Salford Red Devils Women’s Head Coach, Chris Bates has left his position following the conclusion of our 2023 Betfred Women’s Super League 2 campaign.
Bates has been in charge of the team since 2022 and has overseen a huge period of growth in just two years.
In our inaugural season, the women’s side captured the Championship League Leaders’ Shield alongside the League Cup and earned promotion to Super League.
During 2023, the team beat Castleford Tigers and Bradford Bulls twice on their way to securing a fourth place finish – meaning playoff rugby league.
Despite losing out to Leigh Leopards in the semi-final, the performance of the girls in just their second season was hugely encouraging and leaves something to build-on going forward.
Reflecting on his time at the club, Bates has said: “It has been a really hard decision to step back from my role with the women’s team at Salford.
“I am really proud of the group and the work we’ve done to get to where we are now, but it’s clear that to push and reach the heights that the group are capable of, they need more time than I can give them currently with work commitments and a young family.
“I’d like to thank Matt, Dawn, Marce, Harry and Paul for all the help and support, I’ve absolutely loved my time at the club, and I can’t wait to see how they go next season!”
Managing Director, Paul King has added: “Chris has been a fantastic servant to Salford Red Devils and leaves our club with the absolute best wishes.
“He has achieved so much in his time here; leading the women’s team to our first piece of silverware, topping the Championship, and earning promotion to Super League.
“It gave me great pride to see our girls compete at such a high level this season and I know they will continue to do the same going forward.
“With the current restructure of women’s rugby league, this gives a new Head Coach a clean slate to implement their own ideas and earn promotion back to Super League – which is ultimately our main goal.”
With 2024 just around the corner, the club are still actively looking for a new Head Coach and updates will be shared when appropriate.
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