Salford Red Devils must ‘sell players without delay’ as Super League club told to reduce salary cap | Rugby League News happymamay

Salford Red Devils have been directed to “sell players without delay” after they were issued a £1.2m sustainability cap by the Rugby Football League.

The Premiership club finished fourth in the table last season before losing to eventual champions Wigan Warriors in the play-offs, and reached the semi-finals in 2022 before being beaten by St Helens – again, the team who would go on to lift the trophy.

Salford reached the Grand Final in 2019 as well, losing to St Helens at Old Trafford, but revealed on Wednesday that their squad would be axed after the EFL asked them to reduce the club’s salary cap.

“The club has been directed to sell the players without delay,” the club said in a statement titled “The truth behind the rumours.”

“The position is that the EFL have issued a sustainability cap of £1.2m and until we reach that, we are now prohibited from registering players for next season.

Conditions for obtaining promotion [Salford were given a central distribution advancement of around £500,000] The club was to be placed under “special measures” requiring a reduction in overhead costs of £800,000.

“We were not given a clear timeline for complying with the required expense reductions, so the club has taken the decision to maintain our short-term position while investor negotiations continue.

“During this period, the club has received offers for a number of players, none of whom are available for sale to date.

“Investor negotiations continued over the weekend as part of a long and rigorous process to secure the takeover of the club.

“This is still live and we are working to expedite it, and we cannot reveal details due to the non-disclosure agreement in place.”

Such was the volume of traffic to the Salford Red Devils website after the statement was issued, with the club confirming that the site had indeed crashed.

Salford also explained how local funding cuts had meant the support promised by Salford City Council last March had not been achieved – something the club still believes was on the cards when allocating funds for pre-season recruitment and training.

Salford added: “An investor negotiation broke down due to the investment risk of the council not having any firm position on when the stadium acquisition would be completed – an example of the delicate negotiating position we find ourselves in.”

“In March, Salford City Council proposed that the club receive a Support Monitoring Grant to support rugby league and the rugby development pathway in Salford and Greater Manchester.

“In November, Salford City Council informed that a support monitoring grant was not available due to a lack of funding elsewhere, the effect of which was that the club had already allocated funds to recruit players and staff and pay for pre-season preparations including a warm weather camp in Portugal.

“Effectively, these anticipated funds have already been allocated.

“We believe we have acted in the best interests of the club, players, staff and our fans, given the complex situation we find ourselves in with multiple dynamics at play.

“We sympathize and understand the frustration of our fans and are deeply sorry for reaching this position.

“Our focus remains on working to explore all possible avenues towards the long-term stability and success of Salford Red Devils.

“The immediate next steps are to pursue a potential acquisition to secure investment as soon as possible, while at the same time players are now being sold to meet RL commercial regulations.”

Salford travel to St Helens in the opening match of the Premier League season on February 15, live Sky Sports.

Premier League 2025 – key dates and what to look out for

March 1: Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves in Las Vegas
April 17-19: Round 8 – Contenders Round
May 3-4: Magic Tour (St James’ Park, Newcastle)
July 24: August 31 – Round 20 – Round split over two weekends
September 4-7: Round 25 – Contenders Round match dates have been reversed
September 18-21: Round 27 – Final round of the regular season (dates and times TBD)
September 26-27: Playoffs
October 3-4: Semi-final
Saturday 11 October: Grand Final (Old Trafford)

Sky Sports Every Premier League match will once again be shown live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches shown each week on Sky Sports+..