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London Welsh have avoided liquidation after paying their debts owed to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and are set for new owners.
At the bankruptcy and companies division of the High Court in London on Monday, the winding-up petition was dismissed. The hearing was brief as Mr Registrar Briggs took minutes to dismiss the petition. This was after hearing the club had paid the money they owed.
The Championship club were relegated from the Premiership in 2015 after losing all 22 of their games. Then this season they have struggled to pay their players’ wages since April. They have also not had a head coach for five months.
One of the oldest and most famous clubs in English rugby will hope to put their money troubles behind them. After avoiding liquidation, they have been taken over by a major US investment group.
London Welsh Club Chairman, Bleddyn Phillips, said: “We are thrilled and very excited to be able to announce the arrival of a new owner.
“This will provide the club with the financial strength to sustain its ambition to be not only a competitive rugby team playing in the top tiers of the game in the United Kingdom, but, equally important, to consolidate and enhance its social, community and amateur based activities at its spiritual home at Old Deer Park.”
After avoiding liquidation they revealed that they had sold the club to a major California-based investment group. The club hopes new owners will ensure the future of London Welsh will be maintained. While also restoring the confidence within the club.
“The financial security which will be afforded the club as a result of this new investment will now enable it to plan for the future with confidence and renewed enthusiasm,” it read in a statement on the official London Welsh website.
This is not the first time they have faced difficulties as a club. They were saved from liquidation by an investment from the businessman Neil Hpllinshead after they went into administration. Meanwhile, their time at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium saw terrible low crowds of a just over 2,000 people.
