By Matt Hardy
Premiership rugby club London Irish are confident of hitting the deadline to sell their club imposed by the Rugby Football Union.
England rugby’s governing body has set a cut-off of the end of this month for the club to be sold to an American consortium that includes former NBA and NFL players.
But several sources inside the club told City A.M. they remain confident of the deal being concluded in time to solidify the club’s future in the English top flight.
“No problems,” one player told this newspaper. “It’ll be done, I’m confident,” another added.
The vote of confidence from inside the club suggests that the Brentford-based outfit can brush off recent concerns surrounding delayed pay for players and staff.
At one point earlier this month the club were reportedly just minutes from having players file breach of contract letters.
When asked, London Irish said: “Discussions between the two parties [new consortium and current owner, Mick Crossan] continue.”
Former NFL star Ray Lewis, a two-time Super Bowl winner, is involved with the takeover bid for the Premiership club who finished fifth in this year’s English domestic season. It is being fronted by sports agency Redstrike, whose managing director is former Premiership Rugby chief Howard Thomas.
Former NBA players Dikembe Mutombo, formerly of the 76ers, Allen Iverson, ex-NBA MVP, and American Basketball Association icon Julius Erving are also part of the consortium.
The club, who finished fifth in the Premiership this season, have an impressive mix of home grown English youngsters and star overseas talent, and ground share with Premier League team Brentford.
There have been discussions around the future home of the club, with Wimbledon AFC’s Plough Lane touted as a potential new home, but they look set to remain near Kew Bridge for the foreseeable future.
In a statement released today, the RFU said that the 30 May deadline has been set to prove the club will either be taken over with working capital provided and that the club can guarantee that it will function throughout next season to avoid a scenario similar to the one experienced by Wasps and Worcester Warriors – where both clubs went into administration mid-season.
The statement was released in response to multiple reports about the club.
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