Salford City FC
Ground: Moor Lane
Capacity: 5,108
Club Founded: 1940
League: EFL League Two (current level)
Salford City FC was a non-league club going nowhere fast until a group of former Manchester United players bought it in 2014, quickly transforming the Ammies' fortunes.
Club History
Early Years
Over the next fifteen years, the side won several local cup competitions before Moor Lane became their home in 1978. Two years later, they joined the Cheshire League after restoring the venue. Anson Villa FC joined forces with Salford when the club became a founding member of the North West Counties League (NWCL) in 1982.
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| Then and Now. The old turnstiles to Moor Lane |
Salford were elevated to Division One in 1987 when the NWCL was restructured, changing its name to its present title three years later. The team was relegated but regained its status a year later, before finishing runners-up in 2007-08 to win promotion to Division One North of the
Northern Premier League (NPL).
Gary Fellows managed the side to promotion but was replaced by Ashley Berry a few months later. Moor Lane installed improved floodlights, acquired from Manchester
United when Old Trafford was upgraded. Managers came and went before Rhodri Giggs, Ryan's brother, was appointed in the early stages of the 2010-11 campaign.
The Class of 92
Giggs resigned, with Darren Sheridan becoming the Ammies' new boss in May 2012. The managerial appointments continued, with local businesswoman Karen Baird taking over as Chairman from Darren Quick.
In March 2014, news broke of a proposed takeover of the club by five members of the Manchester United “Class of 92”, with Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt looking to take control with Baird remaining in the chair.
BBC Stars
The deal went
through before a 50% stake in the club was sold to Singapore–based billionaire
Peter Lim. Phil Power was replaced as manager in January 2015 by Anthony Johnson and
Bernard Morley. The duo led the team to the Division One North title. Former Premier League star Danny Webber and his strike partner Gareth Seddon scored the goals.
In the 2014-15 campaign, City reached the playoffs, beating Ashton United and Workington at Moor Lane as the club sealed promotion to the National League North. The BBC One series Class of 92: Out of Their League told the Ammies story, leading to a second series.
Moor Lane Rebuilt
The club also reached the FA Cup first round for the first time in 2014-15. Live TV cameras showed games in front of 1,400-capacity crowds, with Notts County being seen off before a draw against Hartlepool United. The run ended in front of more TV coverage in the replay. In 2016-17 City lost their play-off final to FC Halifax Town.
Massive works at Moor Lane transformed the venue. Sir Alex Ferguson opened the newly constructed Peninsula Stadium in October 2017. City were
crowned National League North champions in 2017-18 with Jack Redshaw
leading the scoring charts before joint-managers Johnson and Morley departed by
mutual consent.
Promotion to the EFL League
Experienced Football League star Graham
Alexander took charge, and Adam Rooney signed from Aberdeen, as City threw the cash at their promotion ambitions. The
move paid off with Salford reaching the playoffs, where Eastleigh were
defeated in a penalty shootout
In the final at
Wembley, Salford beat AFC Fylde 3-0 with goals from Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, Carl
Piergianni and Ibou Touray. After winning promotion to EFL League Two, David
Beckham invested a 10% stake in the club, purchased from Peter Lim. Richie Wellens replaced Alexander in November 2020.
Recent Years
Gary Bowyer was appointed manager before Neil Wood replaced him in May 2022, taking the team to the playoffs. Stockport County won the semi-final tie. Karl Robinson succeeded Wood in January 2024. The team reached the playoff final in 2025-26, where they lost to Notts County at Wembley.
The club reverted to its old orange and black kit after adopting Manchester United's colours for several seasons and changed back to an original crest.
My visits
Wednesday 21st July 2010
I was in Manchester for three days to have fun and adventure, visiting football clubs, new places and historic pubs.
I took a train to Atherton before returning to Salford Central station, as I wanted to call in at the Ammies. The number 98 bus took me up the Bury New Road. It was a further ten-minute walk along Moor Lane to the ground.
It seemed a decent area, and I was a little confused when I saw a sign for the ground pointing down Nevile Road, which didn't seem like the type of road to find a ground entrance. However, I went for it, and before long I was passing a school and walking through the gates.
A couple of gents were surveying the scene, and a groundsman was cutting the pitch. He came over for a chat. He was fine with me taking pictures of the ground. Moor Lane had suffered badly from vandalism in the past, with the offices and social facilities being victims of an arson attack.
The ground was nice enough and offered great potential if crowds ever picked up and required extra facilities. A nice wooden Main Stand was the main feature, with other facilities alongside. The far side had banking with a cover on the halfway line. The rest of the ground was open, consisting of grass and hard standing.
