Jersey Reds: Championship club set to enter liquidation after States Assembly funding vote defeated
Jersey Reds announced last month that they would cease trading after being unable to pay players and staff for September; A vote in the State Assembly passed 30 to 13 on Wednesday, with one abstention against financial support for the Reds
Last updated: 05/10/23 11:21 am
Jersey Reds will be liquidated after a funding vote in the State Assembly went against them
Jersey Reds are on the verge of bankruptcy after the island’s State Assembly voted against funding the Championship club for the remainder of the 2023/2024 season.
The Channel Island organization announced on September 28 that they had ceased operations because they were unable to pay their staff’s wages for the month.
However, last year’s championship winners will now be liquidated after Jersey ministers voted 30 to 13 with one abstention against financial support for the Reds on Wednesday.
“We are bitterly disappointed by the decision in the State Assembly on government financing, but hardly surprised,” said a statement from the club.
“We are proud of what the Reds have achieved over the years in persistently difficult circumstances. The opportunity to support a valuable asset has been missed and the island will be left worse off for it.
“Given the decision and in the absence of a ‘White Knight’, we now have no choice but to put our trading vehicle into liquidation. Details of the liquidator will be gazetted in the near future.”
Jersey’s demise comes as they have already played three matches of this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup, and follows the collapse of Gallagher Premiership trio Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish in the past year.
Chairman Mark Morgan had previously criticized the game’s power brokers for failing to put in place a second-tier structure that would have allowed the club to attract funding.
“We could have started the season and retained sufficient resources to cover the summer, but regret that our discussions with both potential new and existing investors were not successful,” Morgan said.
“At one point towards the end of last season it looked like there was a viable way forward for the second tier after the new Professional Game Agreement was implemented from the summer of 2024, but Championship clubs have since been left in the dark.
“This led to a growing fatigue among those who may have invested but could not get any concrete certainty about when the new structure would arrive or how it would be financed.
“There are a large number of players, coaches and other staff who have made a huge contribution to the club over recent seasons and we regret the huge effect this will have on them all. It is a very sad day.”
Sweeney: Jersey downfall was ‘a complete surprise’
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney denied the governing body had been informed of concerns about Jersey’s financial stability.
During a media call on Wednesday, Sweeney stated that all indications the RFU had received from the Reds indicated they had long-term plans and revealed they were even in discussions about the Championship winners taking part in the European Challenge Cup earlier this year.
“This was a complete surprise to us,” Sweeney said. “The last business plan submission from Jersey was in June… They expected to make a loss but had plans in place in terms of their growth plan and future investors, which made us believe things were under control.
“There were no alarm bells going off at the time. There were no repeated warnings from anyone about the situation in Jersey and in May we spoke to them about a potential candidate for the European Challenge Cup given the reduction in the number of teams in the Premier League.
“It wasn’t a club where we had registered risks one way or another, so now the focus is on doing what we can for the players.”
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