Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, in conjunction with Paul Dennett, held a meeting with the Rugby Football League earlier in October to make the case for a possible Salford Red Devils phoenix club being able to enter the second tier Championship next season.
At this stage, it is unclear whether a Salford club will be able to fulfil the 2026 Championship fixtures that were published on Tuesday, 24 hours before the club was liquidated.
Salford had been listed to kick off the upcoming second tier campaign by hosting Oldham on Friday, 16 January, however they currently have just one player – full-back Jack Walker – on their books with six weeks to go until the start of the season.
Meanwhile it is also unclear what prospect the club would have in any future IMG grading, given that their finances in 2025 will theoretically directly impact the financial criteria used to decide the grading in 2026.
It would be unlikely they would be graded high enough to compete for a return to Super League for 2027 based on their past finances, unless it is agreed that whichever party subsequently takes ownership of a rugby league club in Salford would be its own entity.
You would expect the finer details of how rugby league in Salford will continue will be decided when the RFL’s board meets later this week, however Radio Manchester report that there is interest in the club from three parties.
“Anybody looking to form a phoenix club, they’ve got less than six weeks with the Christmas period to effectively build an operational infrastructure, playing squad, coaching staff and ticketing. Literally everything is going to have to start from scratch,” Nick Holt, founder of fan group The 1873, told Radio Manchester.
“It is going to be difficult. We’re aware of some credible parties that are looking to do just that. All of those groups are in diffierent stages but working hard behind the scenes to make sure they can take the club forward and build a club that the community deserves.”