Salford City F.C.

Did You Know?

• Salford won the LFA Amateur Cup in 1971, 1973, and 1975, with the 1971 final played at Old Trafford and all four goals arriving in extra time.
• The club's nickname 'The Ammies' derives from its former name, Salford Amateurs, which was used from the early 1960s until the early 1970s.
• In January 2006, Salford signed former Manchester United starlet Ben Thornley to boost matchday attendance.
• The club's anthem is 'Dirty Old Town', written by Salford-born songwriter Ewan MacColl and popularised by The Pogues.

History

The club began in 1940 as Salford Central, taking its name from the church where it was founded. It played in local leagues until 1963, when a promotion to the Manchester Football League prompted a name change to Salford Amateurs. The side reached the LFA Amateur Cup semi-finals in 1977, losing to Blackpool Rangers. Salford won the Manchester Premier Cup in both 1978 and 1979.

The club dropped "Amateurs" from its name, becoming simply Salford, and moved to Moor Lane in 1978. During the 1980–81 season, Salford made it to the fourth round of the FA Vase, where they lost 2–0 to eventual champions Whickham. Following ground improvements and a merger with Anson Villa, the club joined the Cheshire County League, finishing 15th and then 16th in Division 2 before that league merged with the Lancashire Combination to create the North West Counties Football League.

Salford began in the NWCFL’s second division and were promoted to the first division in 1986, despite an 18th-place finish, due to a restructuring of the football pyramid.

Stadium

Salford play their home games at Moor Lane, known as the Peninsula Stadium for sponsorship reasons, located in the Kersal area of Salford, with a capacity of 5,108. The club has played at Moor Lane since 1978. In December 2015, Salford City Council approved planning permission to increase capacity from 2,163 to 5,172. In October 2016, the club unveiled plans to renovate the ground to Football League standards, increasing capacity to 5,100, including terraced stands behind the goals, a supporters' club with capacity 600, and executive seating.

The club faced objections from local residents and the Kersal Moor Residents' Association over traffic and parking, but the council granted permission later that month. The development involved demolishing the entire ground and building four new stands; by the end of February two stands were completed. The main stand was demolished in May. On 19 October 2017, the rebuilt ground was renamed Peninsula Stadium as part of a five-year deal with local entrepreneur Peter Done, founder of Peninsula, and was unveiled by Sir Alex Ferguson.

The ground features floodlights shaped like the club badge, and its terraces are described as tight, steep, and covered, with a leafy backdrop and a nearby church spire visible.

Colours and club badge

The club's colours are orange and black, originally used in 1980. After the 2014 ownership change, the club switched to red and white, the colours of Manchester United, a move that many supporters were unhappy with, with manager Phil Power describing the issue as delicate. The team had previously worn green in the 1970s and various blue kits; orange became their colour when financial difficulties led them to borrow old kits from Blackpool. In October 2025, the club announced they would revert to wearing orange before the start of the next season.

The club's logo changed from 2014 to 2026, replacing a rampant lion with one described as bolder and more forward-facing, with the shape said to replicate the hull of ships in Salford's docks. Prior to the 2026–27 season, the badge reverted to a round design with the traditional lion, inspired by the pre-takeover badge, and features a rose as a homage to the Salford Lads Club made famous by The Smiths' 1986 album "The Queen is Dead". The club adopted two mottos from the City of Salford coat of arms: "Integrity & Industry" appears on the kit, while "The Welfare of the People is the Highest Law" (Latin: "Salus Populi Suprema Lex") is on the stadium walls.

In 2013, Champion Insurance became main sponsor, replaced by LED Hut in 2015, then Soccer Saturday Super 6 in 2017, and TalkTalk until the end of the 2023–24 season. Kit suppliers have included Umbro (2015–2019), Kappa (2019–2022), and Castore from the 2022–23 season.

Ownership

For many years, local businessman and former player Harold Brearley ran Salford, helping the club from local leagues into the North West Counties League in 1982 and moving it to Moor Lane in 1979. In June 2006, local businessman and former player Darren Quick became chairman, succeeding Ged Carter. In December 2013, club president Dave Russell held secret talks with Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. In February 2014, the Salford Star reported that Neville, Giggs, Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes (the Class of '92) were in talks about major investment, concerned with the lack of grassroots talent; they chose Salford due to its proximity to The Cliff, Manchester United's former training ground.

Four of them attended a 2–0 home defeat to Curzon Ashton on 1 March. On 27 March, subject to FA and NPL approval, the group agreed to take over the club. In September, Singaporean businessman Peter Lim bought a 50% stake, subject to FA approval, describing his involvement as philanthropic and part of a long-term business partnership with Gary Neville. Ahead of the 2018 National League season, the club received interest-free loans of about £2.4m, enabling investment in players such as Adam Rooney from Aberdeen for a reported £300k.

In 2020, the owners invested a further £2.5m for promotion and off-field development. That year, the club chose not to furlough staff during the COVID-19 pandemic despite potential savings of £350k. In August 2024, Gary Neville acquired Lim's stake.