After a hard fought away win over Widnes Saints last week, the North West’s newest rugby league squad New Broughton Rangers are preparing to take to the field for their first home game, this Saturday.

It was no easy introduction for the league newcomers, as Widnes made it as tough as they could for their debut North West Summer Conference fixture. However, the determination and talent of the New Broughton Rangers open age team won out in the end with the game finishing 28-24 to the visitors.

The team is currently in training for its first ever home game against Copeland, which will take place at the Salford University pitches - Castle Irwell this Saturday with a 2.30pm kick off. The club, supported by Salford City Reds and the local ‘Broughton Rangers’ team of volunteers on behalf of Countryside Properties and Contour Homes who are leading the regeneration of the area with Salford City Council, is hoping to continue their inaugural season with another victory.

Debbie Baker, chairperson of New Broughton Rangers and local resident, said: “The lads have all been training hard in preparation for the season and that was obvious to anyone who saw them play their first game. The lads did the team proud as they fought bravely throughout the game against an experienced side.

“We obviously want to continue with a win at home, but it’s going to be a hard game against a team who won by more than 60 points in their last game! We are hoping that plenty of residents will come down to show their support and cheer on the lads and there is an after match BBQ for everyone to come down and enjoy at St Boniface’s Social Club.”

One special guest who will be lending his support to the team on the day is Salford City Reds prop Lee Jewitt, who will be keeping a close eye on the emerging young talent.

The club is hoping to reignite the glory days of the Broughton Rangers, which was forced to close its doors more than 50 years ago, and aims to become a central part of the local community. Countryside Properties is currently working on the new pitches at Lower Broughton which will become the club’s new home.

We know that a lot of the primary schools who usually take part in the Golden Angels initiative have opted out for Thursday’s game against the Celtic Crusaders as they do not want their pupils to be out late on a school night in the middle of such important tests.

All at Salford City Reds would like to wish the kids of the city the and the teachers of all the Primary Schools that we have got to know so well this year the very best for the SATs.

Hopefully you will all get to at least watch the game on TV - if you cheer loud enough we’re sure the lads will still hear you from there!

We look forward to welcoming you back at the next game.

We are pleased to announce that official travel will be running to Featherstone for the Northern Rail Cup Quarter Final on Thursday 22 May, 2008.

Seats are available for 10 pounds on a first come, first served basis from the club shop either in person or on 0161 736 6564 and will not be held in lieu of payment.

Please try to book as early as possible to avoid disappointment - it is very unlikely that if you leave it until the day of the game (or even a day or two before) that there will be any spaces left. If people book early then we have the opportunity to book additional coaches, but this cannot be done after the weekend prior to the game.

Shirley will be running the travel again for us, so everyone should be on their best behaviour!

We would like to urge as many fans as possible to resist the urge to watch this match on TV - get down their, support the lads and help send us all on our way to Blackpool for the final!

Don’t forget tonight, Salford City Radio 94.4FM, Rugby Roundup with myself and Paul Parkin 6-7pm (repeated Friday at the same time). In depth interview with Shaun McRae after last week’s draw at the Don Valley. Well worth a listen… Catch it online at www.salfordcityradio.org if your wireless is rubbish….

Email any questions or your talking points to studio@salfordcityradio.org this afternoon or prior to that send to paul.mcnally@reds.co.uk

Plus we’ll be discussing Chambers (again ;), Millennium Magic, International selection hoo-ha and whatever else takes our fancy…. it’s a rugby talk show, but not as we know it….

Oh an we’ll also be joined by John Thomason from Swinton Lions and it was good last time he was on so be there!

Cheers

Hello. Just upgraded our blogging system. It should be okay and maintain the integrity of what has gone before it but if you do find any probs leave your comments here and I’ll get my best debugging gloves out. Cheers.

As of 4pm the coaches to Sheffield have sold out - we are currently looking into whether we can source further coaches, but it isn’t looking too good at this stage.

We will update the blog as soon as we have any further information. We would like to apologise for any disappointment, but we have been taken by surprise by the high level of demand for travel to this fixture.

FURTHER UPDATE

We have been unable to source any additional travel, so unfortunately (for those not booked on yet) supporter travel to Sheffield is now officially SOLD OUT.

Interesting piece in the Guardian today regarding the City of Salford Stadium and licencing process, with an interview with Reds CEO David Tarry - worth a look.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/apr/28/rugbyleague.superleague

As ever, leave your thoughts (if you have any) in the comments section. We can see this is already being vigorously debated on various fans forums