Kennedy helps Sale to shrug off the shackles

Constraint is not a word Brian Kennedy likes to use. Self-made millionaires don't like to be constrained. The free market economy and unrestrained freedom to behave as they wish within the law, to advance their commercial well-being, are essential to men like Kennedy, the owner of the Sale Sharks.

Kennedy, 42, the son of an Edinburgh window cleaner, made his fortune in selling replacement windows and recently sold the company for £63m. Kennedy is an entrepreneur, pure and simple, and his decision to move Sale in with the Nationwide Second Division club, Stockport County – his new acquisition – not only bucks the trend but makes sound business sense. Kennedy has control and Heywood Road, Sale's home for the past 98 years is history.

When Kennedy bought Sale three years ago, he purchased a homely little club, with a cramped, quaint ground from another era. The members' committee, who still own the freehold of Heywood Road, had allowed the club to accumulate debts accelerating towards £1m, and to free themselves from that unwanted millstone they sold the club to Kennedy for just £1.

Sale had a well-deserved reputation for playing open, attractive rugby and had produced some very good international players like Fran Cotton and Steve Smith, but they were an outfit who had never threatened the established order, and even spent some time in the Second Division. Indeed, when Orrell were in their pomp, Sale weren't even top dogs in the North West, never mind being one of the top three in the country.

Since then, Paul Turner's inspired playmaking and coaching, followed by the input of John Mitchell, now coach of New Zealand, has helped to put them at the forefront of the English game. That good work has been carried on by Jim Mallinder and Steve Diamond, both of whom played for the club with considerable distinction. Their talents have been recognised by the RFU hierarchy and they will coach England on their summer tour to the United States and Canada.

Good businessmen delegate well; they choose their lieutenants with care. When Kennedy realised that Glenn Ross, who had a short spell at the club after Mitchell, was not communicating well with the players, a change was on the cards. "I watched Jim carefully," said Kennedy. "We only really clicked when he was playing. Jim led them. The people in our business at the time didn't have the leadership skills. Appointing Jim was the obvious move."

For all Sale's success on the field these past two seasons, off it has been a nightmare of constraint for Kennedy, as the club's attendances have soared and seven games have been sold out. But with a capacity of only 5,800 at Heywood Road the club have been turning people away. That isn't good business.

But it's all about to change. "Stockport County are our ideal partner," said Kennedy. Both clubs have a loyal fan base, and I'm sure it will work. When I bought Sale, I thought it would take about three years to break even. I didn't get into professional rugby to make money. But I have a passion for sport and the ownership of the two clubs also gives me a responsibility to the community. Our business now is motivating a team of managers, while creating harmony without going bust."

Sale will now play their home games at Edgeley Park, which is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 11,000 with superior corporate hospitality facilities to Heywood Road. The opportunity to develop this side of the business is not lost on Kennedy.

"We had to move from Heywood Road," said Kennedy, "we have outgrown the place. But much as this is about business, we have been able to relieve County of the burden of debt, the facilities at Edgeley Park are fantastic and the economies of scale open up all sorts of possibilities. We can only go onwards and upwards from here. There is a wealth of sporting talent in the North West and our aim is to nurture and develop it."

Coming at a time when one or two owners have complained of the unsustainability of professional rugby and with the memory of those such as Sir John Hall at Newcastle, Frank Warren with Bedford and Richmond's Ashley Levett getting their fingers burned, Kennedy is either very brave or mistaken and foolhardy. The smart money is on Kennedy succeeding where others have failed; whatever constraints are placed before him.