Grading Salford

The Willows: Salford are moving out

All of the staff are in place, all of the procedures are in place and we are ready to roll.

Salford City Reds Chief Executive David Tarry
Quotes of the week

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Salford City Reds were the latest Super League side to come under the Boots 'n' All licensing spotlight.

With clubs being asked to put their bids in for a permit to take part in the competition from 2009, every week Angela Powers will be out and about seeing how the candidates meet the necessary criteria.

This week she took a look at the club that dropped out of the Super League last season but have grand plans for a return to the big time.

According to the Boots n All count, Salford's current state of play would receive five out of ten from the powers that be in rugby league and they would be awarded a "B" license status.

And the good news doesn't stop there for Salford as two areas where they are currently let down are ground capacity and average gates but plans for a new stadium would remedy that.

The Willows, the Reds' home of 105 years, has a capacity of 11,000 just short of the 12,000 required but their average crowd was around 5,000 last season in Super League, well short of the required 10,000 for a Super League license.

But Salford City Reds Chief Executive David Tarry says a new City of Salford Stadium, a 20,000 capacity purpose built stadium which will include a 4* plus hotel and an international exhibition centre, could increase their average to the required number, according to the club's research.

He told Boots 'n' All: "In year one our research has show that we can expect to average somewhere in the region of 12,500 gates and that is expensive research and very in-depth research."

Turnover is another area where Salford fall short but Tarry isn't too worried about the current failure to hit the required £4 million mark because they are restricted by limitations at The Willows and that won't be a problem when they move in 2010.

"Looking at the target figures and audiences that we are looking to bring in, the £4 million will be easily achievable as a stand alone from the football club itself," he said.

One area where the club is already succeeding is the development and use of home-grown players, as Tarry explains.

"We certainly meet the minimums at the moment as far as the core criteria is concerned," he said. "We are eight as far as the minimum is concerned, so we certainly meet that, but this year we have 13 players that meet that criteria in our squad.

"As we stand at this moment in time, in all areas, we are still ready to run as a Super League club.

"All of the staff are in place, all of the procedures are in place and we are ready to roll."