heard a rumour(probably on here lol) that your away top would bare similar designs to the doctors racing jerseys

He did say that it would be his racing colours, no mention of whether it will use the star though.

If it does will that be the Salford Star - I wonder if that might make the scurrilous rag a tad more supportive?

if designed right it could be a really nice shirt

Dr K probably had the ‘potential’ of Manchester sold to him during negotiations and now finds it impossible to realize that selling point. I should imagine he thinks he’s been sold a pup looking at attendances and reserves the right to float the unthinkable to make economic sense of his ‘investment’. A name change to Manchester would be a mistake but some means of attracting support from the broader Manchester area has to be found. The thus far catastrophically befuddled delusion that the Salford public alone can be relied on for support cannot be allowed to persist. He will have realized by now that Salford in its self will never generate the kind of numbers he probably needs even with a successful team. RL had been losing ground in this area for years but the fiasco over the ground move has engendered such a bucket load of negativity locally that what diminishing good will was still out there has been thrashed.

How will he have realised this so soon into his tenure?

People need to realise that the majority didnt think there would be a club left to support after the New Year, the amount of negativity surrounding the whole affair critically damaged us. All we had to put up with was our best players leaving, no new arrivals, even if you wanted to buy a season ticket and/or a replica shirt you couldnt, however these were the least of our worries when faced with extinction.

Since Dr K has took over all that has emerged from the club has been positivity, new head coach, new coaching staff, new CEO, contract extensions, top new signings, rebranding and so forth. I have every faith that in addition to the previously mentioned and an excellent marketing drive in the off-season we will see reasonable season ticket sales and much improved attendance figures next season. for the first time in the Super League era, we are being ran as professional sports club and I see no reason at all why Salford cannot attract 8,000 on a regular basis.

JG Reds - I agree with you in principle, BUT if the marketing team just relies on support from Salford alone then I very much fear we'll end up like Huddersfield - top of the table (I wish!!) but not pulling in any extra support from their surrounding area.
So, there has to be a widening of the fan base but how to do it without alienating and losing the current hard core?

Quote: BartonFlyer "JG Reds - I agree with you in principle, BUT if the marketing team just relies on support from Salford alone then I very much fear we'll end up like Huddersfield - top of the table (I wish!!) but not pulling in any extra support from their surrounding area. So, there has to be a widening of the fan base but how to do it without alienating and losing the current hard core?'" In all fairness I think our community/foundation team are doing a reasonable job on the limited resources they have to improve awareness and educate people in the surrounding areas (take a look at their website www.salfordcityredsfoundation.co.uk/ its updated much more than our official one!) You only have to look at the success we've had in Trafford recently with the South Trafford Raiders (Altrincham based whos U12's beat Thatto Heath 38-22 recently) to see we're going out expenading our fan base, albeit slowly. All this good work at grass roots level needs following up from the marketing team however, now whether that is happening I dont know. I accept were in probably the toughest geographical location in Super League with two of the current biggest clubs in the Premiership being on our door, but marketed properly that shouldnt be an issue. I have every faith in the current management set-up that they will get things right and if we can attract 8,000 on a regular basis (more for the bigger games) then I think we will have done extremely well.

Quote: BartonFlyer "JG Reds - I agree with you in principle, BUT if the marketing team just relies on support from Salford alone then I very much fear we'll end up like Huddersfield - top of the table (I wish!!) but not pulling in any extra support from their surrounding area. So, there has to be a widening of the fan base but how to do it without alienating and losing the current hard core?'" In all fairness I think our community/foundation team are doing a reasonable job on the limited resources they have to improve awareness and educate people in the surrounding areas (take a look at their website www.salfordcityredsfoundation.co.uk/ its updated much more than our official one!) You only have to look at the success we've had in Trafford recently with the South Trafford Raiders (Altrincham based whos U12's beat Thatto Heath 38-22 recently) to see we're going out expenading our fan base, albeit slowly. All this good work at grass roots level needs following up from the marketing team however, now whether that is happening I dont know. I accept were in probably the toughest geographical location in Super League with two of the current biggest clubs in the Premiership being on our door, but marketed properly that shouldnt be an issue. I have every faith in the current management set-up that they will get things right and if we can attract 8,000 on a regular basis (more for the bigger games) then I think we will have done extremely well.

