Re: The Willows : Thu Nov 20, 2014 7:58 pm
Rugby league is currently spent in these parts. MK’s interest can't hide the real situation. Too many years floundering and letting football, basically Man U , hoover up new sports interest. Its profile is pretty much bouncing along the bottom. Grassroots is shrivelling – amalgamations at junior level tell you everything. You will never reverse the trend of twenty + years of decline just like that – even if Salford suddenly find a winning team. Consistent big crowds ain’t never going to happen again – anytime soon. And certainly not at Barton. Rugby league is a parochial game it needs to be close to a critical mass of solid support. Where is Salford’s critical mass of support? – Its certainly not Swinton, Worsley , Eccles, Irlam etc- supposedly districts of Salford but hardly teeming with Salford support. The indifference and detachment from Salford rugby is a mirror of the widespread indifference and detachment from Salford as a place . It will take another few years to fix that one – if it can be fixed at all. Salford’s sojourn at Barton is doomed to end in tears on the current trajectory. They may as well get ahead of it and have a plan in place to preserve something. Something they can build from again. And something more secure.