Jersey Reds: Championship title-holders 'cease trading'...

[Steve@Mose]

Jersey Reds: Championship title-holders 'cease trading' with liquidation 'inevitable'

Championship title-holders Jersey Reds "ceased trading" on Wednesday and say liquidation is "inevitable" unless funding can be found.

The Reds have competed in English rugby's second tier for the past 11 seasons, having been promoted from the amateur levels of English rugby.

Reds split from Jersey RFC in 2022 and went on to win the league and reach the Championship Cup final in May.

The club have cited costs from Covid-19 and reduced RFU funding as causes.

"We had been able to start the season and maintain sufficient funds to cover the summer, but regret that our conversations with potential new investors as well as existing ones have been unsuccessful," Reds chairman Mark Morgan said in a statement.

"At one stage at the end of last season it appeared there was a viable way forward for the second tier once the new Professional Game Agreement was implemented from summer 2024, but Championship clubs have been left in the dark since that point and this led to a growing fatigue among those who may have invested, but could not be given any concrete assurance about when the new structure would come in, or how it would be funded."

Jersey say they will also not be travelling to England to face Cornish Pirates in their Premiership Rugby Cup tie on Friday.

[ale]

If it wasn’t so serious, it’s laughable the way the RFU can’t support Premiership rugby and now that’s rapidly filtering into the second tier.

[southernmose]

Sept 28, 2023 11:13:54 GMT ale said:

If it wasn’t so serious, it’s laughable the way the RFU can’t support Premiership rugby and now that’s rapidly filtering into the second tier.

that goes back a long way though - without defending them in the slightest the RFU a) haven't got any money and b) shouldn't really be in a position of underwriting every club in the top two levels anyway. 

The big issue remains what it has been since 1995. The RFU blinked first vs the clubs. The clubs should never have been allowed to go pro*. Fran Cotton had the right plan, with the professional sides based on the Divisions and run by the RFU.

There is not and never has been the money for a professional club top tier in England(or certainly not one that pays globally competitive wages to its players), never mind the delusions of a second tier below. France is a complete red herring, because football just doesn't have the same blanket market capture, and there are great tracts of the country which look like Gloucester where the oval ball is king. 

But instead Sir John Hall got his chequebook out, and English rugby got utterly bent out of shape trying to keep up. We all know what happened next, including to us. 

*There was even a worked example in Ireland where IIRC Garryowen tried to take their place in the Heineken Cup as Irish club champions when the game went pro, and the IRFU told them (potentially through a court case but my memory's hazy on it) that that very much would not be happening as they didn't have pro clubs in their blueprint for the future of the Irish game. 

[kingsheathlad]

Worrying times again in rugby.this won't be the last.

[Westcountry Mose]

Feel sorry for the supporters but which teams have suffered because of their over expenditure?

[CJB1]

Story from the Grauniad - www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/sep/28/jersey-reds-administration-rugby-union-financial-crisis

[kingsheathlad]

Terrible situation for the players, according to one article they haven't got the finances to get flights home and some are from Australia and South Africa. I was surprised to see the average salary was £25K for players, being fully professional players I believe, I'd expect it to be more.

[Westcountry Mose]

If it was a squad of 30+ players and then you add to that the wages of the coaching staff, that's probably an annual salary bill somewhere in the region of £1 million just on the playing side. I suspect their travel costs were also rather high.

[poldeburca]

I'm devastated to learn of the demise of the Jersey Reds, I have many great memories of travelling to the Island to watch Moseley play there,and I must say it has be the best away fixture in all of English rugby, a short flight, bars, beaches, and beer. One particular memory was an away win to enable us the finish 7th in the Championship, I believe our highest finish in the league.

[andyj]

This is really sad news. I also remember visits to the island fondly.
Is it possible there are a couple of locks we could sign - budget allowing?

[dag]

It is so sad to read about Jersey Reds. But life must go on, as it has at Moseley.

I think that all rugby clubs like Moseley should be self funding and - broadly speaking - not relying on handouts from the RFU. I have always said that the RFU should choose, finance and run a large England squad of players ( including an England womens squad ) - and play a rotating match day squad 15, plus substitutes, with Twickenham as their home ground - and play competeively in an England Premiership Divison 1.

That Premiership Divison 1 would consist of the majority of the current Premier league clubs - the likes of Bristol, Gloucester, Harlequins, Exeter, Saracens etc plus the two England match day squad teams - teams named the probables and the possibles, for example. They should all play on a normal home and away season - just like all the other clubs.

At the end of the season the two England teams would ( should ) top the league whilst the bottom two would get demoted. No if;s no buts, demoted. The top two teams in the next division down, say Division 2, should be promoted - IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR GROUND CAPACITY - no if's and buts - and so on all the way down the leagues as is the case now.

In addition ALL the divisions could compete, every year, for a renamed knockout, giant killing, all England 'National RFU Cup' competition.

In addition, players from the RFU 'England squad' as a whole; players who have not been selected for a Premier match day squad, for wahat ever reason, but England squad players, who are fit and well, or perhaps returning from injury who would be available to play at any club, in any division for a reasonable match day fee. That would then become an added attraction for grass root players and supporters of the lower divisions.

The financing of the England squad would come from sponsorship, as it is now, plus the income from international fixtures, as is the case now, plus fresh and additional income form weekly gate money, sponsorship and bar takings from all league games ( squad one or two ) played weekly at Twickenham.

As I have implied every division - certainy the premiership and championship divisions - should stand or fall by their own efforts, just like the old days. If today's premiership club money men dont like the idea of standing up and being counted by their own efforts, tough.

And amongst all those top teams - as it was in the good old days - would be a proud and mighty Moseley team.

Come on Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooose.