19 – Ryan Boyle

Prop

D.O.B. 17/10/1987

Graduated through the junior ranks at Castleford, playing for them in the Club’s Academy Grand Finals winning side. He made his 1st Team debut for the Tigers against Batley Bulldogs in June 2005 when he was a try-scorer in their 60-12 victory.

Represented Ireland in their recent European Cup matches against Serbia and Wales, alongside Reds’ full-back Karl Fitzpatrick.

He joins Salford at the beginning of the 2010 season on a two year deal and expectations are high.

Wolves At The Door For Myler

Salford City Reds can confirm that England scrum-half Richard Myler will leave the club at the end of the season to join Warrington Wolves, after the clubs agreed a transfer fee to take the 19-year-old to the Halliwell Jones.

Myler signed for the Reds in 2008 from Widnes Vikings and played a part in the successful campaign that saw Salford sweep the National League board and return to the engage Super League.

He capped his rookie season as a professional with a try-scoring debut for England against Wales at Doncaster. He then started the 2009 Super League campaign like a house on fire and was again selected for International duty by England and the new Wolves coach Tony Smith.

Warrington were able to offer the player a startling contract and transfer fee for somebody who has only played a handful of games at this level. From the Club’s point of view it made both good football and business sense to let Richie go as it is pointless to keep a player against his wishes.

After just half of the Super League season and a hat-trick for England against France Richard had become the hottest property in the game and was one of the latest young stars to benefit from the Reds policy of blooding young, English talent.

Director of Football Steve Simms said: “Warrington offered a significant amount of money for his services; however we have always maintained that we wanted to keep Richie and build our future team around him and other homegrown players. This was reflected in the substantial offer we made for Myler’s future services, however Warrington were able to offer the player a startling contract and transfer fee for somebody who has only played a handful of games at this level.

From the Club’s point of view it made both good football and business sense to let Richie go as it is pointless to keep a player against his wishes, and we can now invest the finance back into the squad to strengthen in all areas.”

Simms continued, “Salford City Reds are proud of the opportunity it gave to Richie and will continue to give young talent the chance to flourish and accelerate their development into future stars of the game, rather than finding their first team opportunities limited at other Super League clubs.

Richard is a good young player who has a great future ahead of him. We wish him all the very best for his future career and I’m sure everybody connected to Salford will thank him for a remarkable two seasons in our colours.”

UK to host 2013 World Cup

The Rugby League International Federation announced today that the next Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom in 2013.

The decision was one of many major issues discussed by the International Federation at a two day meeting scheduled to determine the future of the International calendar and to discuss the allocation of funding to develop the International game.

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup, run by the Rugby League International Federation, was an outstanding success by any measure, attracting more than 290,000 fans, 6791 tickets sold through official travel agents and attracting a global television audience of 19.2m people. Importantly the event was a commercial success, raising revenue that will be reinvested by the International Federation to strengthen development and grow participation at all levels.

Event research showed that 85% of respondents watched the Rugby League World Cup on television with 98% of respondents who watched enjoying the matches. 88% of fans identified as passionate supporters believed the Rugby League World Cup was a great competition.

The decision to play the next World Cup in the northern hemisphere was based on a comprehensive business plan, submitted by the Rugby Football League (RFL), detailing plans to host the tournament in the United Kingdom, as part of the UK’s ‘Golden Decade of Sport’. The decision to play the tournament in 2013 as opposed to 2012 was made to ensure the tournament is played outside an Olympic year in the future.

Deputy Chairman of the International Federation & RFL Chairman, Richard Lewis said, ‘It is a great boost for Rugby League in the Northern Hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013. I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to deliver a successful and profitable tournament that further enhances the International prestige of Rugby League.’

Developing more elite International Test matches and growing Rugby League in nations who could deliver World Cup teams into the future was agreed as the basis for future funding grants in order to ensure continued growth for the RLIF’s premier event.

Chairman of the RLIF, Colin Love, said ‘The RLIF is determined to build a stronger International calendar of matches and the recent announcement of the Pacific Cup is a perfect example of this.

