Looking at the press release and the accompanying picture, all but the uninitiated would think this stadium belongs to Sale.

I don't often agree with our Daz, but his facebook status sums things up I think

''Right now I’m in a mood, the Salford name gets dropped from the badge, the Salford name gets dropped from the stadium do Salford have an identity anymore? Sale have naming rights to the stadium for 9 whole years thanks to Wilky. Sale have took over the club shop, The fans bar was only introduced last year in the build-up to Sales season (no coincidence) , Salford fans had to put up with a tent. I don’t enjoy going to ‘home’ games and seeing pictures of Union s on the wall either.

Salford Fans - Will you please stop tweeting the chairman’s 14 year old daughter about Friday / Sunday games, Future signings and any other you are coming out with, it’s embarrassing cringeworthy and quite frankly a bit ing wrong.

Koukash buy the f#in stadium please.''

Perfectly put Tommo

And hasnt that worked out well in terms of fan numbers for Huddersfield.They have a great team but still struggle to generate a crowd above 5k throughout the season.

Wigan and Hull both share their grounds with Wigan and Hull football teams so still strong local connections and identities.In Hulls case Adam Pearson has at various times owned the Rugby Club,Football club and the stadium.

Our circumstances are a lot different from those 3 clubs.A lot of Salford fans didnt want to even move to Barton in the first Place and will feel this stadium is even less of a home now.I understand that it was a case of needs must and we should all be extremely grateful that we still even have a club but that doesnt alter the fact that we need our own Stadium or at least some of it for our long term financial security,a fact that Dr Koukash has said himself on many occasions.I wonder how he views this Stadium naming issue with the name Salford removed from it.

Derek with the greatest of respect Salford didn't give the Willows up to get that Stadium built, else if you did it would have formed part of the old clubs CVA.
Your current club are tenants and unfortunately lost any right to dictate what happens, especially when it seems Sale stole a march on Salford.

Any thing on the official Salford reds website re all the name change, I wonder how much they knew of this last week at the relaunch...

My bet would be they knew nothing at all about it seeing as its got nothing to do with us.I can imagine the Dr is furious with the name Salford being removed from the Stadium.

It's the length of the sponsorship that bothers me,9 years if I've read it correctly .
It's bad news.
The stadium was always going to have a sponsors name,that was part of the original business plan.
So,if we'd had the naming rights then it might well have been the Bell stadium anyway.
But the press release does make it look as if its Sale's stadium that we're using.

Tut tut tut the Good Doc took his eye off the steady ship for a while whilst he built you a team. Get real he may have money but he isn't above the law and if as stated Sale have the naming rights for 9 years then he will just have to live with it.
Man city have got used to having a Bell end...i'm sure you lot will.

Aye. Seems that Sale must have bought the rights for 10 years and there's now 9 years of that left. Let's just hope that we get things massively right on the pitch and eclipse them that way.

Exactly Iain but we really should be approaching Bells ourselves.

If SALFORD is taken out of the name of the stadium, surely you would have thought that Salford council would have insisted that whatever it was called, Salford was incorporated into the name.

Unless I'm told otherwise, Salford tax payers have have half financed the building of a stadium that wil have no recognition to the city community it was built for.
I would have no qualms to whatever it was called as long as Salford was still in the title.

Who in there right mind wants the stand called " the Maggies stand"???????

I told this was gonna happen down at Wembley Shirl and you laughed it off.

Who is going to force Salford Red Devils or the RL to rename the COS stadium with regards to Rugby league fixtures or international matches? Not the City of salford stadium or Sale Sharks. Or is it me being simplistic ? Will the PA announcer have it in his Contract I doubt it . To quote the Lyrics of a Sidney youngblood song from the 90s " ALL WE CAN DO IS SIT AND WAIT " or stand or crouch.

In fairness, Maggie's is a cancer charity not the late and unmissed "lady".

A J Bell are a big firm so well done Sale. Good links with Lancashire cricket.

However the date of the posting and what happened to Stockport's stadium do leave a filthy tatste in my mouth. I hope we have locked any records and memorabilia away from Sale's skips.

Note to the good Doctor: welcome to Rugby League's place in the pecking order.

Seems strange to me that Sale signed the lease and were going to review it after 5 years - and the naming rights are for 9 years.
If A J Bell want to maximise their business opportunities would it not be better to add - investments or stockbrokers - to their name.Bell is a fairly common name even if well known in the red rose county.

I can just imagine the furore if Dr K purchased the whole thing,lock stock and barrel and named the stadium after himself.The furore from Castleford would be heard in Chistlehurst. ( and Ashby de la Zouch )

I understand that Maggies is a cancer charity but it just doesn't sound right for a stadium stand





Bells are a big company, but unless there is any benefit for Salford it is irrelevant who they are & who they have links with.
We shall just have to wait & see what transpires.

Salford Council should be criticised for selling the naming rights in the first instance, rather than going to the highest bidder themselves.

Before anyone says anything, I know the stadium company sold the rights but SCC have a big stake in that.

Don't think Bell end financial advisors and stockbrokers sounds to good.

Not by me HR

first of all we all call the ground the city of salford
then we all boycott bell (who ever there are)
and at the first thing the good doctor does when he buys the ground is kick the non sports club out.

This is all so much ranting for no rational end ultimately it's not Sale's fault.
We are still suffering the fall out from the bitter end of the Wilky- Tarry era
massively over extended borrowing , moved into the stadium stony broke ,
signed over the rights to the shop and were powerless to contest any bid for the naming rights to the stands or the stadium ,
lets face it we did to my knowledge not pay any rent last season , and racked up creditors left right & centre.

this season we are on a sweetheart deal rent wise & the new owner had to bank roll this season whilst investing in building a squad to compete on field next season.

Whilst annoying we have to remind ourselves of all the positives over this season from the low point last December where we days from blinking out of existence.

However miffed with the RU Cuckoo's I'm not going to chant 'Willows' out of context like the Giants blurt ' Fartown '.

Good post middleman. I think we should "hold the horses" This is a big political time bomb, and a few careers could be on the line.

Excellent post.

Well said Middleman