03 May 2023 , 08:25
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London Irish’s survival remains in doubt despite Premiership Rugby being assured by a US consortium that their takeover deal is close to completion.
Wasps and Worcester have already gone bust this season and the Exiles, £30 million in debt, are in grave danger of becoming the third English top-flight club to fold.
A representative for the interested party met with players and staff on Friday to inform them their April salaries would not be paid on time. As of last night there was still no evidence they had been.
"Reading between the lines, it appears that London Irish’s negotiations with the American consortium may well have stagnated, creating a cash-flow problem,” said Michael Lynch, partner at law firm DMH Stallard and an expert in insolvency matters.
"HMRC appears not to be pursuing repayment, as it did so with Worcester and Wasps, nor does it seem there is any other extant creditor pressure. However, that does not negate the circa £30million debt position London Irish find themselves in.
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"Ultimately, it comes down to London Irish’s outgoings exceeding revenue, which is unsustainable without support. When that support wants something, there will be shift, especially when a purchasing party ostensibly holds the purse strings.
"This may leave London Irish with little option but to consider more acute and damaging (to the club and community) formal insolvency options."
London Irish owner Mick Crossan (Getty Images)There was no comment from either the club or the consortium but the chief executive of Premiership Rugby said he remained optimistic a deal would still be done.
Simon Massie-Taylor said: “We’re in communication with them on both sides and being given the assurances they’re going to get the deal done pretty quickly.
“With both sides as confident as they are and speaking very openly to players and staff directly, that to me is a pretty reassuring signal.”
England wing Henry Arundell is one of Exiles' prize assets (Getty Images)Mick Crossan has owned London Irish for a decade but been keen to sell for some time.
He admitted last summer he would give the club away for nothing as long as the next owner had the club’s best interests at heart. Prior to that, he revealed in these pages how it was costing him personally £4 million a season.
"And I can’t afford that,” he said. “Club rugby has to change. We can’t keep relying on rich benefactors. Everyone’s suffering. It’s definitely not a sustainable business.”