Salford Red Devils given fourth winding-up reprieve

Fans held protests against Salford Red Devils' ownership during the 2025 Super League season

A winding-up petition filed against troubled rugby league side Salford Red Devils has been adjourned for the fourth time.

The petition was initially adjourned in June after the club said they were confident of attaining a bridging loan in order to pay a tax bill to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

It was adjourned again in September with the club on the verge of finishing the 2025 Super League season and also in late October.

The club is scheduled to next appear before the High Court on 3 December.

"We fully understand the continued uncertainty this situation brings for everyone connected with the club and sincerely hope for a positive resolution soon," a Salford statement said.

It has been a turbulent 2025 for the club both on and off the field after a mass player exodus, late wages payments and heavy defeats contributing to a bottom-place finish in Super League.

The Red Devils subsequently lost their top flight status for next season after this year's grading process promoted Bradford Bulls in their place.

Following the previous adjournment in October, the club's owners said they had secured new funding to settle their outstanding debts and that they expected it to arrive "within 12 days".

Salford previously asked for an advance of their 2025 central distribution in late 2024 and were eventually taken over by a consortium led by Swiss businessman Dario Berta on the eve of the season.

A sustainability cap imposed on the club by the Rugby Football League affected team selection, leading to the Red Devils frequently fielding youthful sides and being on the end of numerous humbling defeats, including St Helens' 15-try record-breaking 82-0 win at the start of the 2025 campaign.

Having previously claimed the club would not close despite its financial troubles, the owners came in for more criticism when chief operating officer Claire Bradbury quit her role after she alleged the ownership suggested she "sleep with someone at the Rugby Football League" to ease their situation.

Salford's Super League game against Wakefield was later called off because of "significant" welfare concerns, with the club having just two senior players available - leading to fan protests which continued as the season went on.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and his deputy Paul Dennett held a meeting with the RFL in October to make the case for a possible Salford Red Devils phoenix club being able to enter the second-tier Championship next season.

With the next hearing not set to take place until December, a time when most clubs will be in the midst of their pre-season preparations, it leaves little time for the Red Devils to prepare for the 2026 season, wherever they end up playing.

Salford's financial troubles pre-date the arrival of the club's current ownership group, with the situation worsening prior to the beginning of the 2025 campaign.

In late 2023 the club had said it was "at risk" due to a protracted row of the ownership of their stadium.

Meanwhile, the club were put under a sustainability cap in January and were ordered by the RFL to sell players before the season got under way.

Almost two weeks after the takeover was announced in February 2025, the RFL eventually approved the change of control.

But RFL senior executive director Nigel Wood said it would be unfair for the body to take responsibility for the financial state of any of its member clubs.

"There will always be in any sport - I can point to Sheffield Wednesday, and I could point to Wasps or London Irish or Worcester - there will always be poorly run clubs that eventually don't manage their affairs properly and they can't defy gravity forever," Wood told BBC Sport in an interview earlier this week, prior to Salford's latest adjournment.

"The law of the land and the law of insolvency will deal with that in the fullness of time.

"But just as there are poorly run clubs, there's some excellently run clubs and I'm not going to sit here and try and take credit for how well Wigan run themselves and how well Leeds run themselves or any of the other clubs that we've got in membership.

"The only people responsible for financial mismanagement are the company directors of those companies that manage them and to lay that on the governing body by proxy is not really appropriate, in the same way it wouldn't be appropriate to lay Sheffield Wednesday's travails on the FA."