The Pacific Cup will see the Pacific nations; Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Island and Papua New Guinea compete in a two week tournament in Port Moresby in October – November with the winner given the chance to play in the 2010 Four Nations in Australia and New Zealand. It is an exciting and credible concept that will deliver entertaining Rugby League for fans at the ground and on television.’

The on-going development of the European Nations Cup and the need to ensure consistent matches for France, Wales, Scotland & Ireland was also discussed.

When these events are combined with the Four Nations event being held in 2009, 2010 and 2011 it is clear that there is a strong calendar of International Rugby League that will build excitement for the 2013 World Cup.

The RLIF considered the issue of player workload and it was agreed that in every four year cycle, there will be no Four Nations staged in the year prior to a Rugby League World Cup. In these years, a Test match schedule among nations will be developed.

The calendar will see Four Nations played in England in 2009, Australia and New Zealand in 2010, England in 2011 and then in Australia post the 2013 World Cup.

Elite competitions will be complimented with a range of funding grants that were agreed to fund a wide range of projects including grassroots development, elite youth academies, support for administrative staff, coaching accreditation and training courses.

‘The RLIF provides funding to more than 30 Rugby League nations and I am excited about the potential for funds raised by last year’s tournament to be carefully allocated to achieve genuine growth in Rugby League participation at all levels from elite to grassroots globally’, Love said.

Other issues discussed included player eligibility, international judiciary, maximising international commercial rights (broadcast & sponsorship) and the development of a long term strategic plan for International Rugby League.

Half-back Dilemma For McRae In Tigers Challenge

Shaun McRae takes charge of his 400th game as Head Coach at The Willows this Friday (8pm) where he faces a tricky selection issue -  whether to play prodigy Stefan Ratchford in his preferred position in the halves at the expense of Richie Myler or Jeremy Smith or keep him in the centres.

Ratchford was played in the centres last weekend due to an injury crisis in the back-line, but McRae is acutely aware he is more dangerous at 6 or 7. With Jordan Turner potentially returning it gives him more options in the centre but then he must decide who may miss out.

The only change to the 19-man squad sees Steve Nash return to replace Andrew Thornley.

Reds’ star youngster Luke Adamson, who celebrated his new three-year contract with the first try in last weekend’s game in Bridgend is looking forward to returning to winning ways and said:

“Everybody was frustrated with how things went in Wales. We weren’t clinical enough with our execution of skill. We should not have gone from beating Saints to losing against Celtic and we have to bounce back this Friday.

“Castleford are a good role model for us as a club. They have come back into Super League and have progressed. We have to look to kicking on as they have done. I am sure we will because eventually we have to look at being up there challenging the best.

Reds 19 Man Squad to face Castleford Tigers:
Wilshere, Henry, Smith, Turner, McGilvray, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Swain, Littler, Leuluai, Paul, Ratchford, Adamson, Jewitt, Walton, Sidlow, Nash, Myler

Celtic Crusaders 25-12 Salford City Reds (eSL R20)

Salford City Reds put in an ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Parade’ type performance after last week’s stunnning victory over St Helens as they crashed 25-12 at bottom club Celtic Crusaders having thrown away a 0-12 start gained in the first 10 minutes, including a try from Luke Adamson celebrating his new three-year contract.

Match Report (courtesy of PA)

Celtic Crusaders gave themselves the slightest chance of finishing off the bottom rung of the Super League ladder with a superb victory over Salford at Brewery Field.

On the day former Salford and Wales legend David Watkins was made president of the Crusaders, this was a day the Welshmen had waited for since February.

However, it looked to be going the same way as the other games when Luke Adamson grabbed a try after two minutes before centre Stuart Littler made it 12-0, with full-back John Wilshere converting both touchdowns.

From somewhere, though, the Crusaders found some inner strength and began an outstanding comeback on 20 minutes when centre Marshall Chalk took a high ball on the sixth tackle on the Salford 25-yard line and raced over in the corner.

Wing Anthony Blackwood grabbed a try in the corner nine minutes later after a pass on the left in the Salford danger zone which full-back Damien Quinn, who had landed Chalk’s conversion, booted as well.

