Salford Red Devils CEO shares off-field vision including stadium purchase plans and new investment

There are few people better placed to head up the day-to-day running of the new regime at Salford Red Devils quite like Chris Irwin, in truth.

Irwin, a proud Salfordian, cannot hide his pride about what it means to be entrusted with such a position as his club enters a brand new era on and off the field. It is less than a year since Irwin, who worked as the Red Devils’ chief commercial officer, left to join EFL club Exeter City in a similar role.

But the temptation to return home, as Irwin puts it, was simply too much to resist.

“I loved my time at Exeter,” he tells Love Rugby League. “It’s a brilliantly run club, it’s a fan-owned club and I loved every success there. I always wanted my next role to be as a CEO, though – and when this chance came up, it felt like it was meant to be.

“I don’t think anyone would have expected me to come back so quickly but it’s the club I’ve supported all my life, I’m back home with my wife and children, and back at the club I love.”

Irwin will bring his expertise from the world of football back with him to the role – but he also believes that the fact he is local, while the rest of Salford’s new ownership group are from overseas, will help strike a perfect balance. For Irwin, his immediate goal is ensuring the Salford brand is seen in local communities.

That will be achieved by significant investment into the club’s off-field operations – and something that will be aided by the fact that, unlike previous regimes at the Red Devils, this new chapter will begin with the club completely debt-free.

“Previous ownerships have carried the debt over from old ones but this is different,” Irwin says. “This is a blank slate, a chance to start afresh.

“There is a significant amount of money being invested in year one which has given me the autonomy to run the club properly and build the structure the club needs. We’re recruiting extensively for a new executive team and once we do that, and have a strong back office, it’s all systems go.

“I want to market the club in the city of Salford but also in the Greater Manchester areas. There is a huge catchment area here, and commercial opportunities all over the place: but the club’s never had the money to go out and put itself out there.

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“Now we can. Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Bury.. we will make sure the brand is seen. I can promise supporters that.”

So far, the new owners have said little about their plans and their investment – but Irwin is able to shed some light on that.

“The plan is simple. To be sustainable and break even year in, year out,” he says. “That can’t happen overnight, but the new ownership group are there to help support things until we get to that point. There will be significant investment this year to bring in the people with the right skills to grow the revenue.

“We will get this club to a point where it is sustainable. The owners are committed to making that happen.

“They have wiped the slate clean in terms of the debt and there’s now a good amount of money left in the bank for me to work with, and put systems in place that will stand the club in really good stead.”

Can Salford avoid a repeat of the financial crises that have engulfed the club in recent seasons?

“Easily,” Irwin insists. “With the money that’s coming.. again, it’s significant, and there’s a bigger plan around the investment group and the funding. 

“My job is to ensure our club no longer needs to be walking around cap in hand, going to the Council, going to the clubs. My job is to build a team that will deliver off-field success that mirrors what the club have achieved on it despite testing financial circumstances. I have the tools to do that.”

Irwin is loathe to discuss the ongoing investigation into the club about their controversial team selection in Round 1 of the new season, other than to say: “I don’t think anyone gained anything from it, and we’re working to ensure it will never happen again.”

And unlike previous takeovers, the one thing the new owners and the new CEO do not need to worry about too much is what’s happening on the field. Paul Rowley has built a strong, competitive squad that has achieved way above expectations despite tight financial restrictions.

That means Irwin and the consortium’s full attention can be focused on off-field growth. Does that involve a potential purchase of the Salford Community Stadium? Not in the immediate term: but Irwin does admit there are plans to maximise the Red Devils’ value of the recent purchase by the Council.

“I need to sit down with the council,” he says. “We’ve a strong relationship with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. I need to sit with them and work out what the deals are – food and beverage is a huge one. 

“There’s a massive amount we’re missing out on. I did a deal with Betfred for a screen to be built, we need to get that over the line and get it up. Now the takeover is done, I need to sit down with all the stadium’s stakeholders and make sure this club gets the best it can out of the stadium.”

That includes the well-documented giant screen that will sit within view of the M60 – a brainchild of Irwin’s having seen a similarly-erected one near Walsall’s stadium, just off the M6. But it also includes the new consortium looking to purchasing some of the surrounding land around the stadium.

Irwin reveals: “One of their interests within the stadium is to meet with the Council and do joint venture and partnership project around the stadium. 

“One of the ideas is a 5,000 seater indoor arena, a huge community sport and leisure facility and a 200-bedroom hotel. The communication has begun with the owners and the Council on that. There’s no messing about.”

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