Dear Sharks Family,
It’s been a memorable season on the pitch for us all at Sale Sharks as we reached our first Premiership semi-final in 15 years. We came up against a talented Exeter Chiefs side on the day and they came out on top. But we’re all so proud of what the players have achieved and we promise that we’ll do everything in our power to make sure this is just the start.
We also know it’s been a challenging and immensely difficult time off the field as well for so many of you but despite everything that the last 15 months has thrown at you, your support for your club has never wavered.
On behalf of everyone at the club, thank you. We promise that we don’t take that support for granted – in fact, we’ve all felt it every time the players took to the field, even if the stands were empty. We can’t wait until you’re all back where you belong.
On the field it’s been an eventful season. The year started with the appointment of Alex Sanderson as Director of Rugby in January and I’m sure you’d all agree that Alex has surpassed even our wildest expectations. He’s had an incredible impact right across the club and is a huge part of why we’ve reached our first Premiership semi-final in 15 years and why six of your Sharks are heading to South Africa for a British and Irish Lions tour.
We have a couple of new signings on the horizon, a brilliant group of talented, home-grown youngsters like Bevan Rodd, Ewan Ashman, James Harper, Matt Postlethwaite, Raffi Quirke, Kieran Wilkinson, Conor Doherty, Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed coming through, we announced new contracts for Manu Tuilagi and Cam Neild and we’ve built on a fantastic set of coaches and backroom staff with the appointment of our new Peak Performance coach Jamie Langley.
This season we also appointed Sid Sutton as our new CEO and under Sid’s guidance, everyone at Carrington is working so hard to make sure next season builds on this one across all departments.
The future is so bright and we hope you’re as excited as we are about what’s to come because together, we can achieve anything.
We’re sure too, that you’re already itching to get back into the AJ Bell Stadium to support your team. We know the lads can’t wait to run out in front of a full house. We welcomed supporters back into the stadium for two games at the end of the regular season and the team responded with two big wins against really good sides. You’re truly irreplaceable and we know the difference you can make and what a part you can play in pushing this club onto even bigger and better things.
We want, and need, you to join us for what’s going to be an exciting ride.
We want to fill the stadium, to make it a fortress and a difficult place for opposition teams to come and we want you to be a part of that. The atmosphere was incredible with 3,000 fans in for the Bristol and Harlequins games so just imagine what it could be like with 12,000.
Top four is the minimum target for your Sharks now but whatever we hope to achieve, we’ll need your help. So join the Sharks feeding frenzy and help us in our quest to reach the summit of English rugby.
Thanks everyone and see you soon.
Regards
Simon, Michelle and Ged
