Salford Red Devils wound up by High Court over debts
by Jay Freeman · BBC SportTroubled former Super League club Salford Red Devils have been wound up by the High Court over outstanding debts.
A winding-up petition filed against Salford City Reds (2013) Limited - the company that owns the 152-year-old club - was adjourned on four occasions prior to the club being liquidated as a result of Wednesday's hearing.
The Red Devils' demise comes at the end of a turbulent year, with a mass player exodus, late wage payments, heavy defeats and ultimately the loss of their Super League status for 2026 in the end-of-year grading.
Salford - Challenge Cup winners in 1938 and beaten Grand Finalists in 2019 - have been included in the Championship fixture list for next season and are scheduled to host Oldham in their opening game on 16 January.
However, with just over six weeks to go until the start of the season, it remains to be seen if they will be able to fulfil their fixtures with the future unclear.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Salford mayor Paul Dennett held a meeting with the Rugby Football League (RFL) in October to make the case for a possible Salford Red Devils phoenix club being able to enter the second tier next season.
In a statement, the club said they hoped that their "proud name and history can live on and continue to represent the people of Salford".
Salford first appeared in court in June, with the club reported to have owed £500,000 to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The petition was initially adjourned after the club said they were confident of attaining a bridging loan in order to pay the tax bill, before being granted further extensions in early September, late October and again last month.
Following Wednesday's court ruling, the club said they understood "the gravity of this situation and the uncertainty this creates for everyone connected" with the Red Devils.
"For the original club staff that remained up until this point, this is an incredibly emotional moment," Salford's statement continued.
"Whilst there is sadness in seeing things come to this point, there is also a sense of relief that an extremely challenging period for the club has finally come to an end."
The club offered "heartfelt thanks" to fans who had "stood by us through everything", and added "your passion and loyalty have meant the world to us".
The club's membership of the RFL has been terminated. However, a meeting is due to be held on Thursday, after which the league said it would give "detail on [how] the process to new club ownership will be advised".
Salford's turbulent 2025
The court's decision brings down the curtain on a year to forget for Salford, their fortunes this past season in stark contrast to a successful 2024 campaign where they finished fourth in Super League and reached the end-of-season play-offs.
It was at the end of last season, however, that their financial troubles began to bite.
The club requested an advance of their 2025 distribution payments well before the start of the season and, on the eve of this year's campaign, a takeover from a consortium led by Swiss businessman Dario Berta was completed.
Matters gradually worsened despite that takeover, however, with financial issues continuing to plague the club over the course of the year.
A sustainability cap was imposed on Salford by the Rugby Football League which affected team selection, leading to the Red Devils fielding a youthful side for their record-breaking 82-0 season-opening defeat at St Helens.
Team selection and lack of player availability hampered Salford the entire season, with numerous departures - including high-profile players like Marc Sneyd, Nene Macdonald and Ryan Brierley - leaving a depleted side on the end of a succession of heavy defeats.
Their Super League game against Wakefield in August was called off because of "significant" welfare concerns, with the club having just two senior players available - leading to a fan protest.
Off the field, things were similarly chaotic, as chief executive Chris Irwin resigned less than three months into the job and Salford City Council pulled out of negotiations over the club's attempt to buy their Salford Community Stadium home in May.
Meanwhile, chief operating officer Claire Bradbury quit her role after she alleged the club's ownership suggested she "sleep with someone at the Rugby Football League" to ease their situation.
Shortly after October's court adjournment, the club's ownership claimed they had secured funding which would arrive "within 12 days" but ultimately that failed to materialise.
Fan protests ramped up as the season drew to a close, with the club eventually losing its Super League status from next season having finished outside of the top 12 in this year's IMG gradings.
Kurt Haggerty, who had been set to take over as head coach from 2026, left the club late in the season and has gone on to be appointed by Bradford Bulls, who will replace Salford in the top flight next term.
Head coach Paul Rowley departed for St Helens in the aftermath of the announcement of which teams would contest next season's 14-club Super League while players have steadily continued to exit the club with the off-season beginning.
As for where rugby league in Salford goes next, and in what form, the situation is unclear.
'A sorry end to a nightmarish year'
BBC Sport's rugby league reporter Matt Newsum
Today's outcome is a sorry end to a nightmarish year for Salford fans, who have watched their club disintegrate to this point over the past 12 months.
The failed takeover, which the RFL admitted was ratified back in the early months of the year as the only alternative was extinction, never delivered the promised funding and, as such, the on-field product was decimated.
Those creditors who will be left behind by this scenario will ponder what happens next given theoretically there are few assets for a receiver or liquidator to sell, but for fans there is potentially a brighter future.
There are many teams across sport that have risen from the debris of a liquidation as 'phoenix' clubs - Bradford Bulls, back in 2017, are an example of a famous rugby league brand that did just this.
There will be an appetite from within the city to get rugby league up and running again, with the council having been supportive of the game previously, and also within the sport itself.
Salford have been included in the 2026 fixtures for the Championship as first seed after relegation. Theoretically, as a phoenix club, their ranking would change from first to last but with the fixtures already released it could be difficult to revise.