Tuesday 6 December 2016

The Demise of London Welsh - Game Over


London Welsh is a club which has long lived in the rugby public consciousness, in the amateur era for mainly positive reasons, in the pro era, mostly for negative.

Players have been told to find new jobs, three weeks leading up to Christmas. They need a quarter of a million pounds to stay afloat it seems all options have dried up. A winding up order by HMRC now seems inevitable.

The fact this club has been allowed into this state is an incredibly sad thing. I played at the ground on a number occasions and was genuinely excited to play on the same pitches as so many welsh legends. I had a Wales U16 trial there, played for Nottingham there as well as loads of age group and minis fixtures. I hope to god they can keep hold of their iconic ground. You can almost hear the property developers in the area smacking their lips.

London Welsh, Plymouth Albion and Jersey, all teams that sit just below the Premiership but the gulf couldn't seem bigger in terms of support, finance and management. The RFU and Premier Rugby need to sort this out sharpish. It's not as if they haven't got the bleedin' money.

More on this matter later, but I can't help but be utterly depressed by yet another huge name in rugby fall by the wayside. It took neighbours Richmond and London Scottish the better part of fifteen years to get back to somewhere near their former glory. Fans must be praying that after being mucked around for the last few years, stronger foundations are put in place for sustainability at the club in the future, if it even has one. 

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