Can't believe there are people so against Salford. If Widnes hadn't been in financial trouble we may not be is Super League, but can anyone truthfully say there was a stronger contender for a Franchise, because I honestly couldn't see one.

I do agree that our first stint in super league, with the exception of a good first season, was not productive in the slightest. Our second stint was far far better though. We produced some good rugby and started to progress up the table. If it wasn't for one horror season we never would have been relegated. Some blame injuries, others blame lack of committment but whatever happened it's no need to punnish a long serving, loyal and damn fine chairman.

Personally I believe there has been problems at the club in the past. Such as a destructive coach, lack of discipline, players being tapped up, FANS NOT GETTING BEHIND THE TEAM, etc, etc...... Let's hope Shaun McRae is the man to install the discipline???

Compared to 90% of RL teams in the 70's they were massive. It's all relative to the era the games were played, during Salford's best era the 30's (which were ended by Hitler!

) I would guarantee that average attendances would eclipse those many of today's top teams and I'd suspect that's the case for many other clubs.

In fact I've just found an old mag (not that sort

) from 1987 and it has all the average attendances from the previous year listed.

1 Wigan - 12,732
2 St Helens - 7341
3 Warrington - 4172
4 Castleford - 4758
5 Halifax - 4891
6 Hull Kingston Rovers - 4651
7 Bradford Northern - 4312
8 Widnes - 3840
9 Salford - 2826
10 Leigh - 4232
11 Hull - 5538
12 Leeds - 6393
------------------------------------------------------
13 Oldham - 3915
14 Featherstone Rovers - 2606
15 Barrow - 2664
16 Wakefield Trinity - 2637

And a few others of note
Fulham - 684
Huddersfield Barracudas - 524

Oh and just to add Salford were at the 70's height in the mid 70's not the early 70's cockles.

Wow, interesting, I knew Wire's crowds were poor but I didn't realise how bad everyone elses were. SL's definately brought attendances a long long way.

As an outsider, looking in, Salford's recent problems seem to be linked to the presence of Simms?

If you look at those figures for 1986 --- at a time when Wigan was the only professional club, the changes in spectator support by 2009 are interesting.

Wigan has improved by about 20-25% roughly, St Helens the same.

All the Yorkshire clubs who have been in Super League for a long time (Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Hull KR, Wakefield), have more than doubled their average attendances, as has Warrington.

But the biggest improvement has obviously been in the London club, formerly Fulham, now Harlequins RL, which has seen its average attendance more than quadruple since 1986. This would seem to justify fully the RFL support for the existence of a London franchise. If this improvement can be replicated gradually over the next 22 years, we might well see an average Harlequins RL crowd of 6,000 in 2019 and 12,000 by 2030. Of course all genuine fans of the game will hope for even greater improvement than that, especially if Richard Lewis's plans for a second London club, thereby creating a local derby, reach fruition by 2013-2015.

Not so for the clubs outside Super League. Leigh has stood still, and clubs like Oldham and Barrow have declined massively.

But Salford has not doubled its average attendance, based upon the first home game this year. Its chances of so doing depend upon Barton becoming a reality by 2012, and the construction beginning in 2011.

The decisions of the RFL regarding the next round of franchises will probably hinge on that as much as anything else.

Trinity were in Div 2 in 1987- 88, I think?

He did say it was from the previous year - in which case we didn't win a game for about 6 months - so no suprises that the attnedance was poor.

Then Toppo came back - and we got going again!



No-one likes losing, consistently!

Surely the biggest one is Huddersfield, with the average gate increasing by a factor of approximately 15.

Albert talking some sense, I just fell off my chair!
I'm quite sure he's some middle aged lawyer or something with nothing else to do, so detached from the outside world he takes on alter ego's as his prime hobby when he isn't playing golf.
He may even be a normal funny guy when you get to know him

What,smack bang in the middle of the M62 corridor?

What issues? The same, tired old nonsense that people spout off every couple of weeks about Salford? Get over yourself.

As for GanEden, he raises nothing legitimate, he just spouts off as he does on the Salford forum. And when you try and reason with him, he just throws it back at you - hence the reason no one will attempt to reason with him anymore.

Talking about yourself again?

People in glass houses....

Hey - if Salford don't deserve a licence because they were beaten by Wakey, where does that leave shiney Wire? And were they not a grade A licence????

What a fine example of rugby league matters being settled on the field of play - where they should be!

Castleford lead Salford 28-6 at half time.

The question of Salford's future cannot be ignored.

maybe bradford could beat them ??

It can for the next two and a half years.

Castleford 34 Salford 6

What a debacle!

Were you gangbanged in Salford Quays or something?

Castleford 40 Salford 6.



How much longer will the sponsors keep backing a losing Salford club?

About as long as Warrington's.

Did those Salford boys stretch your ringpiece?

Well they're probably committed for this season at least. Next question?

Castleford 46 Salford 6

If you take away the Papua-New Guinean John Wilshere and the Kiwi painter Robbie Paul, then Salford would be losing most games by 50 points.

You are without a shadow of a doubt the biggest bellender on RLFANS.COM.