Salford City Council to take full ownership of Salford Community Stadium
Salford City Council has announced it will take full ownership of the Salford Community Stadium which is home to Salford Red Devils and Sale Sharks.
The council, which already controls 50% of the site, is discussing a deal to buy the remaining half of the ground which is owned by property company Peel.It will see the council take full control over the stadium and surrounding land, including car parking areas and training pitches.Empty land around the stadium is expected to be sold for regeneration projects to finance the agreement once complete.The future of Salford Red Devils was left in doubt last year until a 12-month extension on the stadium lease was agreed with the ground’s co-owners.
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “I am delighted that we are nearing conclusion of months of painstaking discussions.
“We’ll be able to recommit to deliver the initial vision of a community stadium for the city and its people.
"The future will be grounded in a new sports and leisure and rugby strategy, with links to activity, culture and health and wellbeing and fair access and opportunities.
"These benefits will go far beyond activities on the pitch, with full development of the site creating an anticipated 790 new jobs, delivering £28million worth of social value and attracting £65 million of private sector investment."
Managing Director of Salford Red Devils, Paul King said: “This is certainly a big step in the right direction, and hopefully this can now lead to a swiftly agreed deal.
"I can’t understate how important the conclusion of the deal is for the club.
"We’ve stretched as best as we can for as long as we can to get even to this point today, and once the agreement gets over the line, it really does give us access to some transformative opportunities."
Sale Sharks Chief Executive Paul Smith said: “The future of the Salford Community Stadium has been a protracted saga that has caused a huge amount of uncertainty both within the club and among our fanbase for too long.“While there is still work to do, this announcement hopefully begins to draw a line under the questions around stadium ownership and allows us all to start working together to create a real hub for rugby, across both codes, in the north.”The council’s deal to buy the stadium and surrounding land is expected to cost around £2m in total.The deal will also see the council taking on the £38m of debt owed by the stadium company, according to Salford’s mayor.
The stadium officially opened in 2012 and has already hosted the Rugby League World Cup in 2013 and will be one of the venues for the Women’s Rugby World Cup on 2025.
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