The Ammies had done well to reach their present level, but at the time, I thought that they had probably gone as far as they could unless they somehow found spectators from the local community.
How little did I know! I returned to Bury New Road to board the 98 over the motorway towards Radcliffe Borough's Stainton Park.
Salford City 1
Port Vale 1
EFL League Two - Saturday 17th August 2019
👨👨👧👧 3,770 🎟️ £10
It was time for
me to re-complete the ninety-two League grounds after City’s promotion. How they’d
progressed in what seemed like five minutes since they hammered Scarborough on
their way through the league.
Within a few
weeks of the new season, I got the perfect opportunity, with a weekend off
before recommencing night shift back at work in London. Salford were at home, and the Scarborough Cricket Festival was to begin the following morning. I
could visit both.
With my hotel
booked at the Salford Quays Travelodge and a full belly after an excellent fry-up at the Bridge Café in West Hampstead, I boarded the train at Euston ready
for some quality time on the road. I desperately need some.
We arrived late
in Piccadilly, so I left my bags in the left luggage office rather than heading all the way to the hotel. My left knee was giving
me plenty of pain, but I was keen to keep exercising it.
It was a lovely
early afternoon as I walked through the city centre while listening to an intriguing
Second Ashes Test from Lord’s. My destination was the City Arms on Kennedy
Street; probably my favourite pub in Manchester.
It was busy
as Man City fans fuelled up before their tea-time kick-off against Tottenham, along with shoppers and those just looking for a refuge for a drink. The Kodiak
from the Bear Town Brewery was absolutely spot on. I hung around for a second
before taking the tram to Shudehill.
A gent was
checking the bus timetable at the interchange while holding a map. It turned
out he was a Port Vale fan and the editor of their fanzine “Derek I’m Gutted!”.
We got aboard the 98 bus with others heading to the match, and had a nice chat
as we went. It was to be back up north.
We went through
the travails at Vale Park and how there was some optimism in the air after
the couple who’d taken over were lifelong fans and were being pragmatic and honest
with fans. Desperate situations at Bolton Wanderers and Bury were also
touched upon.
An Ammies fan
behind told us to follow him, so we knew where to get off. I thought we’d been
pretty fair discussing Salford’s investment and progression, but
he thought we’d been a little derogatory. I reckon he was being slightly tongue-in-cheek.
We reasoned
that the £10 admission was excellent value, but unfair to other clubs,
including non-league outfits who had to charge more to survive. Not everyone
had the advantage of being a plaything for multi-millionaires.
It took less than ten minutes down Moor Lane and then Nevile Road to the designated
turnstiles for those wanting to pay cash. Moor Lane was an unusual place to find a
Football League football ground with pleasant houses and orthodox Jews wandering
about their business.
Once inside Peninsula Stadium, as Moor Lane was retitled in a sponsorship deal, the
facilities were good, if a little cramped. The fan zone offered lots of
choice, from traditional drinks to craft beers from the Seven Brothers Brewery
at £4 a pint.
Food choices
and pricing were also excellent. I went for the pie, chips and gravy option. I
was in Lancashire after all! Other offerings came from an Indian stall, burgers
and a sausage stand, meaning everyone was catered for.
The supporters
were certainly spending their cash on catering and at the club souvenir shop.
My only negative feedback was that there was only one way in and out of
the terracing in the corner, and the toilets were small for a big crowd.
Another
excellent matchday feature was the music played before the game and at half-time. Someone had put plenty of thought into it and even issued a playlist on
the club Twitter account. The playlist had lots of local stuff and most
of it fit my own preferences.
My first
impression inside the stand was the large cross-pitch slope. The stands at each
end were built in sections to allow for it. The pitch was in pristine
condition. I found a good vantage point at the far end and at the rear
of the terracing. It was a good view.
Both ends were
terraced, while the sides were seated. A small section was provided for home fans that didn't want to sit along the back of the Main Stand. A continuous low roof
wrapped around the newly built arena. It looked smart, if a little identikit.
Port Vale fans were making the most noise and their end was full to its 1,400 capacity as the teams
entered the pitch to the sound of “Dirty Old Town” by The Pogues. The end I was
in was also busier than I think the stewards expect, with fans standing in the
walkways.
Vale nearly
went one up with just over a minute on the clock. David Amoo broke down the
wing and put in a good cross to the back stick when a volley from Cristian
Montano was saved by the legs of Salford’s former Vale keeper Chris Neal. The home crowd booed Amoo, probably because of his Liverpool connections.
