LONDON — The financial crisis gripping English club rugby claimed another victim Tuesday when London Irish was suspended from the entire league structure for missing its latest deadline to pay staff and players.
Worcester Warriors and Wasps have already been banished from the English Premiership over the past years for financial reasons, meaning the top division is set to become a 10-team competition.
The Rugby Football Union said neither the current owner of London Irish, Mick Crossan, nor an American consortium planning to buy the club were able to prove they had the finances to compete in the top flight for the 2023-24 campaign.
The outstanding 50% of May’s payroll owed to staff and players was not paid before the final deadline set by the RFU of 4 p.m. UK time on Tuesday.
Given the failure of the takeover and Crossan’s intent to stop bankrolling the club, the survival prospects for London Irish as a professional outfit appear extremely bleak, with more than 100 staff members in limbo.
“We will be working closely with London Irish to confirm what the future of rugby at the club looks like," RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said. “With regret, this will not be in any league next season.”
After six months of talks, neither proof of funds nor the information required for the fit and proper persons test demanded of new owners were provided. The RFU, therefore, has acted to prevent the club going out of business during next season.
London Irish finished in fifth place in the recently completed season.
“This is desperately sad news for everyone who is part of the London Irish community as well as all the players, fans, staff and volunteers for whom this club means so much,” Sweeney said.
“In the absence of transparent proof of reliable long-term funding and for the duty of care for all involved at the club, the sad decision has now been taken to suspend the club from RFU leagues.”
Among the players in the London Irish squad are England winger Henry Arundell and Italy center Luca Morisi.
A hardship fund has been set up by the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association to help anyone in need of financial assistance and this is to be extended to those most affected by the demise of Wasps and Worcester.
Irish were due to celebrate their 125th anniversary next year.
RFU chair Tom Ilube hinted at a reduction in funding for the league due to its “failing business models."
“Rugby has an underlying need to professionalize its management off the pitch, just as it has done on the pitch over the past 25 years,” Ilube said. “To thrive, rugby clubs need to have a wide-ranging offering and varied revenue streams. All three clubs that have failed this season have had fragile business models for many years. The structure and ownership of a stadium is a factor alongside reliance on a single funder, challenging societal trends, financial mismanagement, and an insufficiently large fan base."
Irish have debts in the region of 30 million pounds ($37 million) and do not own their own stadium, instead playing at English soccer team Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium after a 20-year spell at Reading’s Madejski Stadium.
On Friday, they were issued with a winding-up petition by Britain's tax authority over an unpaid tax bill.
Worcester and Wasps were expelled from the Premiership after entering administration — a form of bankruptcy protection.
Worcester was placed in compulsory liquidation while being pursued for unpaid tax before Wasps, a two-time European champion and one of England’s most storied clubs, was hit by a winding-up order from the revenue department for 2 million pounds in unpaid tax after financial issues stemming from its relocation from London to Coventry in 2014.
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