Managing Director says Super League club could get transfer fees for stars if needed

Salford Red Devils have begun a fantastic initiative to become community owned.

They have raised an amazing £100,000 already through this.

This is vital for the club with Managing Director Paul King telling BBC Radio Manchester that they have players they could sell for transfer fees but doesn’t want it to come that:

“For the first time in a long time we’ve got a lot of saleable assets, Budge, Kallum Watkins, Ollie Partington, Tyler Dupree and these boys would all actually attract transfer fees which is pretty unusual in this sport. But I don’t want to do it, it would break my heart to do it. Enough is enough.

“It isn’t just about that, it’s about bringing the club into the community and the community into the club and having a real dig as a community.

“If people don’t like it then they get a vote and they can get rid of me by all means, go for it.”

Paul Raynor meanwhile explained the reason why the club struggles somewhat financially:

“We’re really excited with the opportunity that the ‘Reds Rise Together’ shared ownership provides.

“Also moving forward into the IMG era and the grading of clubs, we think that with our catchment area and the foundations we’ve put in place over the last five years it really presents us with an opportunity to build a really successful club, both on and off the field hence the reason for launching the community share ownership at this time.

“Our initial target is to get to £250,000 but that’s just our first stage really and what we’re looking to do is increase the amount that’s invested in the club and give people the opportunity to have their say, get their vote, but also contribute to building a strong infrastructure that makes the club even more sustainable.

“We’ll invest that, this isn’t going to just be money that puts players on the pitch but it’ll be investing in the commercial team, the marketing team and digital media so we can increase the footprint of the club.

“We’re the only club in Super League with no benefactor and that creates some challenges in terms of capacity to invest in the infrastructure. We’ve been really true to our values as a club and we want to make sure that whatever we do aligns with our perspective as a community club.”