At 3:30pm on Sunday, Salford Red Devils should be playing in a packed-out stadium to secure a play-off place in the Betfred Super League — and a chance to be champions of Europe. Last season, Salford finished fourth in rugby league’s premiere competition. In 2022 and 2023, they were in the play-off mix, rebuilding after making the Grand Final in 2019 against all odds. Head coach Paul Rowley is still in charge, and key players were there at the start of the 2025 season in February. Never miss a story with the MEN's daily Catch Up newsletter - get it in your inbox by signing up here But it’s all gone wrong for Salford this year. Thrashings have become the norm for Salford. Rooted to the foot of the table, they’ve won just two matches this year, and with six games still to play, Salford’s points difference is -777. The next-worst is -284. Poor results stem from financial woes that deepened since Dario Berta’s consortium purchased the club in February. New owners were supposed to steady the ship amid existing financial uncertainty. Instead, they deepened: Staff and players have been paid late. A winding-up petition has been filed. Governing body the Rugby Football League (RFL) instructed Salford to sell star players to stay afloat. This week, the owners have issued two statements. The first insisted ‘Salford Red Devils will not close’ as Paul Rowley scrambles to put a team together for the match against in-form Wakefield. The second statement confirmed ‘a thorough internal investigation’ into claims made by recently-departed chief operating officer Claire Bradbury she experienced ‘misogynistic, inappropriate language from the ownership suggesting I sleep with an individual at the RFL to “smooth things over”’. The perma-crisis has come to the attention of Andy Burnham and Salford council, which has tried its best to intervene by buying the Salford Community Stadium for £7.7m so the Red Devils could stay in the city. The council has also ‘provided financial support through loan and grant support, promoted sponsorship opportunities, [and] facilitated community partnerships’, city mayor Paul Dennett said on Tuesday (August 12) , adding ‘we remain committed to the long-term sustainability of professional rugby league in this city’. Andy Burnham said his piece a day later: “Our commitment is there. We cannot just conjure up the funding and change. But we recognise the role of rugby league in Salford. We cannot let a proud name like this to rot.” Red Devils fans have had enough, warning matters had reached ‘ crisis point’ last week. “If we fold it would be devastating for the fans,” explained supporters’ trust chair Shirley Bradshaw. So at 3:30pm on Sunday, Red Devils fans will start walking out the ground in a protest to how owners are running the club. After that match, Salford only have two more home fixtures to play in 2025. Whether they will be a Super League team next season, even as RFL bosses add two more teams to the competition, remains to be seen.