Salford RFLC director Mason Caton-Brown has hailed the opportunity to resurrect the club as a chance to “give back to Salford.”
The former Salford winger said he was “excited” that the ownership bid he led had been chosen to take the new team into the upcoming Championship season.
Since Salford Red Devils were wound up at the High Court over unpaid taxes in December, he has been part of a group working “around the clock” to take control of the club, set up a leadership team, sign players, and agree a two-year deal to play at the CorpAcq stadium.
While Caton-Brown left Salford in 2016 to sign for Wakefield Trinity, he remained tied to the city through his business interests.
Shrewd investments during his playing career allowed Caton-Brown to retire from the sport in 2019 with an extensive property portfolio, much of which is based in Salford.
Ahead of a kit launch and fans forum event held at the club’s stadium, Caton-Brown said he acted without hesitation when asked to spearhead the consortium aiming to relaunch a Salford side by fellow director Paul Hancock.
“I said yes immediately and saw it as a real opportunity to give back to Salford, which was a really good club and city to me,” he said.
“I’ve got my own businesses and my investment properties are all in Salford and Greater Manchester. I was really excited to join.
“Paul contacted me about seven weeks ago to enquire about joining his consortium and helping this bid start up. I got involved because I love being involved with this club and loved playing here.”
Caton-Brown highlighted there had been “little to no help from anyone from the former club” in establishing Salford RLFC.
“We have just had to be working night and day to get everything in place: new staff, new players, new everything really.”
He admitted it has been a challenge to persuade potential signings to join the club after the previous owners repeatedly failed to pay wages on time, but hopes any hangover from the former regime can be overcome.
“The hardest thing has been negotiating agreements and contracts, suppliers, partners and because of what happened in the past with the old club and how they were treated. Negotiating with agents has been difficult.”
With the opening game of the season against Oldham looming on Friday 16 January, Caton-Brown said his main hope for the campaign was to “make Salford fans proud about their club again, feel like they have a say and can call the club their own.”
Before walking on stage to be serenaded by the hundreds of buoyant supporters in attendance, he said: “From there, we can look to progress in every game and can aim to get back up to top-flight rugby league.”