That levelled matters and the Crusaders were soon in the lead. A drive upfield saw hooker Lincoln Withers dive in under some bodies from a few yards with Quinn’s conversion simple.

The crowd, who have had little to cheer all season, were profoundly vocal and Salford looked decidedly unsettled for the rest of the game.

Shaun McRae’s men had a number of chances to score but dropped the ball and made numerous errors as the pressure to score mounted.

Stand-off Matt Smith grabbed a fourth touchdown of the match which Quinn converted to give the Crusaders a 10-point lead.

And, from there, Salford lost control of the ball, gave away lots of penalties and were not really at the races.

A final Smith drop-goal in the 80th minute was just the finishing touch.

Match Facts

Celtic Crusaders: Quinn, Dyer, Chalk, Dalle Cort, Van Dijk, Blackwood, Smith, O’Hara, Withers, Bryant, J. James, Chan, Lupton.

Replacements: Budworth, Peek, Beasley, Lennon.

Salford: Wilshere, McGilvray, Littler, Ratchford, Henry, Smith, Myler, Swain, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Adamson, Sidlow.

Replacements: Paul, Walton, Leuluai, Jewitt.

Mancunian Magic

International rugby will come to Manchester this weekend when England Lionhearts take on Ireland Wolfhounds and Mancunians RL take on Chester Gladiators in Read more

Myler Set For Starring England Role

Salford City Reds’ Richie Myler has been named in Tony Smith’s England squad to face France on 13 June. Myler is set to win his second cap after starring against Wales before the World Cup.

Three uncapped players – Huddersfield’s Scott Moore, Leeds’ Ryan Hall and Wigan’s Sam Tomkins – have been named in Tony Smith’s 19 man England squad to face France in Paris on Saturday 13 June in the Gillette Fusion International.

The squad, which will be captained by Leeds Rhinos forward Jamie Peacock, features players from 11 different clubs and is a youthful looking one featuring 12 players who are aged 25 or under.

It also includes 12 players who were not involved in last year’s World Cup in Australia including Huddersfield’s Eorl Crabtree, Wakefield’s Ryan Atkins and the Hull KR duo of Peter Fox and Shaun Briscoe.

Three players who made their debuts in last year’s Gillette Fusion International against Wales – Tony Clubb, Richard Myler and Michael Shenton – also make the squad.

Tony Smith, England head coach, said: “This is a squad featuring a lot of new and exciting faces as well as seasoned campaigners and gives a good blend of youth and experience.  It’s a big team that is full of speed and skill and people who can score tries.

“The players are chosen from a number of Super League clubs.  This I believe is a reflection of the form of some of the players and clubs at the moment and also underlines just how competitive Super League is this season.

“This game against France will also be about looking at a number of new faces to see how they perform on the international stage with one eye on this autumn’s Four Nations.”

As well as playing France in Paris on 13 June, England will also face Bobbie Goulding’s men in this autumn Four Nations tournament which also features Australia and World Champions New Zealand.  England will play France on 23 October at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium.

Tickets for the Gillette Fusion International between France and England on 13 June at the Jean Bouin stadium, Paris are now available and are priced €5, €10, €15 and €20.  They can be purchased from http://www.ticketnet.fr/shop/en/manif.asp?idmanif=176001&idtier=78768

The game is also live on Sky Sports 2, kick off 8pm (BST) and 9pm (CET).

Hampson ‘Knocking Wigan Out Of The Cup Is Great Feeling’

Playing at Wembley has long been the dream of every rugby league player and next Friday’s Carnegie Challenge Cup Quarter Final at the JJB not only gives the Reds a great stepping stone towards the showpiece in the Capital, but will also bring back many a memory of the day in 1996 when the Reds ended the eight-year dominance of the Warriors in the Cup, with a famous 26-16 win at The Willows.

By the time I played against them with Salford, it was very sweet indeed to get that famous win and become part of history

Full-back for Salford that day was Steve Hampson, fondly remembered by both camps for his services to both the Reds and the Wigan side and he still ranks his appearance in the 1989 Cup Final at Wembley when they beat St Helens 27-0 as one of his favourite memories in the Cherry and Whites. However, that wet afternoon in Salford Hampson had a point to prove, having infamously been released by Wigan two seasons earlier, much to his disappointment.

