BRIAN Kennedy, Sale Sharks' charismatic owner, doesn't just want to see his side beat Leicester Tigers in next week's Premiership title bash at Twickenham - he wants to match them off the field too.

The man who has pumped millions into a venture that has turned Sharks from rugby's rubbing rags into one of the best sides in Europe hasn't made success on the field his No.1 priority.

"Of course we want to win trophies but it's not just about winning things," he said. "Winning is just part of the formula, but my main aim was always to have a business that is self sustaining along the lines of clubs like Leicester and Northampton.

"I want to create what those two clubs have, which is fantastic support whether or not they are winning or going through a lean patch, as Northampton have been."

One of his beefs over the years was the lack of support from the fans and he wondered at times if throwing his money at a club with the smallest gates in the Premiership was really worth it. Thankfully, BK kept his nerve, and his generosity, so that today Sharks are not just the best side in England - they proved that by topping the table at the end of a demanding campaign, regardless of what happens at Twickenham next week - but one of the best supported.

Several times this season Edgeley Park has been sold out with nearly 11,000 fans crowding into the soccer stadium and he felt last Sunday's semi-final victory over triple champions Wasps saw the fulfilment of all he had been striving for.

"We are motivated by success on the park but it wasn't just the performance against Wasps that was heartening, it was also the atmosphere in the ground. The noise made by the fans was fantastic but then we now have fans who are right behind this team.

"So far as they are concerned they own the team and want to see it succeed.

"They clearly love the atmosphere and the excitement and I'm sure thousands will make the trip to Twickenham to support the players as they try to pull off the biggest victory in the club's history."

When BK took over a few years ago the club was heading towards oblivion as the consortium backing the Sharks decided to pull out after losing more than é8m in what proved to be a vain attempt to push the club into rugby's big time.

The self-made businessman, who built his fortune out of selling windows but now has a whole range of companies, had to dig deep too and reckons he has ploughed é8m into the ventuire - and that doesn't include the é4m he needed to acquire Stockport County and its Edgeley Park stadium.

It has been something of a roller-coaster ride that had its high spots - two European Challenge Cup wins and a runners-up spot in the Premiership - but it is only recently that Sharks have truly arrived as one of European rugby's feared sides. I suggested that running a top rugby team posed different challenges to running most other businesses, but he disagreed.

"Basically it is just the same and the one thing they all have in common is human beings," he said. "Most businesses experience peaks and troughs, just like sporting teams, and it is all about making sure you get the right people into position.

"We did that with Niels de Vos to run the business and in appointing Philippe Saint-Andre to run the team. Philippe's was a very critical appointment because he has great respect in the game for what he achieved as a player before he got into management.

Quality

"I accept that in my early days with Sharks it wasn't easy competing with clubs like Leicester when you were trying to attract the top players.

" But that has all changed now and quality players are queueing up to be given the chance to play for us."

Quite apart from success on the field the Sharks are now in the business of making a profit and, by sharing the stadium, both Sharks and Stockport County save é250,000 a season.

The attitude of some soccer fans, however, who seem to think he has sold them down the river, clearly annoys him. "We put é4m into County and if we hadn't moved in when we did County would have gone out of business unless the club could have found a wealthy benefactor," he said.

With soccer unable to fill the stadium, the arrival of the Sharks has been a godsend. And, with County struggling in soccer's basement whilst Sharks tangle with Europe's best, the soccer fans may also see stadium improvements, thanks to the success of the oval-ball boys.

BK said: "Our season ticket sales have been going up every year and the key figure will be 8,000.

"When we reach that level we will have to look at expanding Edgeley Park but not until that level of guaranteed support is there because the venture would involve great capital expenditure."

So far as the playing side is concerned he is happy to leave recruitnent in the hands of Saint-Andre and is keen to develop further an academy that has produced players of the calibre of Charlie Hodgson, Mark Cueto, Andy Titterrell and Chris Jones, who have all played for England, and Magnus Lund, who seems set to do so during this summer's tour to Australia.

But one signing he was instrumental in bringing off, with help from the Rugby Football Union, was that of skipper Jason Robinson who crossed codes.

Quite apart from his brilliance on the field, the former England full-back has also proved a magnet for fans and is a marketing man's dream.

It was fitting, perhaps, that the only try in the game against Wasps was a Robinson special when he suddenly ripped through the opposition defence like a knife through butter.

"I went to speak to Jason before the game and told him that it was for big games like that that I was really pleased to have him around," he said. "If anyone was going to produce something special then it was Jason because he is one of life's winners.

"You know he will not let you down on the big occasion."

Leicester had better take note. Kennedy believes his star performer has more winning tricks up his sleeve.

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