Clough Leaves Willows

Salford City Reds have released hooker John Clough after five years at The Willows.

John had been on loan spells over the past two seasons with Harlequins and now Halifax but will not be returning to The Willows after his latest stint away.

Director of Football Steve Simms said: “We would like to thank John for his tremendous work here at Salford. He is a great player but it was always going to be tough when you have players of the calibre of Malcolm Alker ahead of you.”

Simms also confirmed that conditioner Eddie McGuinness has left the club.

“We have come a long way since Eddie joined us and are grateful for everything he did while he was here. We wish them both the best of luck in the future.”

Reds Land Edmondson

Salford City Reds have announced the signing of Mark Edmondson from Sydney City Roosters.

26-year-old front-rower Edmondson left St Helens to play in the NRL with the Roosters and comes back to England after being courted by the Reds and signs a two year deal arriving for the start of next season.

Director of Football Steve Simms told RedPlanet: “Mark is a quality player. When he left he was one of the best go-forward front rowers in the competition and I believe he’s better now than when he left for the Roosters.

“He will give us a new dimension as he is determined, strong and powerful. We’re pretty excited to have landed him.”

Inquiry Ends – Now the Wait

The Public Inquiry into the Reds’ new stadium at Barton officially closed at lunchtime today after Planning Inspector Geoff Salter heard closing statements from the City Council and Red City Developments’ QCs Mr Fraser and Ms Patterson.

Now Mr Salter will complete his site visits and finalise his report before submitting it to the Secretary of State, Ruth Kelly, for consideration.

Adam Thomas of Red City Developments said at the end: “Basically now we wait for the Inspector to submit his report and we will be informed of the date when he does that. That report, with his recommendation then goes to the Secretary of State, who is of course the local MP from Bolton Ruth Kelly, and she then considers her report before making her statement.

“That can happen at any time. She could take a few days, it’s normally a few weeks, it has been months or years! In our case what we are hoping, particularly as there are no substantial objections, that the Secretary of State has a fairly straightforward decision to make.”

Thomas continued: “If the report recommends the Stadium gets the go-ahead she can still change her mind, if it recommends she refuse it, she can also change her mind, so it does really rest now with her and she will make that announcement in her own time.

“Let’s hope she makes that announcement before Grand Final time. That’s the kind of timescale that could happen. Then we have got to build it!”

Reds ban Supporter

Salford City Reds can now confirm that another supporter has unfortunately now been issued with a banning order following allegations of a serious incident during an away game this season.

In regards to two separate incidents recently, the club has now interviewed both individuals involved in these incidents, one individual being issued with a banning order, the other being reprimanded severely and advised about his future behaviour.

This latter incident was witnessed by a number of supporters who came forward to explain events in great detail, including the original complainant involved in the incident. Both the club and the complainant are satisfied that the matter has been dealt with accordingly.

Reds’ CEO David Tarry said: ” I’d like to pass my thanks on to all The Salford City Reds Supporters who came forward to speak to us in relation to the above incidents. It is important to both myself and the club that The Willows is a safe environment in which to watch rugby league and that we preserve the good reputation of the club.”

As a result of recent events and with immediate effect the club has now banned the sale of all bottles including soft drink bottles within the ground. Please note supporters will be prohibited from bringing their own bottled drinks into the ground.

Inquiring Minds Set To End

Thursday morning sees the final session of the City of Salford Stadium public inquiry. Proceedings get underway at 10am in the Swinton Civic Centre as usual, and will feature the legal teams from both Red City Developments and Salford City Council summing up their arguments for the new Barton complex (there are no opposers remember, so don’t go down expecting any Tom Cruise-esque grandstanding like in A Few Good Men – it’s all very cordial).

Salford City Reds would like to invite and indeed encourage any fans who can attend to do so – not just to show your support for the scheme, but also to actually hear the full details of what the future holds for us all, assuming of course, that the quite lovely and wise Secretary of State Ruth Kelly gives us the final go ahead (well, a bit of buttering up can only help grease the wheels of Westminster can’t it?).

