Why Salford Red Devils can delay player sales and avoid cap restrictions
Salford's players have been paid.
It’s now almost two weeks since Salford Red Devils broke their silence on the financial crisis which has engulfed the club over the winter and admitted they needed to make player sales ‘without delay’.
Among their lengthy statement was an admission that they have been ordered to comply to a £1.2million sustainability cap – which in real terms, means a cut of player salaries to the tune of around £800,000.
But as the new season approaches – Salford’s first Super League game is in little over a fortnight – there is still no sign of movement. The club remain locked in talks with an overseas investment group about a possible takeover that they hope will stave off the threat of a mass exodus.
But rival clubs and supporters have asked why the club haven’t been ordered to follow up on the claim they have to sell players ‘without delay’. The Rugby Football League’s chief executive, Tony Sutton, even admitted at last week’s Championship launch that the ball is in Salford’s court.
Those questions were raised again over the weekend when Salford fielded their full-strength side – including basically every player who is subject to interest from other clubs – against St Helens. The Red Devils won handsomely, too.
But there are a couple of significant deadlines coming up that influence things – and one in particular which underlines why that sustainability cap figure has not been enforced yet and why the club were allowed to play their full squad in a friendly.
First and foremost, this coming week is significant because it is the end of the month: which means payroll must be met. Salford are confident there are no issues on that front – if there were, that is when bodies including the Rugby League Players Association would likely start to get involved. The RFL would almost certainly have to accelerate their involvement, too.
But that appears as though it will pass without any significant drama. There have even been reports Salford are going to sign a player, with Wigan’s Tiaki Chan heading for the club on loan according to Rugby League Live.
But the devil in the detail – excuse the pun – surrounding their salary cap spend lies around the Super League salary cap regulations, and is loosely related to Leeds Rhinos’ situation concerning Maika Sivo.
As Love Rugby League revealed on Monday, the Rhinos are in a position to be able to recruit and replace Sivo on their salary cap because he hasn’t played a competitive game for the club. The rules dictate that only when a player appears in a competitive fixture – Super League or the Challenge Cup – do they go onto a club’s salary cap spend for the year.
Salford have played zero competitive games so far this season, which means their current salary cap spend is.. £0. What they are paying players is immaterial in regards to a sustainability cap at this moment in time, because they haven’t played any fixtures that would add to their cap spend.
However, that obviously means there is a significant date looming: their Challenge Cup tie against Midlands Hurricanes next Sunday.
That is Salford’s first competitive fixture of 2025 and it means that anyone who plays in that game will go onto their salary cap spend. It is almost certain they will not be allowed to exceed £1.2million worth of talent on the field if circumstances have not changed by then in regards to a takeover.
That would mean two things. One, there would be some major names left out of the Salford team when you consider their current cap spend is around £2million. It would not be difficult to then work out which players are top of the list when it comes to being sold to make ends meet.
Secondly, it would effectively mean the Red Devils are going to start the Super League season a week later in a similar position.
The conclusion of a takeover likely changes all that. But it’s worth noting that time is starting to tick on a deal if Salford’s competitive fixtures aren’t going to be severely impacted.
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