AJ Bell Stadium AJ Bell Stadium Salford City Stadium (referred to as the AJ Bell Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a rugby stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell, Salford, England, built to replace Salford rugby league club's ground the Willows for the 2012 season. Sale Sharks rugby union club have also played at the stadium since the 2012–13 season. In 2005, Salford City Council approved plans for the Reds to move from the Willows to the brownfield site at Barton. The stadium was originally to be developed by Red City Developments, with construction to be complete for the start of the 2009 season. However, RCD went
Crusaders (rugby union) playing there during the 2011 Super Rugby season due to damage inflicted by the February Christchurch earthquake. The Crusaders usually took one game each year to another part of the franchise area, most often when the New Zealand cricket team was playing at AMI Stadium. Previous venues included Trafalgar Park in Nelson, and Alpine Energy Stadium in Timaru. With AMI Stadium still out of commission, the Crusaders adopted Rugby League Park (which has been renamed Christchurch Stadium temporarily) in Addington as their home ground for that and future seasons to recentralise their games in one location as opposed to the