rewrite this title Salford Red Devils fans to protest ahead of Wakefield Trinity fixture against ownership as financial crisis continues

Salford Red Devils fan group, The 1873, have announced a “peaceful and lawful protest” ahead of their side’s Super League fixture against Wakefield Trinity on Sunday.

With the contest being a home fixture the fan group will walk from Salford City Roosters Rugby Club and follow a route which will end at the Salford Community Stadium.

The demonstration is being held to campaign for “greater communication, transparency, and accountability from the club’s ownership”.

Fans and anyone who attends have been asked to bring club colours, banners and flags to show “unity and pride”.

A spokesperson for The 1873 said: “This protest is about respect – respect for the club’s history, its supporters, and its community.

“We are asking the ownership to engage meaningfully and transparently with the people who stand by this club week in and week out.

“This is a peaceful step, but an important one.”

Unrest among Salford fans has been growing for a number of months with the future of the club continuously in jeopardy.

In February a consortium led by businessman Dario Berta purchased the club, after it was placed under a £1.2m sustainability salary cap by the RFL, with a raft of players leaving the club in the months following including captain Ryan Brierley.

A recent Rugby Football League (RFL) statement labelled Salford’s financial woes as “damaging and draining for the sport”, insisting that the “only alternative” to approving an ownership takeover earlier this year was the “very probable and immediate demise of the club”.

Members of the consortium, Saia Kailahi and Curtiz Brown, have attended Salford games.

Salford have also been relying on external funding from WeDo Finance as their accounts remain frozen, while last month they were hit by a winding-up petition with a hearing adjourned to until September 3.

However, in response to the growing uncertainty surrounding the club, and following an 80-6 loss to Hull FC at the weekend in which Salford had to rely on extra loan players from across the competition given 13 players have left during the season, the club released a statement insisting that they “will not close”.

“Despite recent setbacks, the club is in the process of establishing a new team to stabilise operations moving forward, alongside securing bridge funding that restores immediate financial stability and lays the foundation for a sustainable future,” it said.

“This marks a turning point and underscores the consortium’s long-term commitment to the Red Devils.”

When contacted, the RFL said it has no additional comment to the statement released on Friday.

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