Wembley defeat, another manager sacked – what’s going on at Salford City?

June 4, 2026 No Comments

Wembley defeat, another manager sacked – what’s going on at Salford City?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Salford co-owner David Beckham (left) and football director Paul Scholes sat either side of chief executive Gavin Fleig at Wembley for the play-off defeat by Notts CountyBySimon Stone

Chief football news reporter

51 minutes ago

Paul Scholes was as stony faced walking through the mixed zone at Wembley as he had been sitting close to former Manchester United team-mate David Beckham in the Royal Box as Salford City’s 3-0 play-off final defeat by Notts County unfolded.

Scholes had just been into the losing dressing room to offer what condolences he could after such a shattering loss.

‘Time for a word, Paul?’ Scholes was asked as he walked past reporters on his way out. The former England midfielder turned, scoffed and continued on his way.

What was there to say?

“We were beaten in every area of the pitch,” stated manager Karl Robinson when he stood in roughly the same place a few minutes later.

“I apologise to the supporters that we couldn’t give them what they wanted.”

Salford’s defeat triggered the expected sarcasm on social media around co-owner Gary Neville offering blunt opinions on Sky Sports about how other clubs should be run, while failing at his own.

Former joint manager Anthony Johnson was among those to offer his view.

Johnson – together with Bernard Morley – led Salford to promotion three times. They starred in the popular Out of their League series on the BBC, which charted the early years of the new ownership, before being released following promotion to the National League in 2018.

“We left Salford City eight years ago after winning three promotions,” he wrote on X. “Since then they’ve won one promotion, and that was the season after we’d left with the majority of the squad we put together. I do sometimes wonder…”

Nine days later, Robinson was sacked. In an eight-line statement, Salford stated the decision had “not been easy” but had been reached “unanimously”.

Why was Robinson sacked?

Contrary to widespread opinion, Robinson’s sacking was not instigated by Neville. Scholes – as chief football adviser – and chief executive Gavin Fleig offer guidance on football decisions of this magnitude. Those opinions are put to the executive team and signed off by the wider ownership, of which Neville is just one part.

Fourth place in the fourth tier may well be Salford’s highest ever finish, but it was below pre-season expectations. Robinson knew promotion was the aim.

Senior Salford officials felt with a new ownership structure, renewed determination and – crucially – big spenders such as Wrexham and Stockport gone, one of the biggest wage bills in the league should be enough to deliver that.

It didn’t happen. Despite competing at the top end all season, Salford were undone by a run of four successive defeats in February to sides who finished in the bottom third, a last-day draw at lowly Crawley, and finally the Wembley debacle.

If any of those games had been won, Salford would have been promoted. Instead, they are preparing for an eighth successive season in League Two.

Salford were not the only aspirational club to miss out on promotion through the play-offs this season. Stockport and Bradford both lost in the League One version while Wrexham didn’t even make the Championship play-offs – edged out by eventual winners Hull on the final day.

Salford, though, remain where they have been since 2019. In addition to Wrexham and Stockport, Notts County and Bromley complete a set of four clubs who have gone past them despite being in the National League as recently as 2022.

To understand why this matters, you must piece a few things together.

The long-term aim from the moment in 2014 that Salford City were bought by the ‘Class of 92’ – Scholes, Neville and his brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and, eventually, Beckham, with substantial financial backing from Singapore businessman Peter Lim – was the Championship.

At the time, it seemed fanciful. Salford were in the second level of the Northern Premier League – the eighth tier of the English game – and sometimes playing to crowds of under 100.

But perceptions changed with four promotions in five seasons and massive investment that helped transform Moor Lane – now known as the Peninsula Stadium – to the point barely a single element of the stadium site remains as it was.

Neville subsequently admitted it was a mistake to sack Graham Alexander in October 2020, with the club fifth in the table after an unbeaten start. As with Robinson, style of play was a reason put forward.

Richie Wellens and Gary Bowyer followed Alexander before – after an ill-fated half-season under Neil Wood – Robinson was appointed in January 2024.

With the exception of the season Wood was in charge, Salford finished between seventh and 11th in their first six League Two campaigns.

Steady, but not the progress anticipated.

In a joint interview with the Athletic, external in September 2025, Beckham and Gary Neville admitted the club would have been in “serious trouble” had the ownership structure not changed and the funds found to go with it.

Losses over the previous seven years were estimated at £22.5m and Lim ended his involvement in 2024. The outlook was “scary”.

Beckham, who has ownership experience at Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, and Neville linked up with businessmen Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies to build a new consortium, which included significant partners including AIG and Coca-Cola.

In December, AIG became the club’s largest shareholder.

Salford’s restated aim was to reach the Championship in five years. They feel funding is available to achieve it, but their business model requires significant owner investment, as it always has.

In their most recent accounts – to June 2025 – the club confirmed it owed £20.47m to its parent company, though “repayment will not be sought until cash flow permits”.

Salford’s average attendance this season was 3,050 – their highest ever. It marks enormous growth since the point the Class of 92 got involved, but only four clubs in League Two had a lower figure. By comparison, Notts County’s average attendance was 10,715.

The first of the five years has gone. Salford remain in the same league as they were in 2019.

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” Kelly told the Athletic in September. “We know we’re going to get punched in the face along the way.

“But we’re not here for a day, a week, a month. We’re here for years and we’re very committed. It’s going to be a hell of a journey.”

Defeat at Wembley was one of those punches. Robinson was the man knocked out.

There has been no word on who will take over, nor on the futures of Robinson’s coaching team.

Whatever comes next, one thing is certain – Salford’s ambitious ownership demands much better.