Wasps' widely-expected administration has now been confirmed and their players made redundant.
A statement read: “Wasps Holdings Limited (the “Company”) was placed into Administration on 17 October 2022 and immediately ceased to trade.
“The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by Andrew Martin Sheridan and Rajnesh Mittal of FRP who were appointed Joint Administrators. The Joint Administrators act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.
“Please note that Arena Coventry Limited and IEC Experience Limited, which operate the businesses at arena in Coventry, are not in Administration and continue to trade as normal.”
In all, 167 people will lose their jobs, including all coaching staff and vast majority of other support staff too.
Sheridan said: “This is a dark day for English rugby, and we know this will be devastating news for every Wasps player and member of staff, past players, sponsors, and their thousands of supporters throughout the world, and anyone who has ever been involved with this great club.
“The board and many others across the club have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to try and find a solution that would allow the club to move forward, and it is with great regret that there has been insufficient time to allow this to happen. However, we remain in ongoing discussions with interested parties and are confident that a deal will be secured that will allow Wasps to continue.
“We would like to thank the RFU and PRL for their support to date and we continue to engage closely with them as negotiations with interested parties continue.
“Of course, time remains of the essence, and we will be doing everything in our power to progress discussions with interested parties as quickly as possible, while fulfilling our statutory duties as administrators. This will include discussions with Wasps FC, the amateur club aligned to the Wasps Women team to explore options that may allow the Wasps Women team to continue playing.
“Despite the challenging and complex environment, we have been heartened by the supportive approach taken by all stakeholders to date and are confident that this will continue now that the business is in administration, with all focused on securing an outcome that is in the best interests of rugby and the wider community.”
It was always expected this would happen, with the club itself last week admitting administration was set to happen “in the coming days” after there had proved to be “insufficient time to find a solvent solution for the companies within the group.”
The club are currently saddled with around £110 million of debt, with half of that debt in current liabilities, with the £35 million bonds used to buy the stadium – included in those liabilities – already nearly six months overdue.
There has been discussion about interested new buyers, and the likes of Mike Ashley were widely seen to be holding out until the club did indeed enter administration.
But they were more interested in the stadium asset, which is not in administration, and with Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) chief Simon Massie-Taylor insinuating that the club should lose its share in PRL if relegated, the prospects of a sale look even more bleak.
“There is a scenario where a club could just write off all of its debt but retain its P share.” He said
“You would have a league where the vast majority of teams still have significant debt, playing against a team that has no debt but retains the same income. So you have another form of disruption and inequality.
“What if all the other clubs said, ‘Well, this looks pretty good. We're going to dump all of our debt, but hold on to the P share, and we're all good.' I mean, we can't preside over that.”
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