Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has spoken on the financial troubles at Salford Red Devils and compared it to that of his own club in 2018.
Salford have been ordered by the RFL to cut their overheads by £800,000 and operate at a running cost of £1.2 million after the Red Devils previously requested a £500,000 advance on their central funding.
The most obvious way to trim that budget is by player sales, however, the Red Devils have relented so far although there is set to be an RFL meeting with all the Super League clubs about the Salford situation on Wednesday.
Leeds Rhinos CEO Gary Hetherington has revealed that an amendment to a previous proposal about salary cap and overseas quota dispensation is set to be proposed at that meeting as rival clubs look to sign players from Salford Red Devils to ease the financial burden.
Salford are seemingly holding off on sales as they scramble to find investment prior to the start of the Super League season, which is just three over weeks away.
Beaumont speaks on Salford Red Devils situation
Credit: SWpix
Leigh owner Beaumont has now commented on Salford’s situation with the Leopards boss comparing and contrasting the financial issues with those that Leigh faced in 2018 following their Super League relegation.
Speaking on the club’s website, Beaumont explained: “It’s a difficult one to comment on really because obviously I’m in there as an owner but Salford is where I was born so I’ve kind of got a soft spot for it.
“But equally I’ve got to look out for what is the best for this club and the game as a whole and at the moment there is a lot of stigma being placed on rugby league by what is going on there and how it is being handled.”
Moving onto the situation that he found himself in whilst at Leigh, who were then playing under the Centurions brand, Beaumont argued that it was a far less expected crisis.
He stated: “Our situation came from an unexpected blow when we didn’t make the top six (of the Championship) with a Super League full-time salary cap spend having been relegated.
“That was a massive disappointment and a massive underachievement and whilst I had planned for the lack of £500k parachute payment should we not be successful above Toronto, what I never considered – which I don’t think was naive by the way – was to not make the top six with that team. That almost felt a given and I think anybody in rugby league circles would have said so.
“I remember when London drew in Toulouse and that meant we could not get into the top six. I went home and knew that was the end of that as it was another £600k lost on top of the £500k lost and on top of what I had to put in anyway, which was just insurmountable.”
He conceded that for Salford to move forward then either last-minute investment or player sales are inevitable with Beaumont having to opt for the second option back in 2018.
The Leigh boss explained: “There are different reports coming out of Salford but their statement, which is what you have to go on, is that they were promised money from the council that didn’t go ahead so I’m not sure how much you pin on that.
“Speaking to Paul and he’s got a difficult situation because once you start moving players, fans get unrest and the chances of investment become less so they want to hold off on that.
“We’re a couple of weeks away from the season and it’s not a great position to be in. The way I dealt with it was quite simple really, we had to cut our expenditure and the biggest expenditure you have is your playing bill.
“I think that’s the position that Salford are in and that’s why the RFL have given them a £1.2 million sustainability cap so they can only register that value of players and that’s a difficult situation. It’s even more difficult as non-federation trained spots are taken up at all the clubs and that’s where all the money is arguably tied up, so they’re kind of handcuffed where they can’t even move players on anyway.
“It’s a real difficult situation and a bit of a mess but I remember at the time we got five-figure fees for Bodene Thompson and Peter Mata’utia and then the rest was just moving players on for as close as possible to their wages. Once we did that it was a case of trying to get a team that could still compete and we loaned a few players in.”
What’s clear to Beaumont is the necessity for Salford to survive this crisis, even if that means relegation, as he argued: “The club has got to survive and that’s the case at Salford, the club is bigger than any person or ego. You’ve got to have a Salford and if that’s a Championship Salford then it’s better than no Salford at all.
“I do hope that Paul does find someone who does invest and that they can stay strong because it financially affects us all. I think it’s different to what we went through but I feel sorry for Kingy as what we went through was a world of pain.
“People looked at me acting bad but I was acting responsibly and protecting the club and its future so it could re-establish itself and look where we are now. I think Hull KR are a fine example of doing something similar when they got relegated and we’re seeing the same from Wakefield now.
“Whilst I don’t want to see Salford go through that, if they do then I hope they can bounce back strong.”
