It is only “a matter of time” until another Premiership club goes bust unless there is “radical change” according to the administrator who oversaw London Irish’s insolvency.
London Irish, Wasps and Worcester went out of business during the 2022-23 season leaving the top flight of English rugby with only 10 teams.
A parliamentary report in January 2023 concluded that the financial situation of elite clubs was unsustainable.
“There is little prospect of profitability in the medium term and therefore considerable risk of other clubs going to the wall,” Lee Manning told Sky Sports., external
“I think it is [just a matter of time]. Unless the game’s financial model can be radically changed.
“It only takes one other club to fail, perhaps two, and where’s the viability of the league? Where’s the attraction of the league?”
The last set of accounts filed by all Premiership clubs in 2022-23 showed that the sides collectively lost £30.5m and have net debts of more than £300m.
Gloucester owner Martin St Quinton is among those to have said the Premiership business model is flawed, agreeing that another club could go bust.
Irish were doomed after a proposed deal with an American consortium to take over the club and it’s £30m debt fell through.
The club were bought out of administration by a group led by former Formula 1 team owner and businessman Eddie Jordan last month.
Irish, along with Wasps and Worcester, have applied to be part of a new expanded Championship next season.
However Manning says that the club’s new owners are exploring the possibility of joining the United Rugby Championship, in which sides from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and South Africa compete, rather than restarting lower down the English pyramid.
“My understanding is there is an intention of seeing if they can join the URC and I think that might be the case for Wasps as well because there’s no viable entry route into the Premiership,” he said, while admitting that such a move may require approval from the Rugby Football Union.
