RYAN BRIERLEY is braced for “a really emotional night” when phoenix club Salford kick off their Championship campaign against Oldham at Salford Community stadium this evening.

Brierley shelved his playing career to return to his former club as chief executive last month after a consortium led by another former player, Mason Caton-Brown, was accepted into the sport’s second tier.

The move preserved 152 years of rugby league history in the city, drawing a line under a 2025 campaign in which the then Red Devils lurched from one crisis to another and were ultimately wound up by HM Revenue and Customs in December over unpaid taxes.

Brierley, who has been central to a frantic rebuild since Caton-Brown’s bid was rubber-stamped by the RFL, warned that on-field success this season is necessarily a long way down his list of priorities.

“It’s going to be huge — the emotion and the relief that we show on Friday night will be something special,” said Brierley, who made 95 appearances for the club between 2022 and 2025 before becoming one of many players forced to depart in the midst of last season’s calamities.

“It’s a massive achievement for the club to get where it is now. It will be a really emotional night but it will also come with a sense of realism and a need to manage expectations.

“There will be 17 lads wearing a Salford jersey against Oldham on Friday night, which is unbelievable given where we’ve come from.

“But the priority isn’t the actual performances. It can’t be because these lads have never met each other before. They’ve trained twice together and they haven’t had a pre-season.

“If we can make slight improvements throughout the year, with a bit more resource and time, that will be great but 95 per cent of our improvement needs to be off the field, building foundations and structure and making sure everything is sustainable.”

Salford will bank on a blend of young players and loans — including a quartet from Super League side Leigh — to form a side against Oldham, with Brierley admitting he was unconvinced he would manage to make up the number as late as Wednesday.

“It’s been absolute chaos,” added Brierley. “We’ve only just confirmed we’ve got enough players, and if the decision [to grant a licence] had come two or three days later, I’m not sure we would have been able to do it.

“But we got here, and there will be a game on Friday night, which is what we’re all here for. We’ve protected 152 years of history, and that is down to the fans who have united and galvanised to get us through the worst of times.”