PAUL King has good reason to celebrate Salford's sensational season – his mortgage is on the line for them!

The Red Devils stand 80 minutes from a Grand Final spot that looked so unlikely before the start of a season many thought would see them relegated.

Even if they lose at Wigan in Friday's semi-final, they will earn a six figure sum in prize money – win and it doubles, win at Old Trafford and it trebles.

But most of the initial sum will go towards paying off creditors at the cash strapped club.

And director King revealed just how tight things are, so much so he put his house on the line to guide his boyhood heroes through.

"That's a pretty big thing but it's my personal guarantee," said the man who can name the line up from his first Salford match in 1973 and believes Ian Watson's current side is the best since the 1976 title winners.

“I’m just a geeky fan. What else could I do? If I hadn’t have got involved, the club would’ve gone.

“It all started on Twitter when I replied to a fan saying Ian should be sacked. Andrew Rosler approached me, we met and he asked if I could help?

“Initially, it was in an advisory capacity but that lasted for about two weeks. I got involved and we both had to put personal guarantees up.”

King, who survived cancer of the oesophagus after being diagnosed two years ago, is one of just seven directors – four of whom are non-executive – that run Salford.

Somehow he doubles that up with running a security consultancy firm, even though his role at the Red Devils is 'constant' and 'stressful' for different reasons.

And things work both ways as he added: “It’s been ying and yang. Off the field it’s been incredibly stressful. I’m going from crisis management meeting to crisis management meeting.

“On the field it’s been incredibly stressful but in terms of excitement. We can really do something now.

“Of course it’s been good to prove people wrong but we know what we’re doing. We wanted to announce Jackson Hastings’ extension at the Toulouse game last year and have him sign it on the pitch.

“After his first game, we knew we had something and were like, ‘We’ve got to get him, we’ve got to get him.’ Director of rugby Ian Blease said, ‘Can we afford him?’

“But we were like, ‘Shut up.’ We were being fans, though, and he was being sensible.

“We couldn’t afford to not get him. He was going to be the catalyst for something and people like Gil Dudson have been unbelievable after coming from nowhere.

“I don’t mind admitting that when the two Ians told me, I was like, ‘Why?’ It shows what I know!”

Salford's regular season, which saw them finish third, has increased awareness of the club and home gates, up some 24 per cent.

But the fight to bring in extra cash goes on. The collapse of the firm they had agreed a sponsorship deal with means asking companies to put £1,000 each into a draw to have their name on the front of their 2020 shirt.

“We’re the perennial underdogs but we’ve got to do something to change that,” King said. “Get people interested in us. We do a tremendous amount of work in the community too.

“But this year has definitely seen an increase in interest. More people are talking about us now. We’ve got to turn that interest into extra cashflow now.”

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