Salford Red Devils saga reaches miserable conclusion as court judgement made

Salford Red Devils have officially been wound up in the High Court in London: leaving the club facing an uncertain future and the Championship potentially without one of its leading teams.

After months of uncertainty and numerous adjournments in the courts, there was finally a seismic moment on Wednesday morning as it was ordered that the club’s parent company, Salford City Reds (2013) must be liquidated.

The club’s ownership group had initially attempted to engineer another adjournment but it is understood Salford CEO Paul King refused to appoint a barrister to represent the club, leaving the owners powerless and without representation. They did not attend on Wednesday morning.

It means their tenure as owners is now over, the club is officially heading for liquidation and there is now a frantic search to try and build a new phoenix club in time for the 2026 season.

Salford are due to kick off the Championship season against Oldham in the middle of January, around six weeks from now. They had just one player – Jack Walker – on their books – but any new ownership group that wishes to acquire the Red Devils’ playing licence must now convince the Rugby Football League they are the right people to start afresh.

Various groups – including one led by the former CEO Chris Irwin – are in talks about starting a new Salford rugby league club that would take the Red Devils’ place in the Championship.

As for the current incarnation of the club, that parent company is liquidated with debts approaching £4million. That company will now be written off officially – meaning that Sire Kaliahi and Curtis Brown’s ownership is over, and the future of rugby league in the city of Salford is now more uncertain than ever before.

The Rugby Football League have been approached for comment by Love Rugby League.