RUGBY PASS is at the more-sensible end of the English-based social media platforms on Rugby Union. And they deserve credit for having the gumption to check-out the House of Commons website and discover exactly how deep the debt lake in the Gallagher Premiership is. Well, it saves the rest of us having to look.
The figures are mind-boggling:
WASPS went into administration owing £112.3 million
BRISTOL owe £51.2 million
SARACENS are £40,8 million in the red
BATH are in hock to £37.8 million
LONDON IRISH are just outside the top four in this table, owing £37.3 million
HARLEQUINS are up to their eyes in £33.7 million of debt
NEWCASTLE FALCONS owe £32 million
SALE SHARKS' liabilities are measured at £30.9 million
LEICESTER TIGERS owe £30.1 million
GLOUCESTER have £27.1 million of debt hanging round their neck
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS owe £26.5 million
EXETER CHIEFS owe a mere £13 million
WORCESTER WARRIORS' £30 million debt was not included in the list.
The total owed by the 13 clubs adds up to £502.7 million, even a Tory government would struggle to build-up that amount of debt. Apparently some £36 million of this cumulative debt is owed to a single creditor – HMRC.
Somebody should maybe remind the clubs, it was unpaid taxes which did for such diverse non-tax-payers as Al Capone and Rangers FC.
These figures are eye-watering and, given received wisdom is that International Rugby is the only level of the game where it is possible to make real money, you just wonder when it will dawn on the Rugby Football Union that – the club game as currently organised in England is unsustainable.
In another development this week, Bath managed to overturn in court the 1922 Covenant, which had hitherto prevented them from re-developing their historic home at The Rec.
Obviously, every development is different, but, if we take a median figure of £7000 per seat, this redevelopment could set the club back some £18 million of additional debt, on top of the £37.8 million they currently owe.
The RFU will need to take the lead on this, because, if it is left up to the clubs to self-police, nothing will change. Perhaps all those ambitious millionaires, keen to enhance their profile but unable to compete with the foreign money pouring into England's football Premiership, will decide to get into the Rugby Premiership – and the party can roll along for another few years.
Mind you, as we have seen up here – where common sense indicates, we need fewer National League clubs and more regionalised competition – when the SRU asked the clubs what they wanted, the answer was more national league teams.
Getting the English clubs to change their ways will be a very-difficult, I would say impossible task. We will see a lot more financial pain, before we see gain for the game, I fear.
STILL ON the subject of the over-hyped English game. I thought oor ain Jamie Lyall had a good game, on the mike for Sale v Harlequins. Additional kudos to Jamie, for not pittin' the heid oan co-commentator Austin Healey.
Harlequins won well, but for me, the first puzzling question is: why are the English commentators still so-obsessed by Manu Tuilagi? He was shite in this game, indeed, I don't think he's had a good game since well before Covid. To me, he's over the hill.
The second puzzling question is – how come Danny Care's pass tp Marcus Smith in the build-up to 'Quins' opening try wasn't, at the very least, checked by the TMO? I called it forward when it was delivered, I've seen two or three replays, and to me, it is still, definitely, a forward pass. But, as we are always told, English match officials are the best, so it must have been ok. Aye Right.
Now, in case you think I am being, consistently and maybe unfair to Wee Sprite, the bold AH has come up with one opinion which I think is worth pursuing. He believes the pro clubs should do away with Academies, instead promising young players should be directed towards University Rugby, where they can gain qualifications which would see them earn a living once their professional playing days were over.
Makes sense, but, wasn't that the way we did things in the amateur era?
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