Salford Red Devils fire sale imminent with salary cap and quota dispensations considered

[thegimble]

This is a "discussion" that’s been going on on Twitter


https://x.com/cherrywhitepins/status/18 ... 56872?s=12

so just our typical Yorkshire bias journalist blaming Wigans ex chairman for Salfords demise - interesting

perhaps, if we let some of the p*** poor Yorkshire clubs go, instead of all being brought down to their level, then the game may be in a better position

Well said

Every SL team should want to be us not bring us down to their level.

[Charriots Offiah]

This is a "discussion" that’s been going on on Twitter


https://x.com/cherrywhitepins/status/18 ... 56872?s=12

so just our typical Yorkshire bias journalist blaming Wigans ex chairman for Salfords demise - interesting

perhaps, if we let some of the p*** poor Yorkshire clubs go, instead of all being brought down to their level, then the game may be in a better position

Well said

Every SL team should want to be us not bring us down to their level.

I agree. The demise of rugby can be attributed to the flat cap brigade in Yorkshire.

[fozzie58]

so just our typical Yorkshire bias journalist blaming Wigans ex chairman for Salfords demise - interesting

perhaps, if we let some of the p*** poor Yorkshire clubs go, instead of all being brought down to their level, then the game may be in a better position

Anything that balloon says I tend to ignore frankly his ridiculous bias towards the serial bust club Bradford is laughable any how back to Salford quite how forcing them to sell their players helps anyone it just weakens the competition as a whole perhaps the being being staffed on employing IMG could have helped them who knows?

having thought about it a little i think the only way i'd like to see any dispensation for players, is if Salford were to go bust for example, and the players were left without a club / salary. At that point i'd rather see them employed, so could think a short term amendment to the cap could be a solution, but at the same time, if Joe Bloggs off the street is subject to the same conditions, then nowt happens, its up to them to find another job, and they dont get paid until they get one

I agree with what you say if they do go bust and it’s looking as if it could happen is sooner players b employed than not.

What a sad state of affairs.

[morley pie eater]

If Salford survive but without all their players, we should lend them half a dozen of our up-and-coming squad: the likes of Eseh jnr, Chan, Farrimond. They'd get experience of playing in SL which could only help their development, and Rowley is a good coach.

[josie andrews]

Salford Red Devils statement in full with fire sale to begin immediately

The Reds have confirmed that they have been left with no choice but to sell their players.

A fire sale of Salford Red Devils players will begin now, with the club finally breaking their silence on their latest financial plight. The financially stricken Super League club has confirmed that they must make significant cuts to their salary cap spend as per the enhanced special measures they are currently under.

When Salford were granted a central funding advancement of £500,000, it came with conditions. Most pressingly, financial regulators were brought in to assess the health of the club and the recommendation was that they should cut their spending by around £800,000.

Until now, that has not been forced upon Salford, with the club desperately trying to secure a takeover of the club that would provide the investment required that would alleviate their latest crisis. But that hasn't materialised and it has now been decided that enough is enough, with the club now left with no choice but to scale back.

In a club statement, Salford said: “ Over recent months, there has been repeated media speculation on the Club's financial position. We have purposefully maintained a level of silence since our last statement, not out of avoidance, but out of necessity due to the sensitive nature of our ongoing discussions with potential investors.

"Our discretion has been to maintain and ensure the integrity of those discussions, bound by Non-Disclosure Agreements, and to protect our Club, players and staff.

"As the position stands, contrary to what has been reported, investor negotiations continued over the weekend as part of the lengthy, rigorous process to secure a takeover for the club.

“This is still live and we are working to expediate, details of which we can’t disclose given the Non-Disclosure Agreement in place. However, the club has been directed to sell players without delay; the position is the RFL have issued a sustainability cap of £1.2 million and until we reach that, we are now prohibited from registering players for the upcoming season.

“Our focus remains in working to explore all avenues possible for the long-term stability and success of Salford Red Devils. Immediate next steps are to continue the potential takeover process to secure investment as soon as possible, whilst now simultaneously selling players to meet RL Commercial regulations.

“The terms of receiving the advancement were that the club be placed under ‘special measures’ requiring a reduction in overheads of £800,000.

“We were not given a clear timeline for compliance on required expenditure reductions, therefore the club took the decision to hold our position for the short-term while investor negotiations are ongoing. During this time the club has received offers for a number of players, none of whom have been available for sale until today.”

Explaining how they have found themselves in this position, the statement explained how a subsidy control grant was a big part of the issue.

“In March 24 it was suggested by Salford City Council the club could receive a subsidy control grant to support rugby league and the rugby development pathway in the City of Salford and Greater Manchester. This is akin to other Salford community entities who have received similar funding i.e. The Lowry and RHS Bridgewater.

