Well said but for the love of Allah please put a space after each , or . so it's a bit easier to read.

Thank you please.

Coleman still with us PAW - a mere 87 yo. Lives in Alderley Edge I think.

Thank you,for that.I am so sorry and must apologise.Don't know what I was thinking.
Been a bad couple of weeks with the passing of Lou Reed,who wrote a song covered by Mott The Hoople and the ineffable Ian Hunter,and of course,Steve Prescott.
I must have been on autopilot.Apologies to anyone I may have offended.

You know what - I hope Marwan keeps ruffling feathers and sticks two fingers up to the all the idiots questioning his intentions. Last time I checked, we as UK citizens had the freedom to purchase what we wanted. To have so much interest about our "little club" from the RFL, pundits and other supporters should be welcomed - this only proves we are now very much a force in SL.

Without wishing to prove your point, your statement is a tad premature IMO.

Interesting times no doubt, you will certainly be better off on the pitch than in recent years with your new set up and a full pre season under Noble, all without the threat of oblivion.

I'm not saying where you'll finish, or what you will/won't win, or what would be considered to be a successful campaign based on recent investments, but, the proof of whether you are "very much a force in SL" or not might be better judged at the end of the season, rather than before a ball is kicked.

It looks like there may be the possibility that after a meeting tonight you can grace the Swinton forum with your views.Or should that be rlManchester ?rl

Re-brand as Manchester as Salford has a bad reputation.

Jason Papilli – mugged in Manchester
Billy Slater – attacked in Manchester

That'll help!

While Spelly is off on his travels watching World Cup games it seems there is a winding-up order on Swinton to be heard in January.Deja vu.
There may be some egg being wiped from faces and an over-indulgence in the eating of a certain pie should Dr Koukash rush to the rescue.

Swinton fans are talking about a merger of sorts with Manchester RLFC. It may well not be true because it was first reported in the Evening Speculator, but it's a bizarre one if it is because it sees a semi-pro club merge with a recently formed amateur one. And does the Swinton borough of Salford even have a border with Manchester? I'm not sure that it does.

If Marwan did buy Swinton, surely it would make sense to move them to the SCS. And I wouldn't be surprised to see them become some kind of unofficial feeder club to Salford. They could refer to themselves as the Pale Pinks then.

Interesting times.

I would hope that if Marwan does indeed buy Swinton, he keeps the Lions tag and preserves their history as he has done with us. Whilst it would seem logical to move them into the Salford City Stadium initially it would make more sense to look at building them a new stadium within the M27 postcode, I know they’ve already identified a piece of land in Agecroft at present to develop. Hopefully the new facility could then accommodate Folly Lane ARLFC and include a couple of community pitches. I like the model which FC United have adopted, I know they’ve secured funding from the likes of Sport England, Manchester Council, Manchester College and the Football Foundation. Therefore, it potentially wouldn’t cost Marwan much personally particularly if he can get Salford City Council and the RFL on board.

All of the above could benefit Salford Red Devils immensely, as it would hopefully encourage more youngsters to play the sport whilst providing them with better facilities to develop, these players would then be signed up to Swinton with the cream of the crop eventually signing for Salford. It could vice versa too, any of our youngsters who aren’t quite ready for Super League could sign 12/24 months contracts with Swinton.

It’s potentially a win-win situation that could benefit both clubs as well as the city enormously.

Good post JGR. Would be great for the game in Salford/Swinton area and would re-ignite interest which is surely still there to be tapped. A strong local scene and a strong Swinton can only help matters both for RL in the area but as a whole too.

Well, one Swinton fan is reporting - from a reliable source, as usual (why are RL clubs so leaky?) - that there's to be a takeover by an unnamed racehorse owning millionaire who already has an interest in another club, and a move to an unnamed stadium in the Barton district of Salford.

The mystery deepens. What could it all mean?


I can't see a move back into Swinton being on the cards any time soon. I suspect the City of Salford feels it had its fingers burnt over the SCS and will be reluctant to cough up more money to build another stadium, while the RFL won't be too keen to be seen to be bailing out a club by building a stadium for it. Once you've done it for one club, the others will want the same treatment. Also I can't see the logic of providing the citizens of Salford with another stadium when we already have one that's only used for rugby once a week in the summer, and for Fat Lads All Pile On once a fortnight during the winter. If Marwan is to buy the SCS, he'll want it to become self-sustaining, and will want to "sweat the asset" (ugh - managerspeak).

I understand what you're saying, but Salford City Council would only be required to provide maybe £1.5million towards an approximate £5million construction cost. I know for a fact they're spending the same and more on other facilities througout the city (because I'm working on them). Various other funding streams could also be tapped into such as Sport England etc whilst obtaining partnerships with Salford City College and Salford University would help.

The logic would be that unlike the AJ Bell Stadium (it's not even called Salford City Stadium anymore) this would be a genuine community facility that could be used by various sports teams in the area including Folly Lane ARLFC. If they're looking at an Agecroft site, why couldnt Salford City FC move in? Moor Lane is falling down around them as we speak. Not only this but you could include something similar to what Hull KR have done with their new North Stand, which has a "first-class training facility" equipped with the latest technology for IT, business and engineering courses and apprenticeships. They deliver apprenticeships in business and administration, IT, graphic arts and customer service qualifications. In addition, a range of community learning courses will be taught in the new centre, from arts and crafts, music, English and maths, leadership and management to teaching assistant training qualification. There are 17 classrooms, with enough space for 150 learners. The AJ Bell Stadium isnt a community facility as much as it isnt Salford RLFC's stadium, therefore I disagree that the citizens of Salford already have a "community stadium".

I agree however that Swinton need to move into the AJ Bell Stadium as a matter of urgency initially, but if they're to succeed and grow there is no future for them there. Since leaving Station Road the club has continued to decline, co-incidence, I think not. By keeping them out of Swinton Marwan will be flogging a dead horse, he has the potential to do something fantastic not only for Swinton Lions but the city as a whole with a new community stadium. Whether he does it or not remains to be seen.

Swinton fans should be wary of any interest that Dr Koukash takes in them . He's been on the ground long enough now to see how shriveled RL's roots have become in the area and i think he's probably come to the conclusion there's room for only one pro RL team in the vicinity. He must have noticed how fractured and weak Salford's support is and with a real businessman's mentality wants to make the Reds the only choice for RL fans . Swinton might not get many spectators but many in Swinton who don't go would still see the Lions as THE local team , not even consider supporting the Reds and therefore diminish the Red's already iffy potential fan base. The Lions will seem like an anachronistic irritant to him that need to be taken over, absorbed and their separate identity packed off to the history books asap.
The council would run with this and let the Lions go for their aim right from its inception has been to promote all things Salford first even if this is at the expense of any previous local traditions. Swinton's name and history are synonymous with a pre Salford City Council world and expendable if not downright obstructive. Koukash and the Council will be at one on this. Anything said otherwise is just window dressing.

I have read your views carefully but cannot agree. I see some holes in the logic.

If Swintonians feel that the Lions are "THE local team" and so will not go to support Salford, how would a (business) destruction of Swinton increase Salford's figures? They will either stay away from any RL games or support Wigan etc.

Salford Council are not the rich source of funds they were once: they have to make priorities with an ever-decreasing supply of money. They "got into bed" with Peel to establish a stadium as they could not afford to go alone.I believe this has resulted in a solution that has not answered all our needs. However, it was a business decision and, I feel, very unlikely there is political agendum here. In fact I am sure a diversion of attractions, away from the area that boundaries with Manchester, would be politically more attractive. Some of Salford's attractions are being "adopted" by Manchester.