Stadium petition

Just seen a Twitter message of a note sent by Shirley Bradshaw, Chair if the Supporters Trust supporting Gerrards bid for the Stadium. The note I think went to the Mayor.

Well done the Supporters Trust.

I will send this to Barbara Keeley and circle it back into the Councillors I've mailed. 

Time to get behind Seb Gerrard, see the Supporters Trust open letter below - please share and contact the council in support of this.

Our Chair Shirley Bradshaw has wrote a letter on behalf of the Supporters Trust to Paul Dennett, Salford Mayor to show support as fans to Seb Gerrard's bid for the Salford Community Stadium. A copy of the letter is below for all members to see.

Dear City Mayor

I am writing to you on behalf of the Salford RLFC Supporters Trust, in my role as the Chair, to support Seb Gerrard’s bid to buy the Salford stadium.

The stadium was purposely built as a modern rugby league stadium for Salford Red Devils and for the Salford residents/community and Seb’s bid is the only one that will guarantee that the stadium remains as promised, for the people of Salford, for the sport of rugby league and for our great club.

Salford Red Devils has been at the heart of the community for almost 150 years and is an important part of our city’s history and culture. This was captured so well by the Channel 4 advert for their rugby league coverage, when they showed Salford’s industrial heritage and working class roots - where “Football is King but Rugby League is in the DNA”. Our club should not be displaced from the stadium in favour of a rugby union club from a Manchester town that has no connection to our city, and that does not make a contribution to the sporting, cultural and educational fabric of our city in any way as significantly as Salford Red Devils does.

You can ensure this does not happen by supporting Seb Gerrard’s bid for the stadium and supporting the only team in the city that plays at the top level in its sport and proudly bears the name of our great city.

The recent change to a system of shared community ownership has brought the club closer to those it represented once again and this came with a real upturn in fortunes. In 2019, we reached the play-offs, and against all the odds, reached the Grand Final at Old Trafford, where we played in the first major final for fifty years against St Helens. This was backed up in 2020, with a return to Wembley for the first time in 51 years, and this year again making it to the semi-final of the play-offs and being 80 minutes from the Grand Final. The club achievements have given Salfordians, young and old, a sense of pride in where they come from and the aspirations for success.

The club now looks to continue with this rise but needs the stability that remaining at the stadium would bring. Seb’s plans for the stadium will keep it at the heart of the Salford community and help bring more success to our city and will ensure that all the work of the directors led by Paul King and Ian Blease (CEO) embedding the club and stadium in the community, will continue and will grow.

The club has worked tirelessly to develop young local talent through the Reds Development Pathway/Reserves and alongside the successful Women’s Team and the development of the Learning Disability Super League (PD&LDSL) Teams, the club’s aims to become more inclusive is clearly illustrated. Also, the many achievements of the club’s charitable arm, The Salford Red Devils Foundation, with its wide range of education and health initiatives and projects, highlights the social value that the club brings and there is so much more to come. Much of what happens for the people of Salford through our club is done by people from Salford.

Our Supporters Trust is another example of this. Over the last two years we have raised nearly £50,000 for the club, sponsoring the Reds Development Pathway/Reserves, sponsoring players and the clubs initiatives. This could not have been done without the tireless fundraising of our members, the majority of whom are ordinary Salfordians giving their time for the good of the club and our city to instil pride. The scale of the upheaval involved in a stadium move could derail the progress and success achieved on and off the pitch Please do not let this happen on your watch.

Please do not be remembered as the City Mayor who betrayed a promise made by the city to our club, but rather, be remembered as the City Mayor who supported this bid and who valued the proud history and heritage of the Salford people, of rugby league and the Salford Red Devils.

Yours sincerely,
Shirley Bradshaw
Chairman of the Salford RLFC Supporters Trust
Supporting Salford Red Devils - Together Stronger

We’ll done Supporters Trust

Let’s hope the Club puts out a public supporting statement

I'd urged fans to copy the letter and forward the email to Salford Council (City Mayor's email) and MP and to endorse support for Gerrards bid.

In other news Orange at Sale has tweeted that they are desperate to start filling the stadium on match days. The Sharks only managed just over 4k fans V Northants; I wander if the financial challenges affecting Union may change their stance on the AJ Bell. Salford FC's 1500-2000 fans will not add much.

Got an update from MP Rebecca Long-Bailey.

'As you will know this has been going on for a while now, and when the proposed purchase of the stadium came to light Rebecca arranged meetings with Paul King of Salford Reds and the Council and City Mayor to discuss the plans, and ensure that the future of the Salford Reds would not be in question if there was a sale of the AJ Bell Stadium. The council have confirmed they continue to work to ensure the future of the club in the City, with the option of Moor Lane being discussed in the event of the sale of the AJ Bell.

Following your email and that of other constituents I contacted the council for an update and they advised that Friday the 19th August was the deadline for any parties interested in purchasing the stadium to submit their bids. These will then go to cabinet to discuss, and then follow the correct processes to look at each bid to then make a decision before a public announcement in the coming months'.

Time for all Salford fans to be Team Seb Gerrard. Why do we need a community stadium?
-Our Foundation does huge amounts with the local community, 3,500 children from local schools have watched a Salford Red Devils game since 2021 through our 'Building the Future' initiative.
- We have a 5 Teams beyond the first team, Reserves, U19, Womens Team, PDSL LDSL - All with links to the community
- Most importantly we need a stadium with Accessibility for all fans.
- Links to grassroots and local RFL Clubs.

Wonder if Sale/FC have this impact on the City??

I'd urge everyone to now play the Community card and push the agenda with Salford City Council via Email.

The contacts to email are as follows:

For Worsley and Eccles South, the MP is Barbara Keeley - members.parliament.uk/member/1588/contact (Use the online form)

For Salford and Eccles, the MP is Rebecca Long-Bailey - rebecca.longbailey.mp@parliament.uk (email)

Salford Council - City, Mayor Paul Dennet - citymayor@salford.gov.uk
Salford Council - Chief Executive Tom Stannard - Via online portal or Twitter

www.salford.gov.uk/your-council/city-mayor/the-mayoral-team/

After the IMG proposals it’s the only way. ML would mean permanent Cat B or maybe slide to Cat C with 5000 capacity and no facilities or parking and lots of Championship teams having better grounds.

Perhaps Sale could move down there to the ML Neville Superdrome; Salford FC ave gate ~2000, Sale v Northampton ~ 4000