au contraire ! only if they play together
Tennent's? are we changing the lager maybe kronenborg ?
Ca Plane Pour Moi

At the moment i feel the ground share would be posative as we as a team at moment dont have the support to run stadium on are own so if you lot see any option then what is it we get avarage 3000 gate at most ant cant see it improving till we start picking up on field so extextra finance in todays climate so would finacially a good move

Need to get some good crowds in during the first season before Sale move in. If they move in and start getting double our crowds there will be only one club pulling the strings, and it won't be us.

'Sharks' is the right word! Unfortunately, I don't think we'll have any say in the matter.

Salford are struggling to establish themselves as serious competition for Wigan, Saints, Warrington etc. Sale are the RU representatives in the NW and will throw all their weight in ensuring they continue to thrive. I fear it will be at our expense.

A very good point. The problem is the reds have never been very good at marketing, and i think if they are not careful they will be the junior partners in the ground share in the long term, which to me means moving fixtures to suit Sale.

Bit harsh. I'd agree they've never been very successful - but I've always thought the club were quite innovative and 'with it' when it comes to marketing in spite of the monumental obstacle of selling a low-quality product in a market of little interest.

I don't want to sound paranoid or come across as a prophet of doom but if this happens I fear the worst. How does Sale Sharks RL sound, it's not for me. It could easily happen, once they are let in it would only take a few twists such as Peel selling their share and an unbelievable offer to JW. Remember Peel sold the Trafford Centre. Unfortunately it's not such a fantasy, it's a realistic nightmare. As far as the Reds are concerned having an extra tenant won't help us as we don't have a stake in the real estate.

If Kennedy decides he fancies a dabble in RL as well as RU there's every chance he could afford to buy JAW out.

Wilky has already said he'd happily go if someone with the right price and right agenda came in.

Could be on to something there RT, worryingly.

We won't be running a stadium on our own as we don't own it. We are the tenants! So we will not receive any income of any kind from other organisations using the stadium. So financially it means jack to us.

Yesterday I was at Edgeley for the real ale festival (as usual). After some excellent hoppy libations, I slipped over to wo haunts I do use in Stockport: the Olde Vic and the Armoury; both to meet work mates. In both pubs, Stockport fans, seeing my Salford poloshirt, stopped me to wish us well in avoiding Sale. They were despondent about the Shark effect on their club, as every Stockport fan I have met has been.
The above posting reflects my long and despondent view. We are ripe for Kennedy to buy us and become a feeder to the RU club.

I`m hoping you are wrong there Fungus as any sane deal will have involved Salford being the Main Tenant via a Head Lease then the club could sub let the Stadium to other tenants. It must be all about control and I hope we still have that.

Sale have a been rubbish in the RU Premiership for years anyway, them being the bigger partner at the new Stadium would be awful, keep Sale at Edgeley Park.. or even better, they go back to Sale!

Hi All SCR Fans,

Been meaning to post this for a few days but the admin for RLFans only approved my sign-up yesterday!

I'm a Sale fan who now lives in Hull and kind of wanted to put some concerns to bed!

A few seem worried that Brian Kennedy will buy the stadium or perhaps buy Salford! BK is trying to reduce his financial input at present. The need to move is a down to two factors - Edgeley Park is very dated and he cannot afford to redevelop alone. He had hoped that Stockport Council would get involved and develop a community stadium for Sale & Stockport County. Since the local elections in May and the change at SMBC, that is very much on the back-burner. The Barton Stadium is the modern facility that BK wants Sale to play at. It will allow for increased match-day revenue. EP cannot provide the best product for corporate hospitality - EP has no corporate boxes - so the new Barton Stadium offers much more in a corporate sense. All these factors would allow Sale to become less reliant on BK's money so he can reduce his financial input. Buying you or your stadium would not be of interest to a man who has ploughed enough into sport already.

As for the accusations from Stockport fans about what Sale have done, thats not quite how it has ever worked. A company called Cheshire Sport - owned by Kennedy - bought Stockport County & Edgeley Park from the previous Chairman, Brendon Ellwood, as seperate products. Put the two and Sale under the CS hat and took everything. Sale actually did nothing. It is CS and BK that have damaged Stockport County. He put lots of money into SCFC, then handed them over to a Supporters Trust for £1 I believe, but the Trust was apparently poorly managed and run and made things worse. Thats when administration hit. Many SCFC fans believe he should never have sold to the Trust as they were ill-equipped to run the club. But the fans had forced his hand in there attitude towards him and that was the only option on the table at the time. Its unfortunate that SCFC have lost there football league status, but there any many factors to the off-field problems.

As for a name change to Salford Sharks. That will never happen. Salford is closer to Sale than Stockport is and the name hasnt changed. There any many Premiership Rugby teams now playing where there name is - London Irish play in Reading, London Wasps play in Wycombe - so there is no chance of a name change.

The move is a good fit for both. The potential for cross-over is a great possibility. The critical thing from the POV of most Sharks fans is that the Barton Stadium needs good transport links. Most don't fancy trying to get there on a Friday night at Xmas when having to go near the TC.

As for MacclesfieldReds views - I would love Sale to play in Sale once again. But it will never happen as Trafford Council see no need and don't accept any location for the club to play at. Heywood Road is too small. It only holds 6,543 and does not meet Premier Rugby's minimum requirements for stadiums. It also cannot be developed as it's in the middle of a housing area and is boxed in on all sides. As for our on-field performance over the past 3/4 seasons, its generally accepted that the blame lies with our former DoR, Phillipe Saint-Andre. He won the Premiership title with a squad of nobodys, who all became somebodies and we could no longer afford them all and stay inside the salary cap. Saint-Andre left, took half the squad to France with him and left us signing journeymen and playing kids. Things are looking up for next season given signings that have been made so far!

If the move does go ahead - after-all the shrewed businessman that Kennedy is he could be using you to force the hand of Stockport Council - then we can enjoy a great relationship. No reason why the fans cannot get on, when its the rich men in corporate boxes pulling the strings!

Thanks for your very informative post.

Some SCR fans are of the opinion that BK will eventually want to buy the Stadium at Barton or our club and personally I can't see this happening.

Salford City Council understand the value of the Reds being the only professional sports club in the City and are extremely supportive and protective towards the club, it's history and it's name. The club however offers even more than above and are recognised for all the excellent work they do and have done in the local community for many years. A few years ago when an offer was made by Manchester City to Salford to play at Maine Road the Council realised the negative effect this would have on Salford (with a possible name change to Manchester) and then came up with 43 acres of land at Barton for Salford to stay in the City.
Further to this when the previous development company hit problems with one of the investors they picked the ball up and formed a company with Peel to ensure that Salford would have a new stadium to meet the criteria for a superleague licence. With all this in mind I cannot see Salford city council supporting this project only for Salford Reds to play second fiddle to a team not promoting the Salford name. I do understand supporters having concerns about Sale but I also think you have to ask why the council have done this and understand that they hold the aces and want to see a successful SCR promoting our city in a modern stadium for years to come. I am sure the council will only act in the best interests of Salford City Reds in the future!

On a lighter note I find it very amusing that some Sharks fans on their forum believe that Barton isn't in Salford. They must think Salford is about 1 square mile around Salford Shopping Centre rather than the 37 square miles it is.