London Irish have been suspended from the Gallagher Premiership and banned from playing in any English rugby league next season, essentially signalling the death of the capital club.
Irish have followed the same doomed path already trod by Worcester and Wasps and become the third team to exit the top-flight of English rugby for financial reasons.
It means the Premiership will now start the 2023-24 campaign with 10 teams.
The RFU last week extended their deadline for the US consortium interested in buying Irish to complete their takeover of the club, but the cut off of 4pm on Tuesday was missed.
It was then decided Irish’s financial future was no longer secure and the RFU stepped in to stop them participating in any league at all.
London Irish have been suspended after the club failed to pay all their staff for May
Owner Mike Crossan was unable to reach a deal with an American consortium over a proposed takeover
The club had a 4pm deadline to pay staff and players on Tuesday which had not been met
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said: ‘This is desperately sad news for everyone who is part of the London Irish community as well as all the players, fans, staff and volunteers for whom this club means so much. Our first priority has been to do the utmost to secure the long-term viability of the club and the protection of its players and staff.
‘To achieve this, it was imperative transparent evidence of funding be presented to us.
‘Despite requesting this evidence over the last six months and receiving assurances on multiple occasions, it has not materialised.
‘In the event that it would ultimately not be possible to save London Irish, our second priority has always been to avoid the club entering an unplanned insolvency mid-season.
‘This was to prevent the huge disruption to players, staff, and fans, as well as on the remainder of the league that we witnessed with the demise of Wasps and Worcester.
‘In the absence of transparent proof of reliable long-term funding and for the duty of care for all involved at the club, the sad decision has now been taken to suspend the club from RFU leagues. The RFU, working with Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association, has been in constant dialogue with players to inform them of the situation.
‘Collectively, we have established a hardship fund to support those players and staff most in need and we will be working closely with London Irish to confirm what the future of rugby at the club looks like. With regret, this will not be in any league next season.’
The demise of Irish means the club’s best players – chief among them England tyro Henry Arundell – will now be targeted by other clubs.
Les Kiss’ side will be demoted to the bottom of the rugby pyramid similar to Wasps
MailSport understands Bath have an interest in Arundell but the reality for many Irish players is that they may well struggle to find jobs with money tight in English rugby.
Irish failed to meet its commitments to pay staff and players in full for May and the final nail in their coffin was a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill.
On Tuesday night, the club’s website crashed, summing up what has been a disastrous season for Irish and English club rugby on the whole.
Premiership chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor said: ‘We are extremely mindful of the impact this news has on players and staff at London Irish and that is exactly why we have set up the hardship fund to support players and staff most impacted.
‘We fully appreciate this does not compensate for the loss of jobs or the impact it has on fans, but we are committed to working with all stakeholders to create a professional rugby system that London Irish can re-enter at the right time.
‘As a league we are making significant progress in recalibrating so that Premiership Rugby prospers in the seasons ahead.’
Wasps and Worcester Warriors were both folder because of their respective financial issues
RFU chair Tom Ilube offered a damning summary of the state of English club rugby.
‘Rugby has an underlying need to professionalise its management off the pitch, just as it has done on the pitch over the past 25 years,’ he said.
‘To thrive, rugby clubs need to have a wide-ranging offering and varied revenue streams. All three clubs that have failed this season have had fragile business models for many years.
‘We, along with PRL and its investors, will use the remodelling of the new professional game agreement, to create a more sustainable game for professional rugby.
‘It is the specific job of the RFU, as the national governing body for rugby union in England, to reinvest revenues in the overall growth of the game both at a community and professional level. We currently contribute £25million to the Premiership each year but cannot continue to invest in failing business models.’
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