“We were actually very confident going into that game. We had been playing pretty well leading up to it, even though we were in a lower division, and we had come up with a game plan to hit them hard down the middle because we knew they were playing with three props,” said Hampson.

“That win, and the two seasons I had at Salford were hugely enjoyable. I was disappointed to be released by Andy Gregory before I could have a crack at Super League, but being able to achieve what we did, and end Wigan’s dominance of the Challenge Cup was terrific.

“There were some great times during my time at Central Park. I’ll never forget the 1987 World Club Challenge win over Manly. We were an all British side then that beat the Aussies – you don’t see that any more, but when I was released from there I felt a bit let down, so by the time I played against them with Salford, it was very sweet indeed to get that famous win and become part of history.

“Everybody in rugby league wants to play at Wembley. They have had Finals in Wales and Scotland but Wembley is the pinnacle of a player’s career. It is an unbeatable feeling to walk out there,” he concluded.

Seasons To Remember 1934/35

1934 – 1935

by Darrell Platt

Salford began the season in knowledge that they would be undertaking a short tour of France in October and November as part of the inauguration of the French league in 1934, but before that the Reds has some important domestic matches to attend to. Jenkins and Risman both scored hat tricks of tries against Hull K.R and Hunslet respectively and a couple more victories including a 34-0 Lancashire cup 1st Round success over Leigh produced a notable start to the new campaign despite a setback at Halifax (12-13).The Reds then embarked on a terrific run of consecutive victories which saw them not only head of the league table but also reach the Lancashire Cup Final courtesy of victories over Warrington (23-5) and Swinton, in the semi – final by 12 points to 5. Opponents in the final were Wigan at Station Road, Swinton and on October 20th the Reds won a thrilling match by 21 points to 12 in front of a crowd exceeding 33,500.

Immediately after the game the players had to rush for the train to London to begin what was to become a landmark in the Club’s history. A quick change of trains in the capital  took the party to Folkestone where they crossed the channel to Dunkirk. Now on French soil, the players headed for Paris by train to undertake their opening game of the six match tour. Incredibly only 24 hours after the winning the Lancashire Cup, Salford beat a Paris select side by 51 points to 36 and the crowd marvelled at the open rugby on display. The team were treated like film stars and were dubbed “Les Diables Rouges” – The Red Devils, a title that became synonymous with the club.

Gus Risman

Throughout the remainder of that ground breaking tour Salford, who were to remain unbeaten, became magnificent Ambassadors for the R.L and generous applause greeted every try they scored. For the record the rest of the were:- Lyon  Villeurbanne  17 Salford 41 Beziers 8 Salford 41 Alba 5 Salford 44 X111 Catalon 16 Salford 41 Villeurbanne 10 Salford 34. The players who made that historic tour were: Risman, Hudson, Watkinns, Williams, Casewell, Feetham, Jenkins, Bradbury, Bradbury, Osbaldestin, Brown, Evans,Day, Dalton, Harris, Middleton, Miller and Pearson.

On their return to this country, Salford continued where they left off with victories at Rochdale Hornets (14-3) and home to Swinton (19-7) but we came a cropper at Leeds (3-12), the Yorkshire side later becoming the only club to complete a double over us, with 10 points to 5 successes at the Willows.  In the New Year, Barney Hudson notched 4 tries in our 29 points to 7 home victory against Leigh and a four match winning run later on included a challenge Cup 1st Round victory  over Halifax (16-11).

The second round paired us with Hunslet and a confident Salford side travelled over the Pennines only to suffer a surprise 22 points to 2 defeat. At the end of May, the Reds failed to score a point in successive defeats at Broughton Rangers (0-11) and Dewsbury (0-9). The team rallied to remain undefeated in the last seven matches of the season to ensure fourth spot in the league but in the Championship play offs we lost to table-toppers Swinton in the semi-finals by 21 points to 2.

