Council opposition group in threat to make Sale Sharks homeless

Sale Sharks may have to step up their bid to build their own stadium if a minority opposition group in the Labour-run Salford council get their way.

Conservative members of the council are calling for the CorpAcq Stadium, which has been home to Sale Sharks since 2012, be sold to pay for pothole repairs.

The stadium company, CosCos, is controlled by the council after it completed a £7.7m deal with former co-owners Peel in late 2024, and according to their finance department, is losing £1.6m a year.

The phoenix Salford rugby league club also use the 12,000-capacity facility, which has previously hosted the World Rugby U20 Championship and the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Councillor Bob Clarke, leader of Salford Conservative group, told the Manchester Evening News (MEN): “It’s outrageous, we couldn’t believe it when we saw the figures. I think the mayor had good intentions and wanted to do something for everybody, but if it’s burning through the best part of £1.6m a year, that’s not credible, especially when you ask for more money from the residents [through council tax] and they see this being burned.

“It’s an extra £6,500 a month per ward that we could spend on making things better for everybody, not just the few people that use the stadium. It doesn’t make sense, it’s £1.6m, it’s over £100,000 a month gone.”

Defending the decision of the Council to take full ownership of the stadium, a Salford Labour spokesperson told the MEN: “Salford Labour was re-elected in 2024 on a manifesto commitment to deliver a rugby strategy for the whole city. Taking full control of Salford Community Stadium is a key part of this vision, helping ensure that professional clubs from both codes continue to play in Salford.

“The stadium was also a key venue for the Women’s Rugby World Cup last year, and as part of our ownership, we will continue to explore opportunities to use the stadium for other prestige events. The stadium also provides the foundation for improving the surrounding facilities to support greater grassroots participation in rugby. This will enable residents across the city to benefit from the sporting, social, health and economic advantages the sport brings.”

The council’s budget, which is being discussed on 25 February, will need to be amended if the process of selling the ground is to begin. However, the sale of the ground can’t happen until 2028 due to existing financial and contractual arrangements in place.

One of those contractual arrangement is potentially the ‘multi-year’ partnership with CorpAcq, the financial investment group founded by the Sale Sharks co-owner Simon Orange, which began at the start of this season and includes naming rights to the stadium.

Previously, the ground was called the Salford Community Stadium, having originally been known as the AJ Bell Stadium, as part of the investment company’s nine-year sponsorship deal with the Sharks.

Sale Sharks have long sought to build a home ground of their own in a bid to become sustainable. An £8million loss in the past financial year has only served to heighten the difficulties in making money when you’re effectively tenants.

Proposals to build a multi-purpose sports and activity hub at Crossford Bridge Playing Fields, two miles from their spiritual home of Heywood Road, never got off the ground after a public outcry. And recently it’s been rumoured that the club have identified a site in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, as a possible location.