Former members include footballers Albert McPherson, Steve Fleet, Eddie Colman and Brian Doyle, Allan Clarke, lead singer of 1960s pop group The Hollies, and Graham Nash, guitarist, songwriter and singer with The Hollies who went on to form Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

[1] The building gained listed status in 2003 as its tiled interior is virtually unchanged with original fittings and includes a boxing ring, snooker rooms and a gym with a viewing balcony.

[4] The clubs were usually set up by local philanthropic businessmen and it was soon realised that to compete with the outside attractions of freedom from restraint and gambling they must provide not only for draughts, bagatelle, and billiards but for more exciting pursuits that most boys could not otherwise obtain such as gymnastics, boxing, fives, swimming and, especially, outdoor games.

Present day activities include football, snooker, table tennis, computer games, boxing training, dance, community meetings, exhibitions, kickboxing, excursions and jujitsu.

The club gained international recognition in 1986 when the alternative rock band The Smiths posed in front of the building for the inside cover of their album The Queen Is Dead.

The committee were said at the time to be furious, and solicitors acting for the club claimed that: "inclusion of the photograph may generally cause any person reading the [album] or listening to the record to attribute the material to the club, its committee or its members ... we would cite for example the reference in the song Vicar in a Tutu to the singer being engaged in stealing lead from a church roof, or indeed the very title to the album itself and the tenor of the title song.

The film, introduced by Peter Hook, bassist for Joy Division and New Order, who lived on the Ordsall estate until he was 19, was made with the help of elderly residents and young members of the club and is a mix of interviews and location shots.

It also hosted an exclusive pre-show party for fashion house Chanel ahead of their Métiers d'art show in Manchester in December 2023.

The B side and bonus download track of the single called "Ghost Camp", a song he co-wrote with former Smiths guitarist Craig Gannon, was written for a Salford Lads' Club award-winning play.

[20] Swift was also awarded the MBE for services to Young People (Salford, Greater Manchester) in the HM the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2006.