Club history
The club was first founded in 1873 by the boys of the Cavendish Street Chapel in Hulme, Manchester. In 1875, the name Cavendish Football Club was adopted and they moved to a new base on the Salford side of the River Irwell at Throstle Nest Weir in Ordsall.
Cavendish became Salford Football Club in 1879. In 1881, they almost disbanded but instead merged with the Crescent Football Club. This placed Salford firmly on the rugby map; it was an exciting period and over the next 15 years seventeen Salford players were selected for Lancashire, three for the North of England and two for England.
In 1889, Salford moved their headquarters to the nearby London and North Western Hotel on Cross Lane and Salford switched from their traditional amber, black and scarlet hoops to red jerseys.
In 1895, the leading Lancashire and Yorkshire clubs formed the breakaway Northern Union (later known as the Rugby Football League) and the club was admitted to the Northern Union on 2 June 1896.
20th century
Salford agreed a 14-year lease on 5 acres of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abundance of willow trees in the area. Salford made their début at The Willows on 21 December 1901.
During the First World War, Salford continued to function, but it was a struggle. Thirty-two Salford players volunteered for the war, of which seven were killed.
Salford were considered the leading club in the game during the 1930s, winning three League Championships, five Lancashire League Championships, four Lancashire Cups and the Rugby League Challenge Cup.
On 3 September 1939, the Second World War began and the 1939/40 season was abandoned. A wartime Emergency League was organised but, at the beginning of January 1941, Salford decided to cease play due to poor gates.
Post war
Saturday 26 November 1955 saw television cameras at The Willows for the first time when the second half of the match against New Zealand was broadcast live on BBC Grandstand.
In June 1967 The Willows switched on its floodlights for the first time in the match with Widnes on Friday 11 March 1966. From that evening, Friday night was rugby league night as the fans flocked to The Willows.
On 3 January 1982, John Wilkinson took over as chairman. During the 1990s, the team rewarded Wilkinson with five trophies; Division Two Championship (1990/91), Division Two Premiership (1991), Division One (formerly Division Two) Championship (1995/96 and 1996) and Divisional Premiership 1996.
In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to a summer season.
Salford added Reds to their name for the 1995/96 season which was expanded to Salford City Reds in 1999.
In July 2008, Salford City Reds were then awarded a three year Super League license as the game moved on and abandoned automatic promotion and relegation in favour of franchising.
The move to the proposed new stadium in Barton was approved in 2006. Initially the stadium will host a capacity 12,000 crowd but it will be extended to accommodate up to 20,000 over time. The Reds will play their first season at their new home in 2012 as the next stage in their history begins.
Find out more about the Reds’ history
