CHRIS Irwin has a three-word phrase that sums up the feeling at Salford – season starts today.
But he feels the Rugby Football League could have moved quicker to get their takeover done.
The Red Devils will not have heard the last of the record 82-0 hammering at St Helens in which boss Paul Rowley played the reserves.
Now the buyout led by Swiss moneyman Dario Berta, with Australia-based Saia Kailahi and Dubai-based Curtiz Brown as the ‘men on the ground’ has gone through, sustainability cap restrictions have been lifted.
The full first team can face Leeds as the man now leading the club detailed what everyone involved had gone through.
And getting the nod from the game’s governing body was no easy task.
“It’s taken a while because you need to acquire the club first, then they find out if they’re fit and proper persons from the RFL,” chief executive Irwin said.
[article-rail-topic title=”MOST READ IN RUGBY LEAGUE” term_id=”24998″ posts_number=”6″ /]“I think it could’ve been easier if the RFL met the owners prior to the paperwork for the club being signed, rather than wait for that and then starting that process.
“They actually got involved last Tuesday. The owners met to try and make sure everything was clear and on the Wednesday morning, they sent a list of things they needed to provide – I think their interpretation of what was expected was different.
“I appreciate having that governance from the RFL is really important for our game – to dismiss that would be naïve and silly. The RFL has to do their job for the sake of the game.
“We’re working with the RFL on the compliance unit investigation into the St Helens squad. I’m supportive of the RFL and I’ll work with them to make sure there are learnings for everyone for the benefit of the game.
“But these guys are going to invest a significant amount of money but they had to wait for the RFL before they could move on with things.
“That dragged things out a bit.”
Now the deal for Salford Red Devils is done, thoughts are turning to taking on the council-owned stadium and the land around it.
For now, though, just being able to field Rowley’s first team squad and seeing the club financially secure long-term for the first time in a long time is enough.
“I think there’s been interest for a while and actually they maybe had to move quicker than they wanted to because of the situation the club was in,” former player Irwin, who was chief commercial officer at Exeter City FC, added.
“The funders have founded a special purpose vehicle – they will put into that. For the club, the stadium and the development of the land around it, there will be separate companies under the same banner.
“As a club we’ve not had the resources to grow. Now we have funds in, my job is to build that infrastructure so we can get bums on seats in the stadium and start maximising what we’ve got.
“The product on the pitch is second to none. What Paul’s done, we need to sell that and after the turmoil he and his staff have been through, not just this year, their closeness is unrivalled.
“They should play in front of packed crowds at this stadium. We’ll spend to full salary cap in future. We’ll be looking to get a marquee player in at some point to shake Super League up a bit.
“But for now, the season starts today!”
