Mason Caton-Brown has described spearheading Salford's recovery from rugby league oblivion as a full-circle moment wrapped up in all sorts of emotions.
Salford Red Devils' 152-year existence came to an end on December 4 when they were wound up following a one-minute hearing relating to an unpaid tax bill owed to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
The Red Devils, who were relegated from Super League after a turbulent 2025 campaign, immediately had their membership terminated by the Rugby Football League.
Hopes that a 'phoenix club' could rise in time to fulfil the old club's fixtures in next season's second-tier Championship were realised this week when a consortium led by former player Caton-Brown received membership approval from the RFL.
Speaking to Your Site, the 32-year-old, who played 37 games for Salford between 2014 and 2016, reflected on a whirlwind couple of weeks.
"It was an amazing feeling," he said. "One of the happiest days. There was a bit of relief as well because the last few weeks have been pressure and excitement, so to get the green light was an amazing feeling, but the hard work starts now."
He continued: "I came to the club as a 21-year-old fresh-faced player. I moved into the city and it kind of just became my home.
"To come full circle from being a player to now being able to build the club is a really special moment, and it just hit me yesterday like, wow, this is actually happening - we can do this.
"Likewise with the rest of our consortium, it's literally fans, supporters from a young age, so for them now to have a chance to build the club how they think best as fans is a really special thing."
Salford are scheduled to start the 2026 season against local rivals Oldham on January 16, leaving Caton-Brown with a race against time to install a head coach and recruit players before the big kick-off.
"We've had conversations with players throughout these last few weeks and now we're elevating those conversations and starting to get pen to paper," he explained.
"We're in the process of doing the same with our coach - he's ready to get on board - so there'll be some announcements coming between Christmas and New Year regarding players and coaches."
Caton-Brown guaranteed the community of Salford would remain at the heart of the decision-making process and hoped that would be reflected by a celebratory atmosphere on and off the pitch in January.
"A big part of our ethos as a group is transparency and community," he added. "We want to try and make sure we're involving as many of the community as possible and that will start with a fans forum starting in the early week of January.
"We want to try and get everyone involved and bring everyone back together after such a nightmare of a year so one of our big goals this year is to bring everyone together and get everyone involved.
"It's going to be an amazing feeling, that game on the 16th. We want to use it as a celebration as well, preserving this really rich history not only for Salford but for rugby league as a sport.
"That January 16 game we want to treat as a massive celebration and try and get the whole of Salford down, the whole of the community down, and really celebrate what we've done."
