Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:35 pm  

Fungus The Muffin Man wrote:

I think everyone would love to have the security of a bankrolled club. However I dont want to end up like a saints fan!
For me the last year we were in NL1 was a real dull season. Turning up expecting to win and taking no joy from winning. It was as though there was no effort involved both on and off the field. Infact the GF was the only game that got me excited.

That for me was how it must be to be a saints fan. You see it in there attitude to everything with the club.
I'm sure people will disagree with me about this but I want us to compete, win a few things but not dominate completely. A sugar daddy could provide this if one ever materialized.

The structure of the sport now makes it difficult for any individual club to dominate entirely. Saints for example haven't won the League since 2006. I agree that malaise amongst fans can set in after a sustained period of success, desperation more than anything make fans passionate, but I think it would be a long time before that happened at Salford. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing us win the League and Cup double 10 years running and I'd get even more enjoyment going around the Rugby League rubbing it into other club's faces.

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:07 pm  

LoyalFan wrote:

Just thought I'd throw something out there for a bit of a discussion... and see how people feel about having a club that is bankrolled.

Recently there have been discussions regarding where the club are financially. There have been reports about tax bills... and we are forever hearing that we are limited due to our finances. Now obviously in these days where money is key in sport, it's always a worry, and a club like Salford are always looking over their shoulder.

So as fans... How do we feel ?

Lets just say a wealthy businessman came our way and wanted to buy out the club. He wanted to plough money in hand over fist to turn us into the number one club in the country... and he certainly had the funds to do it.

Would we welcome it ? Would we want it ? Would we want to be the Manchester City of rugby league ? Would we want to be the new Warrington Wolves ?

Or....

Is it against everything you stand for as a sports fan ? Do you feel that it's unsporting for a club to dominate due to just having more money than everybody else... when it's generated simply by this process of bankrolling ? Would you sooner see Salford be Salford and pray for that day we win something due to simply hard work ? Would it feel better to win something due to hard work, or would it matter where the money came from ?

These kind of situations can leave you in a similar position to Portsmouth... so is it worth the risk ?

(... and for the record... This isn't a pre-empt to some inside info of a wealthy investor... It was just something I was thinking about)

I am a Salford fan WHEN I win the £100 Million lottery just watch us go

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:40 pm  

I think we would benefit from a large injection of cash. I'd like to hope we would be lucky enough to get someone who also had the interests of the club at heart rather than just cash.

We need more money to resolve many of the off field problems we have. We need some new blood in the back offices and a more professional approach to media, retail etc.Iimagine what we could do with a marketiing budget.

Extra money could also prove to be a huge bonus to the academy teams making Salford more attractive. The facilities for training would benefit from injections as would the provision of diet and supplements to the youngsters.

Money could resolve many of the issues with the club. If it was city type money we could become owners of the stadium!!!

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:08 pm  

Do people remember what was happening to Rugby League before Sky turned up, attendances were falling because Wigan were the only full time professional club and were winning everything, if one club starts to dominate again then the crowds will fall. I would prefer us to be payed upto the salary cap, and build on our academy and a new owner to provide all the stuff that needs. They should also build up the marketing team and use their cash to subsidise cheaper tickets to get people in to see the game and get them interested.

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:39 pm  

Bigpev wrote:

Do people remember what was happening to Rugby League before Sky turned up, attendances were falling because Wigan were the only full time professional club and were winning everything, if one club starts to dominate again then the crowds will fall. I would prefer us to be payed upto the salary cap, and build on our academy and a new owner to provide all the stuff that needs. They should also build up the marketing team and use their cash to subsidise cheaper tickets to get people in to see the game and get them interested.

Which is what I said earlier

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:06 pm  

Starbug wrote:

Which is what I said earlier

But we never listen to you 'cos we don't like you

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:34 pm  

Fungus The Muffin Man wrote:

But we never listen to you 'cos we don't like you

You all love me really

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:37 pm  

Dont shoot me down but I think if potential investor(s) were offered RL & RU then it could be the way forward.

Both clubs (us and Sale) are in debt & reliant on one man (JAW & BK) but the attraction of a Rugby Franchise in both codes would surely be tempting to someone else with cash.

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:05 am  

I think we are in a bit of dream world if we think our "wealthy investor" is going to have Salford City Reds at heart, he or she will eather want to make money which is difficult when owning a Sports club or they will want to be the new "mr or mrs Salford"

I can see JW looking for new investors towards the back end of the next 3 years, hopefully the crowds will be up, or debts will be reduced with our success on the field / cost cuttting excersises in playing staff.
I feel Salford Rugby league club would be a good investment for somebody who has the money to take us to the next level, you can only hope that he or she has got on the band wagon now bought a box and will fall in love with us so in 3 yers he or she will buy the club and we will all live happy ever after winning a challenge cup every 10 years or so and constantly in the playoffs.

As Brian Kennedy is hovering around Glasgow Rangers like a bad smell id be worried if i was a sale fan that if he does manage to get hold of Rangers he might just blow sale off.

Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:47 pm  

I'd happily take a wealthy backer but only if his/her plans were to build the club from within. By that I mean spend his/her money on restructuring the whole of the marketing/administration/youth set up etc. I don't want someone akin to Sheikh Mansour/Jack Walker who is just going to buy success. I'd like a Salford team built around youngsters, sprinkled with the odd top Aussie import for that 'wow' factor. Saying that I'm more than happy if we can continue to recruit lesser lights like Moon or McPherson, who may not quite be Aussie test standard but are bl00dy good players in their own right. As a Utd fan the one thing I love about the club is how they bring the youngsters through & fans can relate to the local lads more than a lot of the big name signings. Building a Salford dynasty would be my main hope rather than a circus show full of egos & sports cars.