Star date: 3rd January 2021

AJ BELL STADIUM 'A GREAT SUCCESS'?

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 14th annual Salford Star Mary Burns Awards, which are given out to honour the most deserving individuals and organisations in the city for their stupid statements, dodgy dealings and iffy activities over the past twelve months.

The George Bush Read My Lips Award has been won by many Salford leaders over the last decade and this year it's Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, who wowed the judges with his declaration that the part Council-owned AJ Bell Stadium is "a great success". Ladies and gentlemen, please stifle your vomiting for the winner of this prestigious Award.

Full details here...

The George Bush Read My Lips Award

Goes to...

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett

Ladies and gentlemen, the Salford Star George Bush Read My Lips Award has usually been won by Salford leaders for making really silly remarks which have come back to haunt them.

Last January, Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, came down from cloud cuckoo land to announce to a baffled full meeting of Salford City Council that the AJ Bell Stadium, or the City of Salford Community Stadium (COSCS), a joint venture between the Council and Peel Holdings, was "actually a great success" and a "really good news story"...

This, just minutes before also announcing that more loans to the Stadium were imminent and a few weeks after the Stadium accounts reported a loss of £1.973million for the year.

Indeed, the accounts embellished the financial flop of a Stadium, with Salford City Council owed £19.105million in loans, plus £6.035million in further 'development' loans (along with Peel Holdings). That's a total debt to the Council of over £25million, with total loans adding up to £31.76million. .

"I just wanted to reassure members of the Council...that we should be positive about the future direction of the Stadium and that regeneration in that part of the city, and I can corroborate all this with hard data and facts" the Mayor insisted "I actually think it's a really good news story...not only is the debt coming down but we're creating jobs, we're selling land and we're moving in the right direction."

That speech was on 17th January. Four days later, the joint venture partners in the Stadium, Salford Council and Peel Holdings, had to provide a further £1.32million in loans to keep the thing afloat. And the debt had risen to £31.84million, despite the sale of land near the Stadium to Aldi for £1.183million.

The accompanying Council report for that loan revealed that any interest the Council gets from its never ending Stadium loans doesn't go into front line services, but is squirreled away into a reserve fund "to compensate the Council for the risk of default".

And then in June, Sale Sharks which shares the Stadium match days with Salford Red Devils, announced that it wanted out, attempting to build its own stadium – which subsequently fell through but showed the intention...

Yep, "a great success" and a "really good news story"...The new accounts for the Stadium will be out shortly, as well as the inevitable call for more loans...

So, ladies and gentlemen, gaslight your narcissism, and go up and under the spin for the winner of the Salford Star Mary Burns George Bush Read My Lips Award...

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett!!!

If Paul Dennett - or his speech writer - would like to make an acceptance speech, please use the comments box below...

See also this year's other winners of the Salford Star Mary Burns Awards...

The Deer, Deer...Shot Ourselves in the Foot Award - RHS Bridgewater - click here

Feed The Rich Award – English Cities Fund – click here

The LS Lowry Award for Grotty Terraced Housing – Salford City Council – click here

Uncle Joe Stalin Award for Open and Democratic Government – Salford City Council - click here

Knowing Your Community Award - Salford City Council - click here