Brierley's night of Salford emotion

RYAN Brierley is braced for “a really emotional night” when phoenix club Salford kick off their Betfred Championship campaign against Oldham at the rebranded CorpAcq Stadium tonight.

- By MARK STANIFORTH

Ryan Brierley, who is braced for "a really emotional night" when phoenix club Salford kick off their Betfred Championship campaign against Oldham at the rebranded CorpAcq Stadium tonight

(NICK POTTS/PA WIRE)

Brierley shelved his playing career to return to his former club as chief executive last month after a consortium led by another former player, Mason Caton-Brown, was accepted into the sport's second tier.

The move preserved 152 years of rugby league history in the city, drawing a line under a 2025 campaign in which the then Red Devils lurched from one crisis to another and were ultimately wound up by HMRC in December over unpaid taxes.