Salford Red Devils: The troubled club is granted a fourth deadline

Salford’s financial problems predate the arrival of the club’s current ownership group, with the situation worsening ahead of the start of the 2025 season.

In late 2023, the club said it was “at risk” due to a protracted dispute over the ownership of its stadium.

Meanwhile, the club was placed under a sustainability cap in January and was ordered by the Premier League to sell players before the start of the season.

Nearly two weeks after announcing the acquisition in February 2025, FFL finally agreed to a change of control.

But Nigel Wood, the EFL’s chief executive, said it would be unfair for the body to bear responsibility for the financial situation of any of its member clubs.

“There will always be in any sport – I can point to Sheffield Wednesday, I can point to Wasps or London Irish or Worcester – there will always be poorly managed clubs that ultimately don’t manage their affairs properly and can’t defy gravity forever,” Wood told BBC Sport in an interview earlier this week, before Salford’s latest postponement.

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

“But just as there are clubs that are poorly managed, there are some clubs that are excellently managed and I’m not going to sit here and try to take credit for how well Wigan are run and how well Leeds are running themselves or any of the other clubs we have in the membership.

“The only people responsible for financial mismanagement are the directors of the companies that run them, and to blame that on the agency’s governing body is not really appropriate, in the same way it wouldn’t be appropriate to blame Sheffield Wednesday’s troubles on the FA.”