A New Normal

I wasn’t able to make the club’s fans forum last night, an official relaunch of sorts, but I did watch the updates on social media from afar (known as the heady heights of Pendlebury). There appeared to be a noisy, upbeat group in attendance. A healthy number of people too.

Jack Dearden on Twitter / X

There’s a lot of passion here tonight …🏉 pic.twitter.com/kNu8xGdF6H— Jack Dearden (@TheJackDearden) January 12, 2026

The new board spoke to the fans, the 2026 playing jerseys were unveiled. Derek Beaumont’s Lambos were parked outside – his company being the suppler of Salford’s new kit – if that stirs your loins. It looked like an event that even clubs with many times the budget don’t bother to, but should, put on.

Salford’s 2026 home and away jerseys

The sobering honesty of the board’s words that night should also serve as a reminder of where the club is at without being a multi-millionaire owner’s hobby. The salient points being:

A figure of 1,500 or so season ticket holders being required to be sustainable (i.e. to tread water) at Barton. To be a sustainable Super League club, you’d imagine, with fag packet maths, they’d need to multiply that by 3–5 times.

The difficulty of recruiting experienced players, certainly those of repute. The story of one player agent rebuffing Salford’s attempt to sign four of their clients because they are owed £60,000 from the club’s previous company shell means it may take time for Salford’s reputation to improve sufficiently for those relationships to heal.

The new regime (from left to right): Ryan Brierley (CEO), Mason Caton-Brown, Malcolm Crompton (Chair), Paul Hancock and Ashley Washington

Essentially, expectations should be low. Which will be a new normal for many of us. Only fans in their seventies will have a chance of remembering when Salford were among the lowest teams in the league. I refer to the early 1960s, where Salford (effectively rather than actually) finished 28th between 1962–64.

But I’m loathe to criticise anything the club will do this year. We should be thankful that just having a team on the park in 2026 is enough, which isn’t something Featherstone are able to claim. I’m not mad on the new jerseys, for example, but I haven’t been for a while, so it’s nothing new. (I think I prefer the away kit, again.) I’m not that bothered, it’s my problem not the club’s.

However, being around these parts for some time and knowing what some can be like, I’m not hopeful that this outlook, one of accepting mediocrity in a lower division, will last with everyone. A perception of progress being made throughout the season, mainly in planning for a stronger 2027, should hopefully keep dissenters renewing.