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.

bugger! the one thing is miss since moving from Stockport!

Morning everyone.

Another Sale fan here.
I would like to say how pleased I am to read this thread and see that, apart from some very genuine concerns, on the whole people are optimistic that the two clubs could co-exist.

I want to extend a friendly hand and echo the post by Hull Shark above.

I think I can say, from years of supporting Sale and reading and posting on our message board, that all we want to do is be good neighbours. I know lots of people who support both codes and can see potential for a dual season ticket, maybe even sharing of players, training facilities, coaching talent etc whilst maintaining our own identity.

I sincerely think the mistakes made when we went to Edgeley (throwing out some memorabilia, rebranding the shop to Sharks, etc) have taught everyone lessons and will not be repeated.

Thanks for reading
Wes

ps when someone referrred to "our" stadium, I think that was meant with a little "o" and was just describing what I really hope will become our new home where we can just get on with supporting our team without feeling like lepers...

so swinton is actually IN SALFORD then, a lot of swinton fans don't like to accept that

So Swinton Lions are a fully professional club?
They train during the day as all the players are solely employed by the club?
Marshy1 I am aware that you have to keep sticking your oar in on here because your own forum is as dry as Ghandi's flipflop but ffs....

Marshy as you are aware Swinton Lions home (by choice) was outside the City of Salford in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury for the past 18 years. (Gigg lane & Park lane in Whitefield) Therefore between 1992 and 2010 Swinton Lions didn't represent Salford or contribute to the local public purse.

Swinton Lions has always been a semi-professional club. I was simply referring to Salford as a professional club due to the fact they have employed full time professional players for the past 15 years.

As for Salford City Council wishing Swinton to represent them again, I can't recall saying the council didn't want Swinton to fly the flag in Salford again.