Red Devils set to become first wholly community owned rugby club in Northern hemisphere

Salford Red Devils have announced a new scheme allowing fans to purchase shares in the club.

The “Reds Rise Together” scheme aims to see Salford Reds transition in to the “first elite rugby league club in the northern hemisphere to become a truly and legally community owned club.”

The club have decided to do this scheme to maintain a competitive playing squad, unite a growing community behind a common cause and to “Fulfil IMG criteria ensuring Category A status within the top-flight of Super League through high level Commercial and Marketing growth.”

Salford RD Holdings Limited, who own the club, are hoping to raise £2,000,000 from the scheme, with an initial target of £250,000. At the time of writing, there has been over £33,000 raised.

The scheme to buy shares in the club opened on the 22 April and the window to buy shares will close on June 2.

A spokesperson from the club said: “Our first milestone is to raise at least £250,000 from this share issue, but because we have big ambitions, we plan to spend anything up to £2M raised, on concrete projects which will make the club stronger.”

Managing Director, Paul Rowley, said on the club website: “For years, whenever we’ve been close to something, we have had to sell our best players. This year we opted to change that. Now by doing this, it allows to maintain a competitive playing squad and gives us a real chance to win the biggest prizes in the game.

“We have a fundamental belief that sport belongs to the people – not a sole person; and by doing this we’re creating the opportunity for such likeminded individuals to join us and do something really special.”

You can find out more information about purchasing a share in the club here.