Wasps thrown into fresh turmoil as RFU withdraws offer of Championship place
The sad descent of Wasps, champions of Europe just 16 years ago, is now complete after the Rugby Football Union withdrew the club’s licence to play in next season’s Championship and, by doing so, consigned the erstwhile English champions to the basement of the entire league pyramid.
In the latest grim illustration of English club rugby’s financial meltdown, the RFU has run out of patience with Wasps’ attempts to find fresh financial backing after the club went into administration in October with debts of £95m. Twickenham officials were concerned about the club’s ability to pay off its creditors and to establish suitable governance structures, also citing a lack of clear progress in engaging coaching staff and players for the new season.
It means Wasps are set to experience the same fate as London Welsh, who were relegated to the bottom of the league structure in 2017. In December the RFU announced that Wasps would be permitted to take their place in the Championship after approving a proposed rescue plan from a company headed by Christopher Holland, who still owns the club’s training ground in Henley-in-Arden. “This is not the outcome anyone in rugby wanted and all those involved with the club will be deeply disappointed,” said Bill Sweeney, the RFU’s chief executive.
There could also be significant repercussions for the new owners of Worcester, who had been hoping Wasps could relocate to their Sixways stadium in Worcester this season and, in the process, earn them £600,000 in annual rent. Holland had loaned Worcester’s owners, Atlas WWRFC, the sum of £1.15m as part of an agreement to secure a three-year lease to play at Sixways. With Wasps no longer in a position to play professional rugby, this loan will now have to be repaid.
The remaining 12 Championship clubs, keen to finalise next season’s fixture list, and the Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust had been putting pressure on the RFU to clarify the situation. The other major issue has been the looming possibility of a ringfenced 10-team Premiership plus a lack of certainty, from an investors’ perspective, around the Championship’s future. “We tried all avenues to achieve our objectives but unfortunately all potential investors could not get past the regulations forced upon us by the RFU and the lack of clarity of the Championship and Premiership structure,” said a Wasps spokesperson.
Further trouble is also brewing for Premiership Rugby, in increasing danger of losing a third high-profile club, London Irish, inside nine months. The RFU has set a deadline of 30 May for the club to complete a mooted USled takeover and show it has the financial means to continue through the 2023-24 season. If not, the club will be suspended from the Premiership. Player wages were paid late in April and the London Irish owner, Mick Crossan, has been trying to sell the club for some time.