Salford Red Devils: A once-great Super League club toppled by a High Court ruling over unpaid debts
The financially troubled Salford Red Devils, a club with a 152-year history, have been wound up by the High Court due to ongoing debts. A winding-up petition, which had been postponed four times, culminated in a hearing on Wednesday.
The petition was first adjourned in June after Salford claimed a bridging loan would cover a tax bill to HM Revenue & Customs. It was subsequently pushed back again in September, October, and November before today’s ruling.
This collapse follows a tumultuous year for the Red Devils: a mass exodus of players, delayed wage payments, a string of heavy defeats, and ultimately the loss of their Super League status for 2026, according to end-of-year grading.
Today's decision marks a grim end to a year the club would rather forget. By contrast, Salford enjoyed a strong 2024, finishing fourth in Super League and reaching the playoffs.
Financial troubles began surfacing at the close of the previous season. Salford requested an advance on their 2025 distributions before the season started, and just before the current campaign, a takeover led by Swiss businessman Dario Berta was completed. Yet the situation deteriorated despite the new ownership, with difficulties persisting throughout the year.
The Rugby Football League imposed a sustainability cap on Salford, which restricted player selections and forced the club to field a younger team for a historic 82–0 defeat at St Helens. Ongoing issues with player availability and departures, including high-profile names such as Marc Sneyd, Nene Macdonald, and Ryan Brierley, left Salford more vulnerable to heavy losses.
Off the field, the club experienced further turmoil: chief executive Chris Irwin resigned within three months, Salford City Council withdrew from negotiations to buy the Salford Community Stadium, and chief operating officer Claire Bradbury left after alleging pressure to influence Rugby Football League relationships.
Despite an October claim that new funding would arrive within 12 days, no funds materialized. Fan protests intensified as the season ended, and Salford fell out of the top 12 in IMG gradings, losing their Super League status.
Head coach Kurt Haggerty, set to take over in 2026, departed late in the season and subsequently joined Bradford Bulls, who will replace Salford in the top flight next term. Paul Rowley also left for St Helens as teams for the next season were announced, and several players began exiting during the off-season.
The future of rugby league in Salford remains uncertain. Local leaders, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Salford mayor Paul Dennett, met with the Rugby Football League to discuss the possibility of a phoenix club entering the Championship next season.
Salford were listed in the Championship fixture reveal and are scheduled to host Oldham on 16 January, but the club’s immediate prospects remain unclear.
BBC Sport’s rugby league correspondent Matt Newsum reflects that today’s outcome caps a year of unprecedented decline for Salford. The failed takeover, which the RFL says was ratified earlier in the year as the only viable option, never delivered the promised funding, leaving the on-field product severely weakened.
Creditors will be left pondering the next steps, as limited assets may be available to a receiver or liquidator. Yet the fan base may find some cause for hope: other clubs have rebuilt from liquidation through phoenix club revivals, notably Bradford Bulls in 2017. The city’s appetite for rugby league remains, and the sport has historically enjoyed council support and broader organizational backing.
Salford have been provisionally scheduled for the 2026 Championship fixtures as the top seed after relegation. In a phoenix-club scenario, their ranking would normally shift from first to last, but with fixtures already released, revising positions could prove challenging.
