Ooh La La!! W
e’re all aware later this month we embark on the next chapter of the Salford – Anglo-French story. On 25th of March we travel to meet Les Catalans Dragons over in Perpignan. This will obviously be a mementos occasion for all clubs this season but more for Salford than most. Whether you agree with the French inclusion or not I’m sure you’ll agree we have some special links with the game over there. This trip is not our 1st trip to
on the same day as they had beaten Wigan in Lancashire Cup Final at Station Road Swinton. They traveled through the night reaching France at 5.30am the next morning. Following a four hour trip to Paris they had lunch and amazingly played against a Paris XIII on Sunday 21st October. 11 of the team that had played just 24 hours earlier managed to take On that tour we were invited part in the game and went on by the French RL as we were to win a high scoring the tie 51 seen as the premier side in the UK. The squad traveled by – 36. Next stop was Lyon-Villerbanne on 27th October winTrain from Salford to Euston for a connecting train from Lon- ning 34-17. Just one day (yes one day) later, they met and don Euston at 17.45. All this beat Beziers 41-8. On the 1st of November they had traveled 60 miles to take on Albi for the start of a mammoth 3 games in just 4 days!!! Again the reds were victorious 44-5. Again the next day they played and won, this time beating XIII Catalan 41-16 and just two days later the curtain came down on the whistle stop tour with another convincing win this time over Villeneuve 34-10. the land of garlic, Berets & frogs legs! In fact it will be the clubs 6th trip. Our history with France dates back as early as 1934. And of course the famous “Red Devils” tour in the same year. On that occasion was lead by legendary AJ ‘Gus’ Risman (below) and the side was coach by Lance Todd.
After that tour the name The Red Devils became our Nickname after the programme form the Paris XIII had announced the visitors as Les Diables Rouges de Salford. That game was also the 1st time Salford had played on a Sunday!! Stats from the tour: V Paris XIII – 51-36: Tries: Bob Brown 2, Cliff Evans 2 Barney Hudson 2,