London Irish will be ‘starting from square one’ following the club’s takeover
London Irish fans are excited but remain cautious following the news that the club has been bought out of administration by an Eddie Jordan-led consortium
London Irish fans are excited but cautious about the takeover
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London Irish fans have given a mixed reaction to the news that an Eddie-Jordan led consortium have bought the club out of administration. The former owner of Jordan F1 team has led a consortium called Jordan Associates to buy the rugby club, after they were forced out of the Premiership in 2023 due to financial reasons.
Former season ticket holder Paddy Wheeler said that the “thought of being able to support and revive the club is super exciting.” Jordan Associates have stated that they want to return London Irish to the “pinnacle of international club rugby”.
However, there is also caution as the new owners have only bought the intellectual rights to the club. They currently own no ground, no training facilities, and no players, and so Paddy said that the club “would be starting from square one”.
Jordan Associates want to return London Irish to the ‘pinnacle of club rugby’
London Irish fans are ‘cautiously miserable’
This sentiment was echoed by Duncan Kendall, vice-chair of the London Irish Supporters Club. He believes that fans of the club are “cautiously miserable” and that the team’s “path to the top isn’t very clear at the moment”.
‘The door is open to playing in a non-English competition’
The other big question mark surrounds which league London Irish will return to. The Guardian reported last week that any attempts to join the United Rugby Championship (URC), a multi-national league involving teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and South Africa, would be blocked by the Rugby Football Union as they don’t want the team leaving the English system.
However, The Times rugby correspondent, Alex Lowe, says he doesn’t believe the door is shut to London Irish playing in a non-English competition. He does feel though that “there are hurdles to navigate and that it’s complicated”.
Former London Irish player Joe Vajner believes it would be bad news if the club joined the URC. His concern was that it would mean that “you’re taking away a potential team for English players to play in and better themselves in, and a chance to make the Premiership better”.
Lifelong London Irish fan Cillian Neal, held a similar opinion. He “would much prefer to stay in the English system” as “all of the club’s history is in English rugby”.
‘Existing Championship clubs don’t want them’
If London Irish do remain in the English system it has been suggested that they could return to the Championship, the second-tier of English rugby. This solution could still create problems though, as Alex Lowe believes that ‘existing Championship clubs do not want them in’, and that ‘they believe that London Irish should go to the bottom of the English pyramid and have to work their way back up”.
City News reached out to two London-based Championship clubs, Ealing Trailfinders and London Scottish, for their thoughts on the possibility of London Irish joining the league, but they declined to comment.
Therefore, despite the takeover, many elements surrounding the future of the club remain up in the air.
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HeadlineLondon Irish will be ‘starting from square one’ following the club’s takeover
Short HeadlineLondon Irish will be 'starting from square one' following takeover
StandfirstLondon Irish fans are excited but remain cautious following the news that the club has been bought out of administration by an Eddie Jordan-led consortium
London Irish fans have given a mixed reaction to the news that an Eddie-Jordan led consortium have bought the club out of administration. The former owner of Jordan F1 team has led a consortium called Jordan Associates to buy the rugby club, after they were forced out of the Premiership in 2023 due to financial reasons.
Former season ticket holder Paddy Wheeler said that the “thought of being able to support and revive the club is super exciting.” Jordan Associates have stated that they want to return London Irish to the “pinnacle of international club rugby”.
However, there is also caution as the new owners have only bought the intellectual rights to the club. They currently own no ground, no training facilities, and no players, and so Paddy said that the club “would be starting from square one”.
Jordan Associates want to return London Irish to the ‘pinnacle of club rugby’
London Irish fans are ‘cautiously miserable’
This sentiment was echoed by Duncan Kendall, vice-chair of the London Irish Supporters Club. He believes that fans of the club are “cautiously miserable” and that the team’s “path to the top isn’t very clear at the moment”.
‘The door is open to playing in a non-English competition’
The other big question mark surrounds which league London Irish will return to. The Guardian reported last week that any attempts to join the United Rugby Championship (URC), a multi-national league involving teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and South Africa, would be blocked by the Rugby Football Union as they don’t want the team leaving the English system.
However, The Times rugby correspondent, Alex Lowe, says he doesn’t believe the door is shut to London Irish playing in a non-English competition. He does feel though that “there are hurdles to navigate and that it’s complicated”.
Former London Irish player Joe Vajner believes it would be bad news if the club joined the URC. His concern was that it would mean that “you’re taking away a potential team for English players to play in and better themselves in, and a chance to make the Premiership better”.
Lifelong London Irish fan Cillian Neal, held a similar opinion. He “would much prefer to stay in the English system” as “all of the club’s history is in English rugby”.
‘Existing Championship clubs don’t want them’
If London Irish do remain in the English system it has been suggested that they could return to the Championship, the second-tier of English rugby. This solution could still create problems though, as Alex Lowe believes that ‘existing Championship clubs do not want them in’, and that ‘they believe that London Irish should go to the bottom of the English pyramid and have to work their way back up”.
City News reached out to two London-based Championship clubs, Ealing Trailfinders and London Scottish, for their thoughts on the possibility of London Irish joining the league, but they declined to comment.
Therefore, despite the takeover, many elements surrounding the future of the club remain up in the air.
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