Our all time Sharks XV
Ahead of every home game this season we’ll be inducting Sale Sharks legends into our Hall of Fame so you’ll get the chance to meet your Sharks heroes past and present.
Make sure you’re there to see some of our greatest players join our all-time XV whilst watching our current crop of Sharks take on the very best the Gallagher Premiership has to offer.
1 – Paul Smith
Loosehead prop Paul Smith joined the Sharks Colts team at the age of 18 and played more than 150 games for Sale and then Sale Sharks between 1988 and 2000, many alongside twin brother and fellow prop Andrew.
He joined the club staff after injury forced him to retire, and took up a key role in the club’s finance team, before a chance convcersation with then Director of Rugby Philippe Saint-Andre led to him becoming Team Manager.
He moved on to become the club’s Operations Manager, then Operations Director and was appointed CEO in 2024.
Paul has dedicated his life to the club and we are delighted to make him our first Sharks Hall of Fame inductee.
2 – Steve Diamond
Former hooker Steve Diamond was synonymous with Sale Sharks for well over 40 years, serving the club as both a player with more than 350 first team appearances, and as director of rugby.
A true one-club man, Diamond played for the club for eleven years before returning in 2001, alongside Jim Mallinder, to coach the team. Stints with England Saxons, Saracens and the Russian national team followed before the ever-popular ‘Dimes’ returned to Sale in 2011, taking over from the departing Mike Brewer.
In December 2020, fans’ favourite Steve announced that he would leave Sale Sharks for personal reasons. He went on to coach Worcester Warriors and Newcastle Falcons, but he remains a huge part of our history and we’re thrilled to make him the second Hall of Fame inductee.
14 – Steve Hanley
Winger Steve Hanley started his rugby life playing for Cumbrian side Aspatria but his career took off after he played in the old Fourth Division and represented England in every age group all in the space of six months.
He signed a professional deal with Sale in the 1998/99 season and it wasn’t long before he got his opportunity – away to Leicester – when winger Tom Beim hurt his shoulder in training. He impressed in the newly-named Sharks first team and was called into Clive Woodward’s England squad for the final Five Nations tournament in 1999.
Steve played just once during the tournament, in England’s final game against Wales at Wembley. He scored a debut try but England were beaten with a last-minute Scott Gibbs score.
It was to be Steve’s only international appearance but on the domestic front, he went from strength to strength. After spending ten years as a Shark, he retired at the age of 29 as the league’s record try scorer. In total he scored 104 tries for the club, with 75 coming in the Premiership.