It certainly gave away who most Salford fans cheered down the pub. The strong
wind made things awkward for the players. In fifteen
minutes, Ammies had a free kick around twenty-five yards out. The ball was rolled sideways to Richie
Towel, who flicked it up with his first touch, then volleyed
inches over with his second. It was a tremendous skill.
A few minutes
later, Nathan Smith went close for the Valliants following a David
Worrall corner. City went close on thirty-eight minutes as Joey Jones put in a
low cross to Adam Rooney. Scott Brow saved the shot before he smothered the rebound.
It was a fast game
with both sides doing their best to play good football in front of a decent
atmosphere. I’d enjoyed the first half but had greater concerns as I edged
along to use the loos at the opposite corner of the stand and get my place
back. It was remarkably trouble-free.
City had a good
spell at the start of the second half, but Vale looked well-drilled.
Worrall went close at the other end but dragged his shot just wide. On the hour
mark, Neal made a top-class save to deny Vale skipper Tom Pope, who put in a
powerful downward header.
Towell
responded with a curling free kick a yard over after skipper Rooney was replaced. Substitute Thomas Walker saw a powerful shot headed heroically over
his own bar by Vale defender Leon Legge.
With nine
minutes remaining, Worrall, who had an excellent game, intercepted and broke through to play
the ball to sub Richard Bennett on the edge of the area, who fired in low at the
near post past a distraught Neal to open the scoring. The away end went
absolutely berserk. One or two intruded onto the pitch.
There were six additional minutes. In the first, Bennett almost doubled the lead but was denied
by Neal's legs. It was a vital miss as Salford equalised a couple
of minutes later. A free kick was whipped into the box. Sub Jake Beesley
leapt to beat Brown to the ball and head home.
In truth, it was about right as Salford had plenty of play and pressure. Some Vale fans
seemed aggrieved when home fans taunted them down the far end. The
stewards did a good job of diffusing the situation.
At full time, I
left the ground through the top gate out onto Moor Lane. My plan was to beat
the crowds and take a bus on Kersal Lane. How little I knew! My knee was really
playing up by now. I wasn’t massively impressed when Google Maps' info changed constantly. No buses came.
Fortunately, I wasn’t in a rush as I walked back along Moor Lane past the stadium to Bury New Road. The driver accepted my day pass on the express
service from Burnley, and I was soon back in the city.
The radio TMS commentary
had kept me enthralled while I watched the football. It had been a dramatic
couple of hours as Jofra Archer announced himself to Test cricket by felling
the seemingly invincible Steve Smith with a bouncer. It could well have
dramatic consequences.
The bus
dropped me near where I wanted to be. I still got slightly
confused trying to find the excellent Lass O’Gowrie pub for a pint. I was
getting tired, so I went to Piccadilly to collect my gear, where I received bad
news.
The tram
service to the Quays was out of action due to engineering work, which was far
from ideal. I took a service to St Peter’s Square from where I had a plan. I
was slightly shocked that plenty of Man City fans were on the tram that arrived from the
Etihad despite the match still being in progress.
It was most certainly an age thing, but I
didn’t enjoy the noise coming from a gang of lads. They were no bother; just
drunk. All-day drinking had ruined much in my view. Yes, people have always got
drunk on a Saturday. However, in my day, it was after a later start.
There’s nothing
worse than gangs being drunk while you’re still sober. I have discovered that
plenty of times while dealing with the general public while at work. After a
fine pint of Odin from Brightside Brewing, I headed to my room. Cue
more dramas.
The number 50
bus supposedly went close to my hotel. I got off at the terminus, which
was nearly twice as far as a previous stop I'd declined. While the Quays looked pretty under the sinking sun
with its new developers, I wasn’t in the mood to fully appreciate it.
Eventually, I
saw the neon sign atop the Travelodge across the industrial estate. It was a
welcome sight. I’d never been so pleased to book into a hotel, and my room was
just what I needed. Before I settled in for the night, I needed to eat, and my advanced research paid
dividends. Well, sort of anyway.
Google Maps revealed a hot food takeaway nearby, so off I searched, but without using my
map App in a pique of complacency. I eventually returned after a further unnecessary
and unwelcome walk. At least it was safer than twenty years earlier! That
would have been interesting.
The pizza certainly
tasted better than its appearance. I was in bed and asleep after a cuppa before
10pm on a Saturday night with the sobering thought that Absolute
Radio had played “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns N' Roses and announced it had
been released in 1988. That really did make me feel old!
The next morning, an Uber took me back to Piccadilly for breakfast, and my early train
to the North Yorkshire seaside followed. My trip to Manchester and Salford
had set me up perfectly. You just can’t beat the north!
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