Salford have had their new ownership confirmed but Mason Caton-Brown and his consortium have plenty to do with it already being less than four weeks until they play their first game of the 2026 season.
The Championship fixtures were released before Salford entered administration and those fixtures saw the then Red Devils slated to play in the opening game of the season against Oldham on Friday, 16th January.
Mason Caton-Brown’s bid to take on Salford was confirmed by the RFL on December 22nd, just 25 days before the start of the season meaning it will be an incredibly busy festive period for him.
Speaking to Serious About Rugby League after confirmation of his bid being successful, the former Salford winger said: “We’re making some announcements between Christmas and New Year.
“We’re quite confident we’ll have a full squad come January 16 to run out.
“We were always going to have to overcome some hurdles in this period so we’ll keep fighting as a club and as a team we’ll keep doing that.”
We’ve now picked out five key priorities, some more obvious than others, that Caton-Brown and Salford need to get sorted in the next three-and-a-half weeks.”
The club have started their 2026 preparations today by announcing that former player, and boyhood Salford fan, Ryan Brierley will return to the club to take up the role of CEO, seemingly hanging up the boots and departing Oldham with two years left on his contract.
Salford To Do List
Appoint a coach
One of the two most obvious jobs that Salford need to do is appoint a coach with Paul Rowley having departed at the end of the season, and proposed head coach Kurt Haggerty leaving to join Bradford Bulls.
Caton-Brown previously told BBC Manchester that a coach was lined up and he confirmed that again to Serious About Rugby League, stating: “It’s really close. We’ve been speaking with the coach and now we can put pen to paper and start building the club, building the team, building the playing staff and also the management staff. It’s exciting times.
“He’s an enthusiastic coach, I can tell you that for sure. He’s been helping in the background and now we can make it official.”
Build a squad
That coach will obviously need a squad to coach and this is arguably the bigger task given how many bodies need to come in through the door. Every single senior player left the club with Nene Macdonald signing with Saints confirming that.
Players are out there and available, including a number of Super League free agents. Whilst plenty of their academy stars also departed at the end of the year, a number didn’t so they could help form the squad.
On squad-building, Caton-Brown said: “We’ve had people reaching out and we’ve already outlined a few players we’re looking to pen to paper on in the next few days. We’re quite confident we’ll have a full squad come January 16 to run out.
“We’re speaking to everyone, we’re speaking to players, we’re speaking to Super League clubs, we’re really confident that we’ll have that squad.”
Launch a kit with a new identity
Salford will obviously have to play in a kit of some kind and whilst it’s previously been confirmed that Derek Beaumont’s Debeau Performance can help with that, it’s not as simple as just printing 20 shirts.
This new club will have to have an identity that fans can get behind, whether than be Red Devils or something else, but it’s important that the kit reflects that as well. This new club must start strong and that includes having a strong identity that can be reflected every time they take the field.
Release season tickets
The RFL’s statement confirming Salford’s new owners also confirmed an agreement to play at the Salford Community Stadium, which was a massive boost, however, fans will be wanting season tickets soon.
The loyal supporters who backed the club during last year’s struggles will be very keen to back this new club and show their support, so getting some form of tickets launched ahead of the season is hugely important so that revenue can start coming in and fans can also get on board.
Regain the trust of fans
On the topic of fans, regaining their trust is massive. This is a clean slate for Salford and some credit will be offered in respect to the tight timeline that the club have to navigate, however, these fans have been messed around so much.
Transparency and honest is essential and missing deadlines cannot happen so when promises are set, they have to be kept. The fans have shown huge loyalty to ensure this club exists and now they must be repaid in faith.
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