They only built it because the Salford Unitary Development Plan said that the Barton Site had to house a stadium, and the planners made sure that a stadium went on the site before anything else. It's a make-weight for being able to develop other things there.

Who owns Sale FC? Are they independent of Sale Sharks?

Yes I think so Iain - I believe the Sharks are heavily in debt (more than SFC) but Sale are asset rich.

Walshy - everything you have said on this thread is 100% correct. The fact that a few of are fans seem happy with whats going is up to them, but seriously I think the vast majority who go week out know we cannot stand back and watch this happen.

Sale are like leeches, they have never done anything themselves instead they wait and see who they can suck the life out of. 14 years of hard work have gone into making this stadium and quite frankly we've been lied to about what was to be expected, but Sale will now come on board and sideline us because as you say they are a rival team, playing a rival sport and will want to attract every potential fan from the Manchester area meaning there is no room for us.

Believe me Sale will get what they want and no doubt will become successful with us lurking in there shadows.

Brian Kennedy is a billionaire if I'm not mistaken. So hardly heavily debt.

Im one of GT's boys. Must admit he likes a scuffle.

Have you ever seen GT Michigan Red? Im a good mate and one of his lads along with TORD who attends game with. He's taking over the unicorn as top boy in there now next time your in pop over and say hello to us. We are the mean looking bunch in the corner. And tbh I've only ever seen him cause a few boot offs, opposition fans need to know their place.

I was in there Friday so you should have come and said hello, always willing to have a pint and a natter with anyone in the name of Bon Homme.

Sale Fc are owed though a membership scheme presumably set up by sale fans who didnt want to move to stockport, they are independant to Sale sharks they have a full time cheif exec, groundsman and they have started to pay their players now (only £50 or so a game but still) the 1st and 2nd team are on the verge of promotion the only problem is that they only average 150 people at a game and the sale fans i befriended said long term its not substainble.

There plan is too build a club get up a few divisons and be used as a feeder club to sale sharks so they can use their players



Sale FC own Haywood road which they cant do anythign with as the local residents protest and poo poo any ideas they come up with like building houses on it ect, they also own training grounds in Carrington (which they recieve peppecorn rent for sale sharks to use it) im not sure if they own the land that United and Citys are on too and also have £1m in the bank, they also own offices at Haywood road and Carrington which they rent out to businesses.
They seem to rent their pitch out to everyone who needs it, last week Rochdale RU used it as their pitch was waterlogged or somthing so they played their as well as several different teams in the winter as it has floodlights

So for me reaily for us to start working closer with Sale we have to gain somthing, id be hoping that we are to get access to the training facility in Carrington with gym several pitches and lots of other stuff and perhaps we will pay the same "peppercorn rent" that the sharks enjoy while using the facility.


They were not very happy with Diamond, they said he has a reputation of shooting his mouth of on a regular basis and its quite an embarrasment to them



Brian Kennedy is a Billionare yep fair point he just services the debt of Sale sharks, he would want sale to generate some money so he wont have to put as much in personlly i wonder with Kennedy looking to buy Glasgow Rangers is it time for him to be looking to offload the Sharks.
Heard while i was down there they are lining up potential buyers to see if a deal can be done.
By the sound of it Sale Sharks when they moved they took the team and the admin and the fans with them but nothing solid by the sound of it, they rent the training ground, they rent the offices so the only assit they have is Edgley park.

I Wonder if our operating costs would be cheaper than Sale Sharks, perhaps he is sick of losing money hand over fist and would rather own a rugby league club as you dont lose as much ?

Why does any true Salford Rugby League fan honestly think that Sale, the local rugby yawnion club are going to move into our ground and suddenly start doing us any favours whatsoever?

They have ridden rough-shod over poor Stockport County and are now ready to drop them like a bad smell. They have stated that they will keep all their administration depts at a separate location. They have come out in the press with a blatant statement that they can now watch all the best Rugby League talent playing in their own backyard. They have realised there is more gain for [ithemselves [/ito now play in a shiny new stadium. Which will benefit [ithemselves[/i. And that'll be the stadium that we gave up our home of 110 years and fought 14 years through some of the worst economic times the country has seen in recent memory to get built.

No matter what mistakes have been made along the way (and without professing to know any insider details there clearly have been plenty), the club did get the damn thing built. And within 2 months of our first game Sale are waltzing in.

This is Sale we are talking about. As in the local rugby union club. You know, that sport that has done nothing - and I mean nothing - but treat our sport as a second class affair for over a century.

Wake up and smell the coffee people, we are in serious danger of becoming second class citizens in our home. And then the smug rugger buggers really will have beaten us at last...

BTW - well said Alan Hunte, the rugby (LEAGUE) genius

A couple of points here,

Sale's have come out with boorish comments about their status for years , and even when there were Premiership Champions in 2006 that didn't lead to ' world supremacy ' .

As to Sale having better marketing I don't know , they have better Finance , but for the last decade have relied on RL nounce - Peter Deakin , and now Wigan 's ex marketing guy off the field .

As to Sale being a threat to our youth policy

, Alan Hunte works miracles with little or no budget , Other SL clubs have always made more damaging inroads into Gtr Manchester to take Rugby League Talent , thats why we were watching Kallum Watkins tear Salford apart at the weekend in a Leeds Shirt , Lets worry about Wigan Warrington & Leeds , even Cas pick up our best talent before we panic about some cauliflowered eared moron pontificating about how they will have their pick of Rugby sporting talent , if you want to safeguard the youth , put them on 5 year deals al la Wigan , so if they go cross code they pay through the nose .

