a developer to build first West One and then after that office blocks and warehouses and now apartments all bringing in more in tax to the council than SCR would. Also I don't think we would have got the land on a peppercorn rent the government insists on market value for land sales and it was NHS land afterall. Barton will only get better if the new road is built (a given with Port Salford on its way) facilities around the ground and a low level bridge over the canal from the trafford side, without this infastructure Barton will struggle, with them Barton could grow and proper investment on the park could also increase crowds but we await what this new investment is and the work to be completed.

I might be wrong, but I'm sure I read on some Peel Holdings report once that there would be retail outlets coninciding with the completion of the new road and bridge?

Has the atmosphere changed for fans within the barton ground compared to what it might have been like at the willows?

I would say the club have put a lot of energy into attracting the corporates for a number of years. We have played home games on a Friday for a number of years because the club attract more corporate business with this schedule. Theres no doubt the corporate money and the match day sponsorships are a vital source of income for the club. Barton has great facilities and any successful business needs to have this to generate revenue.

What I think has changed in recent years is the focus of clubs. I dont see as much energy being put into attracting new fans and in particular young fans. We dont seem as proactive as when the super league era began. Peter Deakin (RIP) was the leading figure in selling a club to the community and focused on both corporates and the ordinary fan and his record at Bradford and Warrington was second to none. For clubs such as Salford to succeed we need to get back to this vision and not just pay lip service to the potential supporter. We may have a shiny new stadium but we have completely overlooked the match day experience.