Salford City FC – A Peak Behind the Scenes

The city of Salford has never had the greatest public image, but in recent years perceptions of the area have started to change.

"Not too long ago, when residents talked about going into town, they didn't mean Salford. They meant Manchester," said Frank McCauley, Salford City F. C’s club's longest-serving committee member.

"What's happened with our football team now, it's given a lot of locals an identity. Now around the city, you see everyone walking round with beanie hats, badges, replica shirts."

McCauley, a former schoolteacher who has lived in the area for the past forty years, joined the club’s committee in 1984. He has seen a great deal of change since but nothing as dramatic as the past several seasons.

Three leagues have been climbed, a stadium has been developed, and money has been invested. Even the average attendance at the Peninsula Stadium has increased from about 130 to 2,400 per game.

"When I joined, we were in the North-West Counties division. We couldn't pay anyone and relied on our players to use their own cars to get to games.

“You get involved with non-league football, and as much as you start to enjoy the running of it, you just don’t' want to stand still. You want progress."

It’s undeniable that those who work behind the scenes share a passion for the club.

Asking the bar staff whether they enjoyed working at Salford, Laura Demato replied: “Come on. This is football. This is the passion of the nation!”

In 2014, the Class of 92, the players who made up the core of Sir Alex Ferguson's successful team at Manchester United, banded together with Singaporean businessman Peter Lim to invest in Salford City.

The side has made unprecedented progress and a good finish to the current season would see them climb into Football League territory, three promotions off the Premier League.

The takeover, which was subject to a documentary by the BBC, was done through a third party. At first, committee members were under the impression that former Premier League players - Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes - were inquiring about a sponsorship deal.

"It was only until we got talking with Gary in particular and he started describing what their vision was, we realised it was bigger, says McCauley.

David Beckham recently joined in on the takeover, investing in a 10% share and completing the full Class of 92 Reunion.

Although it may be too early to determine the impact of Beckham’s investment, it has certainly been a draw for fans.

“Everyone decided to come out!” said barmaid Sarah Buckley. “We don’t usually get tips her but that weekend we got a tenner each.”

Salford currently sit in the playoff positions of the National Conference. After three years of straight promotions, getting into League Two isn’t a guarantee – not that it bothers committee member Dave Wilson.

“If you’d told me that this time this year now we were going to be fifth in the league I’d have been over the moon.

“There’s a lot of quality, ex-football league, established teams in this league who have had money behind the ground and players, and we’re new on the block.”

Wilson shares everyone else’s enthusiasm, exclaiming “I’d love to go straight to the top, though I don’t think it’ll be in my life time to see it.”

No matter how long it takes, the people behind the club have all the hope that Salford will get into the professional leagues, even if there is a stigma attached - but McCauley isn’t fussed.

"We get a lot of negative publicity from non-league supporters all over the country, but -  and this is a question I pose to directors and representatives of other non-league clubs - if the same offer happened to you, would you turn them down?” he said.

The belief among current staff is that the Ammies were just lucky, that it was an offer no right-minded non-league club would say no to.

“We lost a few of the regular supporters. But they were mostly Manchester City fans who they said they wouldn’t watch a team wearing red. Others just thought the ethos of non-league would go.”

But the ethos has largely stayed intact. As you start peeling back the layers of Salford City, you soon find they're a non-league club like any other.

Their ground, for instance, is the longest-running sports ground in the north of England. According to one historian, races were held on the same patch where substitutes warm up back in the middle 1600s.

Even long-serving committee members and staff, like McCauley and Wilson, remain on board, pitching in and bridging the club to the community in which it resides.

"We've raised the profile of Salford as a city. Now people from Asia, North Americans, Scandinavians, Irish come to matches, said McCauley.

“Salford as a city has benefitted from this. It's not cost the locals anything and it's a fantastic club we now have."