The Willows, Salford

The Willows
	The Willows North Stand
Full name	The Willows
Location	Willows Road, Weaste, Salford; M5 5FQ
Coordinates	53°29′11″N 2°18′34″W / 53.48639°N 2.30944°W
Owner	Iain Watson
Capacity	11,363 with 2,500 seats
Record attendance	26,470 vs Warrington (Challenge Cup), 13 February 1937
Surface	Grass
Scoreboard	Electronic
Construction
Built	1900
Opened	1901
Renovated	1966, 1971, 1975, 1989
Closed	2011
Demolished	2012
Tenants
	Salford RLFC (1901–2011) Swinton RLFC (2011)

The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats.

History

In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on 5 acres (20,000 m²) of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abundance of willow trees in the area. They made their debut at the Willows on 21 December 1901, beating Swinton 2–0 in front of 16,981 fans.

In the 1960s, the terrace was flattened at the Willows Road end to make way for the Salford Football and Social Club which was officially opened on 16 June 1966.

The Willows switched on its floodlights for the first time in the match with Widnes on Friday 11 March 1966. On 26 November 1989, Salford unveiled a new £50,000 electronic scoreboard above the Willows Variety Centre.^[1]

Salford moved to the Salford City Stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell at the start of the 2012 season.^[2] The last match at the Willows saw them lose to Catalans Dragons 18–44 in front of 10,146 fans, a record for a Salford home match in Super League.^[3]

Redevelopment

In 2013, a proposal to redevelop the site for housing was put forward by City West Housing Trust.^[4]

References

^ "The Willows". Manchester Evening News.
^ "The Willows: Salford Reds' field of dreams". Manchester Evening News. 10 February 2011.
^ "Salford 18-44 Catalans Dragons". BBC Sport. 11 September 2011.
^ "Multi-million pound plan to convert old rugby league ground into 120 homes". Manchester Evening News. 22 October 2013.

External links

Preceded by Headingley Leeds	Challenge Cup Final Venue 1902–03	Succeeded by Headingley Leeds
Preceded by Fartown Huddersfield	Challenge Cup Final Venue 1910–11	Succeeded by Headingley Leeds
Preceded by New Barnes 1878–1901	Salford Red Devils Home Ground 1901–2011	Succeeded by Salford City Stadium 2012–present

This article about an English sports venue is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "The Willows". Manchester Evening News.

[2] "The Willows: Salford Reds' field of dreams". Manchester Evening News. 10 February 2011.

[3] "Salford 18-44 Catalans Dragons". BBC Sport. 11 September 2011.

[4] "Multi-million pound plan to convert old rugby league ground into 120 homes". Manchester Evening News. 22 October 2013.

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v t e Salford Red Devils
Founded in 1873 Based in Salford, England
The Club	History Honours Players International representatives Coaches
Home grounds	New Barnes The Willows Salford Community Stadium
Hall of Fame	Gus Risman Martin Offiah
League	Super League
Championships (6)	1913–14 1932–33 1936–37 1938–39 1973–74 1975–76
Challenge Cup (1)	1937–38
Other honours	4—time Rugby Football League Second Division Champions 1–time Divisional Champions 1—time BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Champions 5—time Lancashire County Cup Champions 5—time Lancashire League Champions 2—time Northern Rail Cup Champions
Seasons (102)	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Affiliation	Rugby Football League (1896) Salford Red Devils Women

v t e Super League venues
Current (2025)	Belle Vue Brick Community Stadium Craven Park Halliwell Jones Stadium Headingley Rugby Stadium Hull City Stadium The Jungle Kirklees Stadium Leigh Sports Village Salford Community Stadium Stade Gilbert Brutus Totally Wicked Stadium
Magic Weekend	Millennium Stadium Murrayfield Stadium City of Manchester Stadium St James' Park Anfield Elland Road
Grand Final	Old Trafford

v t e 1975 Rugby League World Cup venues
England	Central Park Headingley Odsal The Willows Wilderspool
France	Stade du Parc Lescure Stade Gilbert Brutus Stadium Municipal Stade Vélodrome
Australia	Lang Park Sydney Cricket Ground
New Zealand	Addington Showground Carlaw Park
Wales	St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground