[Ajax Treesdown]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67772805

[Narbia]

I've just skim read that above link.

My own position hasn't changed : I think the reborn LI is all pie in the sky.

As mentioned in the other two threads (Sale & WW) there's a bit of an assumption that Championship, sorry Prem2, clubs are all going to jump into line. They ain't,by what the current Championship spokesman has already said.

[Florida]

As far as I'm aware no one's bought us, so I find it difficult to see how we'd be applying to join

[M_W]

Yep, regardless of the fairness of it all, we are a million miles from being able to to participate in any pro rugby in 2025.

Deathly silence on the administration process and absolutely no indication so far that anyone is trying to seriously resurrect pro rugby at the club.

[Stevie J]

There will soon, if not already, be an update coming to Companies House as the Administrators have released their update report. I took a look at it yesterday but to be honest its the same document as last time with some noted additions. I decided against comparing both documents side by side (I eventually DID have some work to do) but the main changes seemed to be updates as to the secured creditors positions and their likelihood of securing returns: Close (who loaned us circa £5m at Christmas 2022 against our P shares), Powerday and Sport England).

It would seem (if I read this right) that Close are now receiving payments from PRL, that PRL have mentioned but not formally approached the Administrators about buying the P Shares. Its mentioned that its unlikely Powerday and Sport England are going to get all their money back, and the same was mentioned to unsecured creditors, such as HMRC. I don't think any of that is unusual however.

Seems no major movement other than the same text on multiple parties being interested in a mix of the assets, the IP, and that some want it all - but no major movement yet.

[Ajax Treesdown]

https://www.thetimes.com/article/879450 ... 51d0cc70d2

[Narbia]

He he he. I didn't think I'd ever see this.

Eddie Jordan is in pretty poor health. Maybe he wants to see this project through whilst he still can.

[As an aside, I heard that LISC is actually increasing in membership even though there's no club! ]

Edit:

and is expected to explore entry into United Rugby Championship

Don't want to get ahead of myself here, but hey there's 4 provinces already in there....

The new owners have acquired the intellectual property, brand and rights of London Irish but not the Hazelwood training centre,

So even fewer assets than we went into administration with.

[Stevie J]

Theres as ever lots to unpack and digest and no doubt more will come out now theres been an official statement.

So whats next and whats the next problem? Well Rugby Creditors need paying if the club is to return to the English Pyramid, the Times article suggests that in order to return quickly, that might mean a pivot to the URC along with Wasps but I'm not sure. I believe the RFU would need to authorise that. Goodness knows every single prior Celtic League appeal (London Welsh, Scottish et al) has fallen on deaf ears.

So theres a lot yet to sort out. To have a future, and not just keep plugging holes, there would need to be a ground for revenue streams that could keep a top level rugby club going. I would doubt the long term viability of any phoenix club if we head back to Brentford, or as suggested here Loftus Road.

The aim might be 2026 but a more realistic aim might be to do it when we can get the infrastructure more readily in-place. And the cynic in me says that might be very hard, if not impossible in West London.

[Florida]

There's a talksport interview with Jordan, not difficult to listen to as he's clearly suffering post chemo, but they've summarised it nicely.

https://talksport.com/sport/2925670/rug ... -irish-f1/

I'm going to miss Loitz and his contradictory twitter posts though.

[Narbia]

I'm going to miss Loitz and his contradictory twitter posts though.

I'm not going to miss ChatGPT and its contradictory drivel though. [Never touch TWATTER myself.]

Anyway. Jeez that was a struggle for poor Eddie. Hope he gets his head and body sorted to kick his dream into action. We're all rooting for you buddy.

[Stevie J]

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/london ... 06684.html

As expected - there is no precedent for the RFU allowing any club to play in another competition outside its purview. So it'll be English leagues or bust (again).

On Hazelwood its all rather confusing to me as the centre is owned by an Independant CIC, which I think was split between Ams and Pros. The Pro side of the building I think is being leased by the GB 7s team and the Administrator reports made several mentions of Powerday having to cover costs at Hazelwood during this process.

Given the purchase was at a quoted knockdown price you'd hope the capital is there for the paying off of the rugby creditors and talking to the Ams about setting back up at Hazelwood, maybe when GB7s lease ends.

In the meantime theres a lot to get on with.

EDIT: The Ams chime in, confirm Hazelwood not included and want to continue to try and purchase and place into a trust. https://www.liarfc.co.uk/news/london-ir ... 01110.html

[poyntonshark]

I assume being based in England puts LI firmly within the remit of RFU. There is no possible loophole to allow registration with IRFU for example.

I would prefer to see you back playing in English leagues, but that ill-defined Rugby creditors thing will, I expect, be a big hurdle.

[Florida]

Probably worth bearing in mind no one has said they're looking at the URC, they just said they want to return to top tier club rugby asap, journalists have interpreted that as the URC.

Remember redstrike? Seems they're still attached, their CEO is a former director of Jordan Grand Prix and helped put it all together. Here's the full redstrike press release (also available on linked in if folk use that)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gjl0XUxXAAE ... ?name=orig
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gjl0XUzXkAA ... ?name=orig
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gjl0XY3XEAA ... ?name=orig
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gjl0XY2WsAA ... ?name=orig

[Narbia]

......that ill-defined Rugby creditors thing will, I expect, be a big hurdle.

Apparently that's still causing a hold-up for Worcester. Why anyone would cough up millions to cover the debts of someone else is beyond me.

