Dear Red Devils fans,
Today is a big day and speaking on behalf of the consortium, I’d like to reintroduce myself to the Salford faithful as we start this new exciting era together.
It’s been a challenging few years for the club and I’d like to put on record our sincere thanks to Paul King and everyone on the CBS for guiding the club through difficult times to ensure it is still standing today.
As a Salford lad and lifelong fan of the club, I was delighted to get the phone call which has ultimately led to my appointment as Chief Executive Officer of this great club. I had three great years with my boyhood team from 2021 and it was one of the highlights of my career.
What I can tell you as we start this journey is that we have big ambitions for this club and with the support of the new owners, we now have the financial backing to make Salford fulfill its potential. We already have significant involvement with the community game in the city, but with the huge catchment area across Salford and the surrounding Greater Manchester region, we recognise the opportunity for growth.
Dario and I have had very positive meetings with the Mayor of Salford and Deputy Mayor who offer their unwavering support for our plans, and our meetings with Paul King and Andrew Rosler from the CBS have been positive since day one.
We have cleared all current club debt, and we have started the process to recruit a new internal management structure, which will be led by recruitment industry experts KinseySears, who were responsible for many of the senior team hires for the successful Rugby League World Cup 2021.
I have met with internal staff, Paul Rowley, Kurt Haggerty and the current men’s first team squad to share our long-term vision, which includes squad reinforcement, stadium redevelopment and club infrastructure. We’ll explain more of what this vision means for the club in due course.
I will also be meeting representatives from the women’s team and the club’s foundation to ensure the club continues to provide opportunities to increase participation across all strands of the game – Wheelchair, PDRL, LDRL etc.
We have the immediate focus of the Challenge Cup Round 3 fixture against Midlands Hurricanes this weekend, where Paul and his coaching staff will unfortunately be restricted on who they can select due to the salary cap regulations. We will then turn our attention to the new Betfred Super League season, which begins in just over a week’s time away at St Helens where the full squad will be available for selection.
More information will follow in the coming weeks, including plans for the first home game under this new ownership, which is going to be a special occasion.
For now, all I ask is that you continue to support the club in the way you have done previously – with passion, pride and commitment.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Irwin
Chief Executive Officer
