Quote: The Realist "This is indeed potentially the beginning of the end for a once great Club that I have supported for over 40 years and yet realistically if it isn't viable then like any other business it has to pay the consequences.
Much has been written on this forum about the Chairman, what he has and has not done, what mistakes he has made etc... one thing for certain though is he will not have wanted the Club to have ended up financially striken as it is now.
My last balance sheet 12 months ago for the 2010 year showed yet another loss (£400k if I remember correctly) and that John Wilkinson was in overall for almost £5 million. The basic fact is that without his funding the Club would have reached this financial meltdown a lot quicker than it has. There were of course the benefits at the Willows of the Variety Centre & Bars to subsidise this and this is now the crux of the issue, those revenue streams are no longer there, no longer providing an income with which the Club can be subsidised, our cash cow of the last 30 years can no longer be relied on.
John Wilkinson has certainly not got everything right in his 30 year tenure but he has kept the Club in existence so for that we must be thankful, it is therefore all the more calamatous that these funds have dried up in mid. recession both for us and for John as his monies which he was ultimately expecting to recover will to be gone for good when the Club is wound up in January.
I won't hold my breath waiting for the RFL to fornicate over us as they did Bradford, I am sure they can't wait for us to disappear off the radar and be replaced by another Yorkshire Club in Featherstone who they will doubtless bankroll as they have London for more years than I care to remember.
The future looks bleak and of course we can't even fall back on The Willows, it lies demolished, rather like our Clubs future dreams.
We have for many years shook our heads and tut utted at the likes of London, Bradford, Widnes, Swinton et al, all who have gone to the wall leaving a trail of unpaid debts behind them only to rise phoenix like from the ashes. Is it our turn now? Only time will tell but I won't be holding my breath!'"
Great post, I too have been watching for nearly 40 years and agree with your comments especially re the RFL, to be honest I'm numb about all this, devastated just about covers it and don't see anything other than a newco being formed in the championship, if we do form a newco RLFC maybe we could groundshare at Agecroft with Swinton?
Whatever form the phoenix rising from the ashes takes it will still be my/our club and I'll/we'll follow them to wherever they play.
Maybe we could go for a "Salford Devils" moniker, who knows this could be the start of something.