Mason Caton-Brown says it was a full-circle moment filled with all sorts of emotions as he spearheaded Salford’s rise from rugby league oblivion.
Salford Red Devils’ 152-year existence came to an end on December 4 after a one-minute public hearing into unpaid tax and customs duties.
The Red Devils were relegated from Super League after a tumultuous 2025 season and were immediately stripped of their membership in the Rugby Football League.
Hopes that the ‘Phoenix Club’ could emerge in time to qualify for their former club in next season’s Second Division Championship were realized this week after a consortium led by former player Caton-Brown received approval to join from the RFL.
The 32-year-old, who made 37 appearances for Salford between 2014 and 2016, reflected on a turbulent few weeks in an interview with Sky Sports.
“It felt great,” he said. “One of the happiest days. The past few weeks have been full of pressure and excitement so it was a bit of a relief, but it felt great to get the green light. But now the hard work begins.”
He continued, “I came to the club as a 21-year-old new player. I moved to the city and it just became my home.
“It’s a really special moment to go from being a player to being able to start a club and then yesterday I thought, wow, this is actually happening, we can do this.
“Like the rest of our consortium, they are literally fans and supporters from an early age. For them to have the opportunity to build the club in the way they think is best as fans is really special.”
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Sky Sports’ Brian Carney reflects on the demise of Salford Red Devils, but says fans can hold out hope that a new club may rise from the ashes, like Bradford.
Salford are due to start the 2026 season against local rivals Oldham on January 16, leaving Caton-Brown in a race against time to appoint a head coach and recruit players before the crucial kick-off.
“We’ve been having conversations with the players over the last few weeks and we’re now starting to deepen those conversations and put pen to paper,” he explained.
“We are in the process of doing the same thing with the coach. He is ready to join the team. So there will be some announcements between Christmas and New Year in terms of players and coaches.”
Caton-Brown ensured that the Salford community remained at the heart of the decision-making process and hoped that would be reflected in the celebratory atmosphere on and off the pitch in January.
“A big part of our ethos as a group is transparency and community,” he added. “We want to involve as much of the community as possible, and that starts with a fan forum starting the first week of January.
“One of our big goals this year is to get everyone involved and involved because we want to involve everyone and bring them back together after such a nightmare year.
“The game on the 16th is going to be a great feeling and we want to use it as a celebration as well and preserve this really rich history not just for Salford but for rugby league as a sport.
“We want to treat the game on January 16th as a huge celebration, bring down the whole of Salford, the whole community and really celebrate what we have done.”
