Another EFL club confirm big change for 2026/27 after Stoke City, Middlesbrough decisions | OneFootball

Salford City's identity is undergoing a big change ahead of the new season

Promotion to League One continues to elude Salford City and their Class of 92-led ownership group, and they will still be getting over the humbling they received at the hands of Notts County at Wembley in May.

Led by Karl Robinson to the League Two play-off final thanks to a two-legged win over Grimsby Town, the Ammies were stifled by Martin Paterson's Magpies, with County running out convincing 3-0 winners to return to the third tier of English football for the first time since 2015.

And it was the closest that Salford had gotten to winning their first promotion to that level, in what was their seventh year in League Two in succession since being promoted from the National League and into the EFL for the very first time.

Still run by part of the ex-Man United contingent that took them over in 2014, with Gary Neville and David Beckham being co-owners, Salford are set to undergo a radical change ahead of the upcoming campaign - and that's not just with the appointment of Ange Postecoglou's former assistant Peter Cklamovski as head coach.

Salford City confirm big club change ahead of 2026-27 season

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Not only will Salford be getting an overseas manager for the foreseeable future, but they will also be getting a whole club identity change.

As per official communication from the club via X, City have ushered in their 'new era', which has seen the club change to a circular black and orange crest, and the home kit is also set to be the colour orange.

Whilst the change from red to orange may look radical from the outside looking in, orange was actually at the heart of City's original identity, but that was all changed after the Class of 92's takeover 12 years ago at Moor Lane.

With 77.1 per cent of voting fans opting to revert back to the club's roots though back in October, the change has been made ahead of the new season, and there will be hope that the change of identity will bring better luck on the pitch.

And whilst their club colour and badge change was confirmed a number of months ago, it has only come into play at the start of July, and they follow other EFL clubs into making a change to their badge.

Stoke City's logo has changed for the new campaign, having opted to abandon their now previous badge after 25 years in favour of a more throwback look to how it looked in the 1970s and 1980s.

And their Championship rivals Middlesbrough have also made a badge change, returning to a circular logo after nearly 20 years, with their shield badge no longer being used ahead of the new campaign.

Has the Salford City project stagnated? New identity could be key to promotion

It honestly does not feel like that long ago since Neville, his brother Phil, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all announced in 2014 that they had taken over Salford - who were then in the eighth tier of English football - with Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, and were seen as a project to develop.

Four promotions in five years saw a rapid rise to the Football League, with much criticism coming their way for seemingly 'buying' their way through the leagues, but there's been a clear struggle in a bid to push the project further, with the Greater Manchester outfit still only averaging just over 3,000 fans (which includes visiting allocations) a season at the Peninsula Stadium.

This past season under Karl Robinson was the closest they'd got yet to reaching League One, but it wasn't to be, and whilst they've took a punt on a relatively unknown manager in Cklamovski, who was previously in charge of Malaysia's national team, the proven EFL experience that has already arrived in Will Norris, Joe Powell and Will Aimson from Wycombe Wanderers, Rotherham United and Wigan Athletic respectively, shows the direction of travel they want to go.

Heading back to their orange roots could also potentially bring a few old-school Salford fans back who were opposed to the changes back in the day, but they may be too far gone now - it will be interesting to see though how the new-look Ammies get on in 2026-27.