We've known Sale were going to use the the SCS at some point , so I cannot understand the hysteria , we all know we had Hobson's Choice about the Stadium move , it was that or oblivion. I can believe that Salford's ' rent ' may be lowered with multi occupancy though i doubt it would be as much as 50% , A reduction of 100 - 150 K would make a big impact on the Clubs finances , the Stadium aswell as having another paying tenant will have more options on Stadium Advertising and dare I say a Stadium Sponsor .

Sale do not need primacy of tenure to use the Stadium , Primacy of Tenure was a stipulation of RU clubs being promoted into the Aviva Premiership , but existing teams including Sale were allowed dispensation so I don't know why that was even mentioned.

the Biggest threat to Salfords existance is and always will be it's own management .

Good post MM.

In the cold light of day your reasoning makes sense. I'm just very wary about any coming together of RU and RL as there is more to be lost than gained on the part of RL. Coupled with our hit and miss management off the field and it makes fans a little nervous. On the face of it though, maybe the two Clubs would have a lot less to do with each other than we imagine. I don't know. We would need a fan of London/Leeds to comment about how relations benefit/stagger development.

One thing positive has come out of this...

...There's some reasoned debate on the Turkey!

There's a lot of issues here.

1. We don't know exactly what is in the agreement between Salford and the SMC and therefore cannot draw any concrete conclusions about what might be in an agreement between Sale and the SMC. I would have expected that Salford City Council would have embedded some protection for us in any deal even though we were probably too stupid to do so - let's not forget that they wanted Barton as a home for us much as we did (ahem). That said all the indications are that the agreement is more commercially flexible / beneficial for the SMC than we would like.
2. Sharing with Sale overall will not benefit us. They will seek to take any fans, players or other resources they can. Expect some heavy RFU backing as well.
3. Ultimately there is very little we can do about this entire situation. We can get angry and sit here and argue all day but the time to complain about the stadium situation we have got ourselves in has been and gone. I said when the current version of Barton was first mooted that it was the wrong solution for us and unfortunately I am being proved correct.

Agree fully.

Would there not be grounds if Sale did move in and receive financial backing from the RFU for the RL to do so with to counteract this?, surely with its location and quality of corporate investment in the area the RFL wouldn't want RU usurping them in their heartland?

Interesting to see the parallels between die hard fans of both Sale & Salford on their respective boards.

Seems that many Sale folk will not come to Barton because of logistical moves to get there and others wont be coming because they look to be changing the name to 'The Sharks.'

Maybe Steve Diamond feels that the opposition fans from Sarries, Wasps & Quins will be flying in to Barton International Airport to bolster the numbers. Misguided. He seems to have upset his own fans never mind ours with his arrogance.

If you read the MEN article again today all rhetoric about taking RL's best youngsters has gone, making me think it was said with some poetic license in the first place.

They have also become World Club Champions while under the one owner [url=http://www.leedscarnegie.com/club/10365.phpStory[/url

[url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/2012/03/22/rangers-in-crisis-sale-sharks-owner-brian-kennedy-steps-up-bid-for-ibrox-club-86908-23797195/Kennedy May Have His Attention Diverted[/url

Just had to wash my hands after visiting the Sale fans forum. It looks like the only factor that might dissuade Sale from moving to Barton is the traffic congestion. Pity they have to make their decision before we play Wigan - I'm anticipating the biggest ever traffic jam at the A57/M60 roundabout. I might just walk from Eccles tram stop and along Barton Lane.

As we were really, in desperate need of investment. I think our bank balance is a far greater threat to our wellbeing than Sale RU.

I have been led to believe that the club aren't exactly happy with the way in which the ground has been built, nor the final deal we've been cut. We've got no other option but to deal with it, though.

As for those suggesting that Wilky would only sell to Kennedy if he had Salford's best interests at heart... Well, firstly, didn't Wilky have talks with Kennedy a while back and end up not selling? What's changed between now and then? Secondly, talking to a Sale season ticket holder I know, there's plenty of speculation that Kennedy's trying to flog them to some Russians. I don't see where we'd fit into that, unless the Russians really are trying to crack the RL market now.

Their link-up with Stockport was meant to be for the greater good of both teams. Stockport are now at a much lower level than they were previously, no longer own their own ground and have looked at building a new one in order to survive in the future.

I'm not arguing with those that are suggesting our biggest threat is our own management - I think we're all aware that they have played a big part in us being in this position. But that's also a good reason to worry about Sale's intentions. Without a strong, well-run management behind the scenes then Sale will be able to do a lot more damage if they so wish.

Whilst there is nothing we can do to stop Sale (or anyone else) moving in, surely now is the time for fans to seek a few answers from the club/stadium company about the deal we have been lumbered with. The way the fans have pretty much been fobbed off by both parties over the stadium move is quite remarkable. Nothing from the club in the build up to the move, and the stadium company still don't seem to have located the reply button on whichever e mail service they use. The club could even use a strong fans body in it's favour in negotiatons with the stadium company, although I don't think they seem to realise this.

Have they not read on here and on facebook about the state of the car park,the attendants and the delays on leaving ? [url=http://www.euroevents.co/index.php?page=fact&ItemID=20046They'll not be able to cope with this[/url

Not only do the club not realise but neither do the majority of supporters. Apathy results in the vast majority of supporters taking each and every kick in the balls in blind faith that something will magically happen to take all of their woes away. Not going to happen and seen just about enough of it in my footballing interests.

Lack of an independent/critical voice has got this club in this position as no relevant questions and/or actions were taken at key times. Regardless of your stance in what mistakes have been made and who is in effect been proven right or wrong, the past cannot be changed and the only way to ensure certain individuals think twice about riding roughshod over Salford RLFC is by giving them a 'bloody nose' in the process and making them think twice about doing so in the future. This same approach should go for Sale, the SMC and even our own board of directors.