Thursday 3 April 2025 – Salford City Council hosted a roundtable at the Salford Community Stadium which sought to construct a coalition of voices, empowering the call for further investment, both public and private, to protect and advance Rugby League.
The discussion was chaired by Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett. Under his leadership, the city has developed a renewed commitment to supporting grassroots sport and empowering the North’s cultural heritage.
The roundtable brought together key individuals from across Rugby League playing constituencies and local authorities to determine the structure and content of a national Rugby League strategy. Attendees discussed where precisely investment is needed in Rugby League, how Rugby League localities can collaborate to succeed in obtaining more investment, as well as their experiences of support for rugby both locally and nationally.
Notable participants included Michael Wheeler MP (Worsley and Eccles), Rebecca Long-Bailey MP (Salford) and the Leaders of Warrington, Wigan and St Helens, alongside other council representatives from across the North. Delving into key themes and issues, participants noted that Rugby League is integral to the culture of the North of England and called for the inclusion of Rugby League in future Government-led reviews of the sport.
Attendees also highlighted the cultural opportunities for both residents and tourists deriving from enabling the region’s rich rugby heritage to thrive. Crucially there are also health and educational benefits from enabling communities to access and celebrate their sporting heritage from young age.
To conclude the roundtable, participants agreed to work together to secure investment from the sport at every level, including calling on the Department of Culture Media and Sport, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education to fully realise the benefit of the sport in their respective areas.
Following the roundtable, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett commented: “It was great to bring representatives from across national and regional government together to unite the North under one voice and establish a clearer path for securing further investment into Rugby League. The previous government conducted a review on the future sustainability of Rugby Union and failed to include Rugby League.
We’re here to make sure that this great sport is given the support in needs so our communities and residents can share in the economic, cultural, social and health benefits that rugby league can offer.”
Salford City Council is committed to creating a fairer, greener, healthier and more inclusive city for all. To achieve this vision, it has set out seven interconnected priorities as the focus for our work from 2024 to 2028.
- Good growth
- A good home for all
- Tackling poverty and inequality
- Creating places where people want to live
- A child friendly city
- Responding to climate change
- Healthy lives and quality of care for all
Find out more about our ambitions and how we intend to deliver them in our corporate plan, This is our Salford. It aims to build on past successes and continue to find new and innovative ways to improve residents’ lives.
Salford continues its remarkable story of transformation with already much to celebrate as a city – more well-paid jobs, new affordable and social homes, thriving local schools, award-winning green spaces, iconic infrastructure, cleaner transport, more integrated health and care and a vibrant cultural scene.
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- Date published
- Thursday 3 April 2025
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