The salary cap stops the sort of tactics Wigan used back then. Warrington signed maybe one significant player in the period, Andy Gregory, Wigan were doing their 'cherry and white picking' almost monthly. If it could run, pass or tackle better than average Wigan waved money at it until it signed for them.

Well 1 trophy in 20 years is definately a "start" - Wolves seem to be hoping that they will win another cup in the next 20 years but only time will tell.

I will be happy with 2 trophies in the next 2o years - which is more likely to be the case because just signing people is not the answer - they have to perform on the field & the wolves record to date

WE HAVE ACHIEVED YOUR DREAMS



you will never be wigan and nobody hates you because nobody cares

I always enjoyed visiting Wilderspool, not so much the HJ. I think the swell of support that's accompanied the stadium move has had a detrimental effect on the quality. The influx has diluted the element of your support with humility, respect and an interest in the game beyond one club.

At least with Wigan, the fans arrogance was justified - Warrington fans have been ramming the 'big club' tag down peoples throats for years without winning, or even competing in any significant games... I think this is why most are gutted you now have a trophy to point at.

I fail to understand why so many Salford fans like this one seem to carry a chip on their shoulders re the Wire. Extra fans inevitably means some more 'casual' supporters, but are you genuinely trying to argue that Salford would prefer to maintain their 3,000 gates forever rather than trying to attract more speccies? Or is it the case that even if there were 20,000 Salford speccies they'd all be 'fair and balanced'? I recall 'Loyal fan' once explaining that he hated Wire becaause an ex-girlfriend's Wire-fan dad had once given him a hard time - hardly the fault of the club or its supporters in general is it? And all this talk about 'ramming big club tag' is, as usual, ridiculously exaggerated: you could probably narrow such talk down to about ten people on this board.

Finally, Wigan's arrogance was never justified. They spent their way to dominance and went bust twice on the back of it. They should be ashamed.

.....but it seems that many people do, according to sundry Salford fans. Here's news for you pal, we NEVER want to be Wigan, especially the devil-may-care stuff-the-rest-of-the-RL Wigan of the 80s/90s. You should crawl under a rock whenever that period is mentioned.

It's not just Salford fans though, as the thread title suggests. And I've attempted to explain why I'm happier to watch the Wire fail.


Yeah... I mean you've quoted me saying as much so that's exactly what I'm genuinely trying to argue...
We'd be ecstatic with those crowds and we'd gladly suffer the same affects, but the fact remains it's detrimental to the quality of punter.


I wouldn't claim our 3000 are 'fair and balanced'! But we are, on the whole, quite humble. I once thought that of Warrington.


Plenty of supporters have similar bitches about our club due to it's 'colourful' neighbours. I don't think this thread is about those odd petty gripes.

What happened when Warrington signed Murphy, Ashcroft, Potter, Chisnall, Clarkson, Bevan, Nicholas etc

Or was that o.k.

Only Wigan fans can fail to see the difference between their antics in the 80s/90s and the general transfer market. At times all clubs, yes, have had 'binges', but it was the sheer, breathtaking arrogance with which Wigan swept up ANY talent from other clubs over a sustained period of years that marks it out as unique - to the point that ( another huge difference with the example you quote ) the club - despite high income from trophy wins, increased sponsorship and high gates - effectively went bust twice!!

A non-RL fan friend asked me, in the summer of 1974, whether I would like Warrington to sweep the board every year as they had that season. I told him 'no' as the good of the game requires trophies to be spread around. Although I didn't expect to wait another 35 years for a 'big one' , I remain convinced of the truth of this view, and that is why I so detest the so-called 'golden years' of Wigan: King Midas was a more appropriate comparison.

The truth isn't allowed around here.

You have to admit the salaries Wigan paid, relative to the rest of the game were truly in different planets. Hence the requirement for dispensation at the commencement of the cap. I am going of memory, so feel free to correct me, but it was reported that Wigan's salary expenditure to be in the region of £2.35 million per year, which, even by today's standards is pretty incredible.

I'm not saying we did not have a large wage bill, so did a couple of other teams and the figure you're making a comparison with is relative with our current £1.6 million cap which is actually lower than it used to be - there were several dispensations around at the time for 'GB' players, and there had to be, you can't introduce a salary cap overnight with existing contracts.

What I am trying to do is dispel that myth that Wigan got in trouble entirely, or even mainly due to the salaries paid, in the same way that a club could still get in trouble now due to factors outside of player salaries, e.g. ground development. Potentially poor financial management and planning, coupled with several unforeseen circumstances (millions down the drain, lost gate revenue etc) all contributed together.

It's not outside of the realms of possibility for similar things to happen to some clubs again, for example if the next sky deal is worth less than expected, or some of the clubs building stadia hit problems, it's just one of those things. Which is why it's good to see clubs now being run as businesses with solid financial planning for the future, and the majority of chairmen trying to get clubs into a position where they make a profit in their own right.

Like i said before, all the best to Warrington for the coming season - Super League needs more strong teams

Yeah right must have been seeing things with all the I hate Wire good luck Hudds thread before we went on to win the Challenge Cup.