I’ve heard this supposed plan from a few people in the last month or so, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I tend to side with Wirecutter’s comments.





For me, too, it is more than a name and any changes here would alter how I supported the club, if I ever supported it again. However, it’s a moot point and we can have that debate if this rumour comes to fruition.

Does anyone know if any fans have had any input in to this process at all? I appreciate you wouldn't want a significant portion of a our fans to, but it'd be nice to think any big ideas have been vetted by someone who is at least slightly on the ball.

I agree in part that probably the potential was over egged.



I have posted my concerns many times, I thought when the Dr took over we would have at least maintained the levels of supporters who had made the original journey from the Willows to Barton. I was at Huddersfield on Sunday & they have a team who have been in the challenge cup final in recent year & have been knocking on the door of the top 4 for the few years, yet having a good team & being at the top does not automatically bring the fans charging through the gate.
The Dr has already warned he will not fund the club indefinitely, he his a business man & will want a return. I don't agree to the simple fact a successful team will have fans returning to Salford.
In recent time both Bradford & Wakefield have been on the verge of going under, quite rightly the towns of both clubs rallied around there respected club & gates increased, Salford went the opposite way.
I believe unless we can get the foundation right in the schools, which seems unlikely the Dr will need to widen his catchment to realise his return on his investment, unfortunately this is the reality whether we like it or not.

It is clear to me we have lost a great many older supporters who used to walk to the willows, I don't believe those will be coming back. Without the foundation of rugby being played in the local areas & in schools it is very difficult to see how we will ever make the numbers up to the magic 8000 without widening our attraction & branding.

That right there hits it perfectly on the head. The game in the last 25 years has dramatically changed. You just don't get the interest like you would unless you get in the schools and the community. However the years of being run so un-professionally at a time when not only the game of RL but all sports dramatically upped their games has put us massively on a back burner and one which could do to us as what happened to Swinton and we may never properly recover. When schools such as Moorside are playing Union as the main rugby game what chance do we have.

That's not to say there is not interest in the game at such a young age. At least two local teams are seeing great numbers, particular at the real young end from 4 upwards. The problem is where are Salford to put the muscle behind this and to get the kids apart of the local RL club. As a kid and i'm sure many from the late 80's and 90's of the same age, will have been a member of junior red devils. Free season tickets and events that we went too monthly where we won even the cheapest of merchandise but we got to meet our hero's as well at the same time. You felt part of the club. There is nothing like that and its such a shame because 25 years on, I am still a season ticket holder and bring my 2 kids along who are just as passionate about being involved but just don't get that unique experience which will hook them like it did me once the gimmicks and hero status wares away.

Like Huddersfield are showing, even being top of the tree doesn't assure the massive flock of supporters. It has to be built from the ground up for us to get it right.

As highlighted above, we've suffered two decades of negligence and neglect at the hands of a failed regime.

This, coupled with a changing world (more distractions, less population) and social/demographic changes in our home city mean that we're massively on the backfoot.

Unless Koukash invests significantly in the front office then the money he's splashing on players will be wasted.

I'm not sure whether the size and demographic of Salford is the real issue here. In general it seems like attendances throughout the league (with the exception of a handful of clubs) are particularly poor.

If we aspire to get more people flocking to the stadium, big changes need to be made at the very top of the sport. The RFL keep chopping/changing the rules and tweaking the league structure, which I honestly think has a detrimental effect and confuses a lot of people who might otherwise attend a few games every season.

In short - Rugby League itself needs a rebrand.

Hmmm, I'd suspect most of the uninitiated are blissfully unaware of league restructures etc.

I reckon the youth of Salford are more likely to be kept away by lack of awareness, manifold counter attractions and poor transport links.