“The club were notified in July 24 of a delay and again in September 24 with a further delay until November 24, again impacting financial forecasting.


“In November 24, Salford City Council advised that the subsidy control grant was not available due to funding shortfalls elsewhere, the impact of which was that the club had already committed funds to player and staff recruitment and paid for pre-season preparations including a warm weather camp in Portugal.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... ommunities

[Blackpool_Pie]

Very very sad to see what's going on right now at Salford

Even worse to see, is some absolute weapons on twitter gloating. Mainly KR fans

[the pieman]

seems like rock and a hard place

cut costs by £800k - based on an average RL players salary of around £84k (simple £2.1m / 25 squad members) thats 9.5 players they need to take off the books, so not going to have much of a squad left to play games are they. If Salford are saying they dont pay up the cap, then that average is lower, and thus more players need to go

How they've managed to sign players off season, with the view to cutting costs, and those signings been sanctioned under the live cap is baffling, and shows the incompetence of the governing bodies, unless they've been spun a real yarn by the Salford hierarchy

IMO selling players isnt the solution, it does give a short term income, and a reduction in salaries, but the income isnt the solution to reducing costs long term, thats just like the old sticking plaster.

possible options are to look at the top earners as that will reduce the wage bill more quickly and need less players to go against my average salary example above, but are Salford likely to be paying £150-200k for a player? the players taking a pay cut, but based average would need them all to agree to approx 40% cut, which i dont think many of us would agree to if we were in that situation as we have a signed contract and its for the club to resolve

which ever way we look at the situation it isnt good for Salford or for the game, and fans gloating should only hope that they arent the next club in that situation. Salford will no doubt be looking at the next IMG scoring with some trepidation as financially they've shown the arent sound, and depending upon what sort of team they can turn out, their league position is likely to much lower than it has been recently, fan numbers likely to fall from the relatively low numbers, so all in all, a bad situation for them re scoring

[josie andrews]

Salford Red Devils confirm offers for a number of players


SALFORD RED DEVILS have confirmed they have received offers for “a number of players” following their financial plight.

Last night, the Red Devils released a statement revealing that they had been directed – by the RFL – to sell their players immediately to find £800,000 amidst a sustainability cap of £1.2 million.

In doing so, the Red Devils were banned from registering any players ahead of the 2025 Super League season until that money could be found.

The statement also revealed that the club had received offers for a number of stars: “The terms of receiving the advancement were that the Club be placed under ‘special measures’ requiring a reduction in overheads of £800,000.

“We were not given a clear timeline for compliance on required expenditure reductions, therefore the Club took the decision to hold our position for the short-term while investor negotiations are ongoing.

“During this time the Club has received offers for a number of players, none of whom have been available for sale until today.”

At present, Salford have tried their best to reassure fans about the future of the club, saying: “We believe we have acted in the best interests of the Club, players, staff and our fans, given the complex situation we find ourselves in with multiple dynamics in play. We empathise and understand the frustration of our fans and are deeply sorry to reach this position. Thank you for your continued patience and support.

“Our focus remains in working to explore all avenues possible for the long-term stability and success of Salford Red Devils. Immediate next steps are to continue the potential takeover process to secure investment as soon as possible, whilst now simultaneously selling players to meet RL Commercial regulations.”

https://www.totalrl.com/salford-red-dev ... f-players/

[fozzie58]

You would hope that if the sale goes ahead players will b loaned to Salford to allow them to at least complete the season.

Looking at their statement it’s clear they where hoping for council help now given my local council can barely empty bins and get grit on the roads it was always a long shot Salford council could spend money on sport it was to say the least a long shot in these hard times

[the pieman]

You would hope that if the sale goes ahead players will b loaned to Salford to allow them to at least complete the season.

Looking at their statement it’s clear they where hoping for council help now given my local council can barely empty bins and get grit on the roads it was always a long shot Salford council could spend money on sport it was to say the least a long shot in these hard times

Its one of those thing re loans, Wigan for example would benefit in theory if they loaned some of our fringe players, but if they are getting smashed every week would it have a negative impact? I agree they'd be getting good SL game time but at what detriment to their development

from the statement there's a couple of things that stand out. the 1st you've highlighted, in that they've been waiting on council money, which was deferred, deferred, deferred and then cancelled, and another statement in there which i find troubling

“We were not given a clear timeline for compliance on required expenditure reductions, therefore the Club took the decision to hold our position for the short-term while investor negotiations are ongoing.

Either the RFL or the Salford board are incompetent if they dont believe there was a timeline for getting this resolved