All that to play in a Championship league that doesn't have two brass farthings to rub together?
£160K per club per annum? Thanks but no thanks for LI. Admittedly I watch London Scottish, but to my mind it's the Quins relationship that's keeping them going, certainly not the RFU pittance.

Edit : it's actually only £133K.

But Championship clubs – which are not a part of the new deal - will currently each receive their lowest ever sum of £133,000 this season.

"The RFU have made it clear, based on funding, that we Championship clubs remain irrelevant," Mark Lavery, director of rugby at Ampthill told BBC Sport.

[Stevie J]

New article on the Jordan-led revival from The Currency (£): https://thecurrency.news/articles/18026 ... ugby-club/

EDIT: someone sent me a version which I'll summarise some key points here:

• Theres a significant amount of the article spent on what we already know but its an interesting scene-setter.
• They are looking into several options in West London for playing games currently.
• Loitz had agreed to but the club for £2.5m with an additional £2.7m for the rugby creditors.
• While not explicitly a multi-club model, Jordan has bought Beziers with Andrew Mehrtens and Bob Skinstad.
• There is no legacy debt of the prior £30m owed in the new company that will run the club.
• Interestingly for me is the confirmation that for now they will operate on a 'asset-light' model. This is why Hazelwood is not in the offer and they will only buy when its more sensible than leasing. Hazelwood is Plan A for their base.
• They estimate that they need £15m per year just to operate the club and that figure doesn't include an Academy, Womens Team etc. Leading priority is the Mens first team.
• They are still unable to access the club's social accounts yet, locked behind 2FA.

[Stevie J]

Thought this was very interesting in an interview with the Administrator: https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... -goes-bust

"I spoke to the RFU and said: 'So what we're effectively selling is a situation where someone's got to come up with a methodology of paying £2.7m to creditors, plus paying something for the club itself, not being able to play any competitive matches for the following season, and has been relegated to the Championship. So it would be starting the season after next in the Championship.'

"They replied: 'No, that's not right, Mr Manning.' Well, why? 'The club's gone through a season and it hasn't played any matches and hasn't had any points, therefore it's relegated again.' My face dropped, as you can imagine.

Wasps, London Irish and Worcester Warriors each went bust all within a year
"How can that make it attractive or viable for anybody to want to now pay £2.7m, have to wait a year, and then start in League One with no income whatsoever?

[A38]

This caused a little flutter here in Worcester but two points are relevant:-

1) I think the quote should refer to "rugby creditors" not "creditors". There is of course a considerable difference.

2) The owners of WW Mark 2 have submitted an application to join Tier 2, not the Championship: different entry criteria I presume apply.

The latest situation as regards Tier 2 is set out here:-https://www.wwst.co.uk/post/1752-and-co ... de6b0b47bd

[Narbia]

Hmm. Read this on the other place. Just not happening is it?

Screenshot 2025-07-16 at 14-12-45 Server Not Found.png (40.47 KiB) Viewed 3619 times

Edit: Now onto a landing page. Did a lookup and got.......

Screenshot 2025-07-20 at 12-14-23 Whois london-irish.com.png (33.21 KiB) Viewed 3564 times

[Florida]

It's pretty bleak, when all you have is the IP and a fairly significant part of that expires. There's of course a number of reasons how this could happen, but I would have thought a if someone cared, then there'd be a post somewhere to just say we know it's happened, we're working on restoring it.

When you factor that and the complete radio silence since March or so, it's not looking too promising.

[Stevie J]

https://www.ruck.co.uk/london-irish-con ... -revealed/

So there is now a waiting list to be notified for season tickets - was also announced via what socials they have access to: LinkedIn and Instagram.

[Florida]

So we have a ticketing platform, I guess that's one box ticked, now we just need the little things like a stadium, training facilities and a league to play in.

I remain sceptical that anything is actually happening here, but will be delighted to be proven wrong.

[Florida]

Looks like someone paid the website hosting bills, it's back up and running

[Florida]

According to the times we've started talks with the Tier2 board about playing in the Championship next season. Chairman of Tier2 says we're an exciting "brand" but stressed discussion has only just started, we're at the very beginning, long ways to go yet hobbits.

https://shows.acast.com/theruck/episode ... club-rugby

About 22:50 is the beginning of the interview with the chairman of Tier2, worth a listen.

[Narbia]

According to the times we've started talks with the Tier2 board about playing in the Championship next season. Chairman of Tier2 says we're an exciting "brand" but stressed discussion has only just started, we're at the very beginning, long ways to go yet hobbits.

https://shows.acast.com/theruck/episode ... club-rugby

About 22:50 is the beginning of the interview with the chairman of Tier2, worth a listen.

I listened to that podcast with Simon Gillham, chairman of The Champ 2 board and co-owner and CEO of Brive Rugby (in ProD2).

The guy knows his rugby onions that's for sure. I understand where he's coming from in his aspiration of making The Champ like the ProD2 in that T14 relegation is no disaster as The Prem relegation is deemed to be.

But with most of these Champ Board officials affiliated to the the RFU like Gillham, I'm wondering how much they actually do represent Champ clubs interests. It does seem to be at variance with what I see as a regular at Champ rugby games.

Red Bull have energised a failing Falcons rugby club : maybe there's a soft drink manufacturer out there who'd like to sponsor a nascent LIRFC back into life?

I live in hope rather than expectation.