This weekend see the next chapter of the Salford City Derby (Although I’m sure Lions fans won’t like that wording!), there have been some great battles between the two over the past 128 years. Let’s hope this weekend will prove to be another. Both teams will be nothing but encouraged by their starts to the Northern Rail Cup campaign but with varying amounts of success. Whilst we’ve come up with two big wins against dogged opposition, the Lions have lost narrowly to the same clubs, firstly a late try by James Coyle coverted by Mick Nanyn for Oldham at Boundary Park gave the Roughyeads a 22 – 20 win. And last weekend they again lost to a late try by Martin Ainscough and converted by Simon Svabic for Rochdale at Park Lane only for Swinton to score in the last play of the game but unfortunately Richie Hawkyard missed the resulting conversion for a 34 – 36 loss. Even with two losses behind them, they still have the 2^nd best attack and 2^nd best defence (But of course, they haven’t met us yet!) I’m sure Swinton will be up for this test and with the amount of ex-Reds in their ranks, they’ll be a few players with a point to prove.

On a personal note I love derby days, they may have lost a bit of that competitive edge over the past 10 years or so, primarily since the loss of Station Road. Either way they’re still special. I’m sure the Swinton fans will have plenty to say but I’d be 99% sure that we will too.

Players who may feature who have played for both clubs: Karl Fitzpatrick, Darren Bamford (Swinton), Chris Morley (Swinton), Darren Gibson (Swinton), Dean Gorton (Swinton), Martin Moana (Swinton), Barry Hamilton (Swinton), Gareth Hayes (Swinton)

A reminder of a few special Games:1880 - Salford 0 Swinton 2 – The first Derby (Played under RU rules) 1885 - Swinton 0 Salford 0 – A true derby, so much so Swinton suspended fixtures between the two teams for two years and that had to be played at a neutral venue!1899/00 Challenge Cup Final; Swinton 16 Salford 8 - 17,864 @ Fallowfield1901/02 First game at the Willows; Salford 2 Swinton 0 – 16,9811931/32 Lancashire Cup Final; Salford 10 Swinton 8

1990/91 - Division One Final game; Swinton 10 Salford 10 (Swinton clinched promotion and we won the league title)

1991/92 - Final game at Station Road; Swinton 18 Salford 26 – 3,487 – Ady, Ady Hadley!

Don’t forget to listen to Salford City Radio 94.4 FM between 18.00 – 19.00 this (and every) Wednesday for the Rugby League Round-up.

We are recommending that all fans intending to travel to Sedgeley Park next week purchase a ticket from The Willows rather than paying on the gate. We have been informed by Swinton that there are only two turnstiles in operation on Sunday so if the Reds turn out is anything like it was at Rochdale (and we expect it to be higher) then significant queues are to be expected.

The prices are as follows:

Adults £12.50

Concessions £6.50

Juniors £2.00

Remember that our Junior Season Ticket Holders can use their Season Ticket to gain entry. The vouchers do not need to be swapped for a match ticket.

We advise all Reds fans to arrive early if at all possible, and expect that ticketed entry will be much quicker than for those paying cash, especially as the pricing means that just about everyone will require change to be given by the turnstile operator.

We have received an allocation of over 500 tickets but sales after the match and in the shop today were brisk so we hope to sell out during next week. There’s a real buzz around the club at the moment and the Reds fans are turning up in impressive numbers - long may it continue! Get down there if you possibly can for the first proper derby in a long time!

It seems like a good time to talk about this, having seen some impressive examples of it of late, perhaps none more so than the turnout at Rochdale on a bitterly cold day - a following that certainly bodes well for our average attendances, so vital in this year of SuperLeague license applications.

Better still is the fact that our Season Ticket base hasn’t just held up despite relegation, it has actually increased, and with another big week of sales still to come before the first home game it should grow even more. Even the most optimistic Reds worker would be lying if they tried to say that they truly expected that when Season Tickets went on sale last year. Hoped? Yes. Expected? Nope.

A big well done to everyone who has put their money where their mouth is in support of the club.

The Captain’s club has been a great success, with just shy of 100 members in the first year! In case you don’t know what The Captain’s club is, its members exclusively number those Reds Season Ticket Holders who have persuaded a friend, relative or acquaintance to buy a Season Ticket of their own - something we realise was more difficult than normal given the disappointments of last season. With some people introducing more than one new Season Ticket holder this means that we actually have over 100 new Season Ticket holders who were introduced by current members for 2008 - a fantastic effort by the Reds faithful*.

You may remember that we launched the Loyalty Scheme for Barton last year - any 2008 Season Ticket Holders should rest assured that they are guaranteed first pick of places when the doors open at the new stadium in early 2010. All being well, we will soon be announcing an extension of the scheme to assist those who cannot take up a Season Ticket for whatever reason. The final details are still being worked out, but I can tell you that a Loyalty Points scheme will be introduced that will be open to all fans who attend the final games at The Willows over the next two years, and that once Season Ticket holders have all been satisfactorily placed within the new stadium, we will offer the choice next to supporters in strict order of how many loyalty points they have racked up in 2008 and 2009.

To qualify for points all you will have to do is purchase your ticket any time before game day. We believe this will be the fairest way to reward our current fans and make sure they do not get usurped by any of the many new supporters we expect to be attracted to the shininess of the new stadium. Like I said, the finer points are still being worked on, so what I have just said is subject to change - we’ll let you know as and when we’re ready to launch the scheme officially (which will hopefully be before the first league game).

Why not make use of the comments facility to let us know your thoughts and suggestions on that?

*Despite what Trish may have said at the first Meet the Players evening, we realise there are equally loyal Reds fans who aren’t members of the 2008 Captain’s Club, and that not all fans were in a position to introduce a new Season Ticket holder this year, having exhausted their supply of eligible friends and family over many years of unflinchingly loyal support!

(Hopefully that smoothes that one over )