1934-35 STATS

TOP TRY SCORERS
28 Barney Hudson
19 Bob Brown
13 Jack Fleetham
13 Emlyn Jenkins

TOP SCORER
208 Gus Risman

REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS
England: Hudson, Dalton
Wales:  Risman, Day, Jenkins, Watkins
Lancashire:  Osbladestin, Brown
Yorkshire: Dalton
Cumberland:  Miller, Dalton

Seasons To Remember 1975/76

by Darrell Platt
SEASON 1975-76

New Signings

During the close season the playing staff was considerably strengthened with the acquisition of John Butler and Bill Sheffield (Ex- Rochdale Hornets) Gordon Graham (Sale R.U) and Steve Nash (Featherstone Rovers).

Club coach was Les Bettinson with Alan McInnes as his assistant.

Off to a Flyer

David Watkins settled in well in his new role at full back and the Reds had a dream start to the season by rattling off four league victories, three Lancashire cup wins, one John  Player win and a Floodlit Trophy draw.

The Reds suffered a severe setback in the opening fixture of the season against Dewsbury at the Willows when hooker Peter Walker broke his leg in what proved to be the final tackle of the match. Prop Alan Grice was entrusted with the number nine jersey before Halifax hooker Ray Hawksley joined the club on loan.

At the end of September John Taylor was transferred to Leigh for £1,500.

Mid Season Blues

Salford tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of Widnes in the Lancashire Cup Final at Central Park, Wigan.  This was Salford’s third consecutive defeat in the final.

When the Aussie tourists visited the Willows in October they caught Salford at a low ebb and the result was an easy 44 points to 6 victory for the Kangaroos.

Back on Track

Chris Hesketh

Fortunately the Reds picked up their league form to register seven successive wins, one of them being a resounding 40 -13 victory at Huddersfield, winger Maurice Richards notching 4 tries. Young Sammy Turnbull made a satisfactory debut for Lancashire against Cumbria and the Reds welcomed Dennis Wright, the G.B physic, onto the staff

At the half way stage of the season, Salford were handily placed in 3rd position in the league hot on the heels of Widnes and Featherstone Rovers.

Hesketh MBE

In the 1976 New Years honours list Chris Hesketh was rewarded with an M.B.E for his services to the game.

Out of the Cup

February saw Salford drawn away to old rivals Castleford in the Challenge Cup and it was the Reds who won in style by 25 points to 3. However, a home defeat to St. Helens the second round put paid to any thought of a trip to Wembley!

League Champions

Salford were still going strong in the league and they won their last five matches to seal the Division One Championship. It was an 18 points to 10 victory at Keighley in the final match of the league season enabled the Reds to secure the title.

Even though Salford played well in the Premiership games to reach the final at Station Road ,Swinton, the club were beaten by St. Helens by 15 points to 2.

Maurice Richards

Top try scorer that season was winger Maurice Richards with a total of 37 a figure that put him top of the R.L try scoring list for that season.

Born in Ystrad Rhondda, Maurice had played for the Welsh schoolboys side and later Cardiff R.U club upon leaving school.

In 1968, he won his first cup for Wales in a match against Ireland and became a regular choice for the British Lions but it was his four tries for Wales against England at Cardiff in April 1969 that made people sit up. The feat saw him equal the Welsh record held for 70 years by Willie Llewellyn.

Salford took a keen interest in him and he turned professional with the Reds for a £7000 fee on October 1969. Fast and elusive he won instant hit with the fans from the time he make his debut for the Reds against Leigh at the Willows on October 14th 1969.

Maurice went on to spend almost 14 years at Salford in which time he represented G.B and Wales as well as being a late call up for the 1974 G.B tour. His 498 appearances including 2 as substitute plus 297 tries, are both career club records that seen set to remain for many years to come.

In his distinguished spell with Salford, he won two division championship medals and a Floodlit cup medal but it was in1972 that he won his first medal with the Lancashire Cup Final victory over Swinton.

Top try scorer for the club on five occasions, he also went into the history book by scoring the first 4 point try for the club in the opening match of the 1983-84 campaign against Wigan at the Willows. That way the last try he scored for the club and also his last match for Salford.

Next Page »