Sale Sharks
| Full name | Sale Sharks Rugby Union Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Cheshire RFU | ||
| Founded | 1861 (as "Sale Football Club") 1999 (as "Sale Sharks") | ||
| Location | Barton-upon-Irwell, Salford, England | ||
| Ground | CorpAcq Stadium (Capacity: 12,000) | ||
| Chairman | Fran Cotton | ||
| CEO | Paul Smith | ||
| Director of Rugby | Alex Sanderson | ||
| Coach | Marco Bortolami | ||
| Captain | Ernst van Rhyn | ||
| Most appearances | Sam James (244) | ||
| Top scorer | Charlie Hodgson (1,872) | ||
| Most tries | Mark Cueto (90) | ||
| League | Premiership Rugby | ||
| 2024–25 | 3rd | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| salesharks.com | |||
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. The team plays in the Gallagher Premiership, and has been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1994. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club (which is now a distinct amateur club), it is one of the oldest existing football clubs. It adopted the nickname Sharks in 1999.
Since 2012, Sale has played home games at the CorpAcq Stadium (formerly known as Salford Community Stadium) in Barton-upon-Irwell, Salford, which is shared with Salford Red Devils rugby league club. Between 1905 and 2003, Sale played at Heywood Road in Sale, before moving to Edgeley Park in Stockport where Sale stayed until 2012. Historically one of the leading teams in the north of England, the traditional colours are blue and white.
Domestically, Sale was Premiership champions in 2005–06 and runners up in 2001-02 and 2022-23. Sale won the Premiership Rugby Cup in 2019-20 and was losing finalists in its predecessors, the RFU Knockout Cup in 1997 and the Anglo-Welsh Cup, in 2012-13. Sale also won the second division in 1994 to secure promotion to the Premiership. Internationally, the club won the second tier European Rugby Challenge Cup in 2001–02 and 2004–05.
In the 2024–25 Premiership Rugby season, Sale finished third in the regular season, losing in the play-off semi-final. This position entitled the team to compete in the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup. The club's Director of Rugby is Alex Sanderson, who was appointed in January 2021.