“Not buying a garden shed” – Salford Red Devils boss on slow stadium deal progress as loan deals clarified

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley has spoken on the complexities of the stadium deal which is a major part of the club’s financial woes.

The Red Devils’ new owners want to purchase the stadium and its land with a view to build upon it and maximise the profit from it, however, that process is currently taking its time and until it is sorted, Salford remain under financial restrictions.

Salford have a £1.2 million limited salary cap imposed upon them with the club needing to pay back the RFL and “fulfill obligations” according to Rowley before it is lifted.

Previously, the coach had earmarked the middle of April as a potential “finish line” for the stadium deal, however, that has been and gone and he’s now commented upon the matter again.

Rowley explained: “I’m not naive enough to know that this is not just buying a new shed from the local DIY shop. This is a business venture acquiring a huge piece of real estate and land so they’re complex.

“I just take every day as it comes in the knowledge and understanding that it can’t go on forever it’s so the end must get closer every day that goes by.”

Salford Red Devils boss makes Nathan Cleary joke as loan rules explained

It’s still unclear when this situation will end but one thing that would make the situation a lot easier for Salford would be if the RFL amend their rules regarding the number of loan players a club can have, currently capped at six in a squad with only five able to play.

Salford currently have six loanees therefore cannot acquire anymore yet they’re under a directive to raise funds, with the best way to do that being to either sell players or release them to other clubs, thereby alleviating wages.

Paul Rowley has explained why that is so hard, noting: “With the squad being small, it really restricts our flexibility to raise funds as required because (when) we release or get rid of any more players, we can’t then loan players in.”

Previously, Salford asked the RFL if that ruling could be amended given the exceptional circumstances, however, they refused and that has not changed. When asked if he’d like the flexibility afforded by more loanees, Rowley joked in response.

He said: “I think everybody would (like the flexibility) so I’m no different than anybody else. I’d like to have Nathan Cleary as well but I’m not having him.

“It’s an obvious answer that anybody would so I’m not banging the drum here. Like I said before, I work with what I’ve got. It’s as simple as that.”

He also confirmed that he hadn’t had contact with the new owners with CEO Chris Irwin in charge of that, as Rowley explained: “We’re busy coaching the team, they’re busy trying to organise the next steps of the acquisition of the stadium. So they’re busy, I’m busy.

“I guess in any other club, the coach wouldn’t be talking to the owners of the club on a daily or weekly basis. We have people who run the club in Chris, so that’s the communication lines.”

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