Football
ESPN staff 7y

Paul Scholes: Salford City want to play Championship football

Paul Scholes wants to take non-league Salford City to the Championship, one division away from the Premier League.

The former Manchester United midfielder co-owns the club with former Old Trafford teammates Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Gary and Phil Neville and businessman Peter Lim and believes there is huge potential.

"You sense something big is happening and we want to take it as far as we possibly can," Scholes told BBC Sport. "In the last two years we have won the league and gone up through the play-offs. The crowd is on the pitch, loving it.

"There has to be a purpose to a football club. The purpose is to go as far as we possibly can.

"I went to Stockport on Saturday. There must have been 500 away fans there. You don't see that in the Football League. OK, it is a local game but you would do well to get 250 if Oldham were there."

Salford are currently one division below the National League and two promotions away from reaching the Football League.

"We will need investment," Scholes added. "This is nothing bad against FC United because it is the way they have done it but they won't take outside investment. They have a lovely ground and they have probably got a budget that won't allow them to get out of this league.

"We don't want that. I don't want that. We want a nice ground and we want to be playing Championship football."

Despite that, Scholes insists they are in for the long haul and want to build a successful football club.

He said: "We are not doing it for a return on our investment. We want to build a good football club, with a reserve team and youth team and have kids coming through from the age of 10 to the first team.

"We are desperate for that to happen. That would give us greater satisfaction than making a few quid."

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