Irish businessmen take over London Irish

London Irish announced today a consortium of London-based Irish businessmen has taken control of the club acquiring a majority stake.
Led by executive chairman of Powerday plc Mick Crossan, who will become president of the club, the new consortium said the sale of the ground at Sunbury had led to the existing majority shareholders reviewing their position and led to the consortium buying that shareholding.
“The members of the consortium are delighted to assume responsibility for London Irish at this important time in the club’s history,” Crossan said.
“The club is known and respected throughout the world and is a sleeping giant in terms of its unrealised potential. We’re looking forward to working with all the club’s stakeholders to take it to the next level.”
The new owners have committed substantial new funds to the club that will be used to invest in the new Centre of Excellence at Hazelwood, strengthen the professional playing squad, re-invigorate the club’s Academy by developing new players from Berkshire, Hampshire and the London Irish amateur club and invest in experienced management and support staff.
Along with that news, the Exiles also announced the capture of World Cup winning prop CJ van der Linde.
The 75-times capped tighthead joins from the Golden Lions where he reached the semi-finals of the last Currie Cup.
Director of Rugby Brian Smith said: “CJ is a 70 plus cap Springbok and has been brought in to replace Halani Aulika as a starting tighthead. He’s a world class scrummager and will bring a lot of experience and composure to our pack, particularly at scrum time.
“His arrival is timely as we look to re-establish ourselves as a dominant scrum in the Premiership. I know Glenn Delaney and Phil Keith-Roach are keen to work with a World Cup winning tighthead.”