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The Salford Red Devils have been instructed to “sell players immediately” after the Rugby League granted them a £1.2m sustainability cap.
The Premier League club finished fourth in the table last season before losing to eventual champions Wigan Warriors in the play-offs and reaching the semi-finals in 2022 before losing again to St Helens, And St Helens lifted the trophy again.
Salford also recently played in the Grand Final in 2019, losing to St Helens at Old Trafford, but it was revealed on Wednesday that their squad would be folded due to the RFL’s request for a reduction in the club’s salary cap.
“The club has been instructed to sell the player immediately,” the club said in a statement titled “The truth behind the rumours”.
“The current situation is that the RFL has issued a sustainability cap of £1.2 million and we are now prohibited from registering players for the upcoming season until this cap is reached.
“The terms of the advance – Salford received a centrally allocated advance of around £500,000 – was that the club would accept ‘special measures’ requiring an £800,000 reduction in administrative expenses.
“We were not given a clear timetable for complying with the required spending cuts and therefore the club decided to maintain our position in the short term while investor negotiations were ongoing.
“During this period, the club received offers for a number of players but to this day has not had any players available for sale.
“Investor talks continued over the weekend as part of a long and rigorous process to secure the acquisition of the club.
“This is still live and we are working to expedite the process and given the non-disclosure agreement we cannot reveal details.”
This is the traffic to the Salford Red Devils website following the announcement, with the club confirming the site had in fact crashed.
Salford also explained how local funding cuts meant subsidies promised by Salford City Council last March never materialized – with the club still believing the subsidy would come when they poured money into recruitment and pre-season training.
Salford added: “There are investment risks as the council does not have any clear position on when the stadium acquisition will be completed, so negotiations with investors have failed – an example of the delicate negotiating position we find ourselves in.”
The RFL has instructed Salford to reduce their salary cap to £1.2m
“In March, Salford City Council recommended that clubs could access a subsidy control grant to support rugby union and the development path for rugby in Salford City and Greater Manchester.
“In November last year, Salford City Council stated that it was unable to access the Subsidy Control Grant due to funding shortfalls elsewhere, with the impact being that the club had already invested money in recruitment of players and staff and paid out expenses including warm weather Pre-season preparation costs for camping in Portugal.
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“In fact, these projected funds have already been allocated.
“We believe that given the complex situation we find ourselves in and the multiple dynamics within the game, we are acting in the best interests of the club, players, staff and fans.
“We sympathize and understand the fans’ frustration and deeply regret our situation.
“Our focus remains on working hard to explore all possible avenues to achieve the long-term stability and success of Salford Red Devils.
“The next step is to continue the potential acquisition process to secure investment as quickly as possible while selling players to meet the requirements of RL commercial regulations.”
Salford travel to St Helens for their Premier League opener on February 15, live broadcast sky sports.
Super League 2025 – Key dates and notes
March 1: Las Vegas Wigan Warriors VS Warrington Wolves
April 17-19: Round 8 – Opponent’s round
May 3rd and 4th: Magic Wheel (St James’ Park, Newcastle)
July 24: August 31 – Round 20 – Split over two weekends
September 4-7: Round 25 – Opponent round schedule reversed
September 18-21: Round 27 – Final round of the regular season (date and time to be determined)
September 26-27: knockout round
October 3rd and 4th: semifinals
Saturday, October 11: Finals (Old Trafford)
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