MUTINY England stars set to quit Wasps
England stars set to leave over broken promises
WASPS face the growing threat of an exodus of their leading stars, with a mutinous mood in the squad over ‘broken promises’ relating to late payments and new facilities.
Coventry-based Wasps resume their Premiership title challenge on Sunday when they meet Northampton at the Ricoh Arena but there is serious unrest behind the scenes.
Patience is thin, caused by a lack of anticipated investment against a backdrop of financial turmoil. This jars with the perception that the club are enjoying a new era of prosperity.
Sportsmail has learned that marquee players such as Elliot Daly, Joe Launchbury and Christian Wade are expected to leave when their contracts expire unless Wasps address their grievances. Sources have indicated that the discontent and resentment have become so heightened that some fear there will be a flashpoint before most of those deals run out.
The primary gripes among players and coaching staff relate to inadequate training facilities and the backlog in image-rights payments, which are thought to account for about 15 per cent of overall salaries.
Wasps moved to Coventry at the end of 2014, and owner Derek Richardson pledged that they would have to use a temporary training base for only six months, before a new, state-of-the-art HQ was ready.
Three years on, two sites which were identified have been ditched and a new location is being sought. The message from the hierarchy is that it will be at least another two years before they no longer have to act as reluctant squatters in the basic surroundings at Broadstreet RFC.
There, the supposedly wealthy club have portable cabins serving as offices in the car park. They share changing rooms with Broadstreet teams and use the clubhouse for lunch — ‘It’s like eating in a pub every day we are training,’ said one player.
Outside, Wasps have only one pitch and players have voiced concerns that the tired surface is contributing to a run of injuries.
Misgivings have also been expressed about the state of the pitch at the Ricoh Arena but nothing had been done about it. Instead, urgent work had to be carried out when cracks were found in the walls of the stadium last month. Sportsmail has been told that image-rights payments were not made to Wasps players for two years. That problem was addressed earlier this season but now it is understood payments are six months in arrears again.
There is a widespread feeling that all areas of expenditure are under pressure and that the academy is being denied vital investment in favour of ‘window dressing’.
Another grievance within the squad was the handling of Sam Jones’s premature retirement. The flanker, who suffered career- ending injuries performing judo drills training with England in 2016, was upset that his wages were halted immediately he announced he had to stop playing.
Team-mates were angry but the board argued that he had been paid in full for 17 months while rehabilitating, when a contract only requires wages to remain at normal levels for six months of inactivity. Still, the saga served to further strain morale — not helped by poor communication between the powers-that-be and the players.
Unrest behind the scenes comes at a time of financial turbulence. Wasps launched a bond scheme in 2015, which yielded £35million, but they owe £2m in interest each year and must settle the debt in full in four years’ time.
Doubts have been expressed by independent experts about their ability to do so, with claims that the club will need to refinance.
At the end of last year, Wasps were forced to seek permission from bond holders to break the terms of the deal after Richardson made a personal payment to make up for a shortfall in the scheme.
Last month, it was reported that Wasps’ financial statements were three months overdue and that Companies House were taking enforcement action against what amounts to a criminal offence.
While the public see a club riding high, with a viable home of their own at last, a title-chasing team and box-office appeal, the reality is that all is not well. It has been suggested that Wasps are at a crossroads and that without the right investment, the feared exodus will happen.