FC Halifax Town will travel to Moor Lane tomorrow night to face Salford City, the stars of the BBC Documentary: Class of 92.
Billy Heath’s boys bounced back from their disastrous Bank Holiday weekend with a 2-1 victory against AFC Telford United and Heath is determined to kick start a winning run for the Shaymen.
As we look ahead to the clash, here a 10 things about Salford City that you may not have known:
Despite being dubbed as the non-league club owned by Manchester United’s Class of 92, the club’s main shareholder is actually Singaporean businessman Peter Lim. Also owner of Spanish Giants Valencia CF, Lim has a reported net worth of $2.2bn making him the ninth richest Football club owner in England. His links in Spain are the reason brothers Gary and Phil Neville have both earned management and coaching roles at Valencia, along with being Footballing royalty of course.
Former Halifax Town star, Gary Seddon was one of the lead stars of the BBC Sport documentary set at Moor Lane. The striker revealed all to the cameras about his struggles with injury, his second career as a model and his ownership of a Cheese shop. Seddon has since moved on to Ramsbottom United.
The Class of 92, who of course consist of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, along with Lim completed their take over in time for the 2014-15 season and declared their aims to make Salford City a “Championship level club within 15 years”, meaning they would have to achieve six promotions in 14 seasons. Since then, City have been promoted twice on the bounce.
Like the club’s ownership, the management role at Salford City is also shared, between Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley. The duo was hired by the Class of 92 in January of 2015 after they led Ramsbottom to promotion from the Northern Premier League Division One the season before.
Salford are currently playing at the highest level in their history, thanks to last season’s last gasp winner that saw them reach promotion via the play-offs to the Vanarama National League North.
The club’s supporters fondly refer to their side as the ‘Ammies’ which comes from the club’s former name, Salford Amateurs. Originally named Salford Central in 1940, the club became the Amateurs in 1963 with the intention of only signing players who played for the love of the game and not for financial gain and have kept the nickname ever since.
Prior to the 2014 takeover, Salford used to play in tangerine and black but now play in red and white after they were massively rebranded. The nickname ‘Ammies’ also used to feature on the club’s badge before their Lion had a major facelift and was recoloured, the same as the kit, in similar colours to a certain other Manchester club.
Salford isn’t just home to Salford City. Rugby League side Salford Red Devils have made Super League Rugby a constant in Salford for over a decade. The club play at the 12,000 capacity AJ Bell Stadium, ground sharing with Rugby Union and Aviva Premiership Outfit Sale Sharks. The stadium was also home to Manchester United Reserves for a season along with hosting England Women’s friendlies in 2013.
The city of Salford is also home to the majority of the BBC and ITV’s northern operations, housing Granada Studios and BBC Sport at Media City. Match of the Day, Football Focus and most of the Olympic coverage was filmed in Salford and has been since BBC Sport moved from London in 2011.
Famous artist L. S. Lowry lived and worked in Salford for 40 years, where he painted some of his most famous works. Lowry became world famous for painting scenes of factory life in the Lancashire during the industrial revolution. His urban landscapes can be seen at the Lowry Centre in Salford Quays, notable his painting ‘Going to the Match’ which depicts the factory workers heading home after a long day via a Football ground to watch Salford’s local side play.
Billy Heath’s men will be hoping to put an end to Salford’s stellar start to their Vanarama National League North campaign in tomorrow’s eagerly anticipated clash. A bumper crowd is expected at Moor Lane with new segregation measures being implemented ahead of the fixture and ticket prices as low as £7 standard and £3 for concessions.
Get on across to Lancashire and support your Shaymen!
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