Swinton Lions director Jason Harborow confirmed that the club loses money when the men’s side wins their games at Heywood Road in Sale.
In front of more than 200 Lions fans packed inside Swinton’s Grand Palais, the club’s strategic advisor gave an alarming insight into the financial repercussions of the Championship outfit playing outside Salford.
Before the club unveiled plans for a new Swinton-based stadium, known as ‘The Den’, at an evening with club officials, Harborow took to the stage with Chairman Andrew Unwin to walk supporters through the idea.
He said: “We have been away from Swinton for 33 years and if we don’t get back soon then all we are doing is carrying a badge for the name.
“As a board of directors, we don’t want that to be the case. We want to build on the great heritage we have and ensure that we are based here.
“To be able to do that, we are keen on developing an asset that not only provides a home for the men’s and the women’s teams, but also provides a hub for sport for the community.”
Running through a PowerPoint presentation shown to supporters, Swinton Lions’ board revealed plans for padel courts and multi-sports facilities to be developed alongside a 4G rugby pitch on the current site of Swinton Park Golf Club.
The land is owned by Wain Estates, who previously tabled controversial plans to build 1,200 homes and a similar recreational sports facility on the derelict golf club, which were met with backlash from campaign group Save Swinton Park Golf Club.
While the Lions hierarchy conceded they were far from agreeing a deal with the council, and the club neither owns the land nor has planning permission to develop it, Harborow said the move from Sale to Swinton feels like a necessity.
“We have to develop a sustainable financial model. At the moment, we are only able to generate income really from two sources: one is our shirts and the other is match day sponsorship.
“If you were to add those things up and then look at how much it costs to put a team on the field, it’s nowhere near enough when you’re renting and hiring a stadium.
“Because I think we probably lose money every time we play at Sale.”
After a quick on-stage conversation checking that was true with Swinton Lions CEO Steve Wild, Harborow emphasised: “If we win and the lads get their bonuses we lose money playing at home.
“We lose money because we have no ability to generate income out of that asset on match day in the way that we would want to because all the food and beverages, catering et cetera goes to the host venue. But more importantly, on the six other days of the week we get no revenue at all.
“If we’re going to be sustainable moving forward, we need to generate an asset and a product that enables us to generate money every day.
“Which we will put back into the team and the club to make us stronger, enabling us to perform at a much more senior level. And we want to position the club for success.
“So what we don’t want to be is just a club that finishes mid-table or two positions above or two positions below constantly.”