The inquiry is wrapping up much more quickly than planned, with less than six of the allotted twenty days being used. Whether or not that’s a good sign, only time will tell, but being an optimistic bunch we’re taking it as an indication that the plans are solid and hard to argue (seriously) against – everyone involved with Salford City Reds and Salford City Council remains convinced that this can only be good for both the club and the city. As soon as the government agrees we can get on with building the thing!

Hope to see some of you down there tomorrow to be a small part of history in the making.

Soap Stars Kick Off For Malc

Soap fans, rugby supporters and football fanatics should get along to the Willows home of the Salford City Reds this Sunday 16th July for a fun packed afternoon and evening.

Reds captain Malc Alker who for the past eleven years has put his body on the line every week for the Salford cause will be celebrating his testimonial season with a celebrity football match on the Willows turf more used to staging matches with the oval ball in Super League.

A team of celebrity footballers from Coronation Street, Holby City and Hollyoakes along with a few special guests will be taking on a reds team including current players, coach Karl Harrison himself a centre half of note, Martin Offiah and Tex Evans amongst others.

Coronation Street actor Andy Whyment who plays the likeable Kirk in the popular soap said, “It should be a great day for Malc, on the field I think our team are going to have a tough time, have you seen the size and fitness of these rugby lads! But seriously Malc deserves all your support for the effort he makes week in week out for the Reds; he is a real Captain Marvel.”

The football match will be followed by a Cabaret and Buffet in the Willows Variety Centre with James ‘Shinny’ Davenport and his Hanky Park band taking to the stage. Shinny added, “Having played rugby myself, I know the effort needed to get out their and get stuck in. Rugby League is one of the most physically demanding sports going and Malc deserves a big turn out not just from rugby fans but from everybody in Salford for his loyalty to the Salford City Reds.”

The football match kicks off at 5.00pm this Sunday, followed by Cabaret and buffet in the Willows. Tickets for the match, cabaret and buffet are £25 per person or a table of ten for £225.

Contact The Willows on 736 8541. Admission to the match only is £5 for adults and £1 for Children contact the Reds Club Shop on 736 6564.

Now Hodgson Earns GB Place

Following on from the news that Malcolm Alker has been called into the Great Britain train-on squad we can exclusively reveal that team-mate David Hodgson has also been given the call-up to Brian Noble’s Tri -Nations squad.

Head Coach Karl Harrison said: “This is the first step to them being selected for the Tri Nations. They are in the training squad which is a huge step forward but it has been down to consistant performances all season.

Man of many words David Hodgson told us: “I’m really happy!”

Alker Gets GB Call

Salford City Reds captain has finally received a call from Brian Noble to join the GB train-on squad for the Tri-Nations series which is to be held Down Under this year.

Alker has missed out in recent seasons but has once again been flying and has been instrumental in the Reds admirable rise to fifth on the Super League ladder.

Alker said: “I’m obviously really chuffed to get the call. It’s something myself and the coaches have been working towards this all season. It’s the next big step and we just have to keep going forward now.”

Aussie Starlet Gower Lands in UK

Salford City Reds new signing, 20-year-old Australian / British back-rower David Gower arrived at Manchester Airport yesterday and met up with his new teammates soon after, taking part in a Challenge cricket match with the rest of the squad against a team from sponsors Godliman & Watson.

While obviously not being the first man with his name to pick up a cricket bat Reds’ fans will be more looking forward to seeing the highly rated youngster in action at The Willows.

Reds ‘ Director of Football Steve Simms said: “David is a great signing for the club. He is a quality young player and we have very high hopes he will go all the way to the top.”

Gower does not count on the overseas quota as he holds a British passport as his father is from Kent, although he has never been out of Australia before.

Simms continued: “There is every chance David will make his debut for us this weekend and we’re sure the fans will take to him very quickly.”

David Gower will meet the British pr

Flames Take Europe By Storm

Reds’ Cheerleading Squad the Flames took this weekend’s European Championships by storm, finishing in an amazing 6th spot out of 21 teams.

Heading to Oslo for the first time with their aim simply not to finish last the girls put in the performance of a lifetime to secure a top six finish.

Head Coach Suzanne Roberts said: “It was fantastic. Our only aim was not to finish last because the standard is so high here. We are more than happy with the result.”

The girls will be back in action at The Willows this Saturday for the game against Hull FC.