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7th June 2023
01:38pm BST

'The suspension will result in the club being unable to compete in the Gallagher Premiership, Premiership Rugby Cup, and Heineken Champions Cup throughout the 2023/24 campaign. The club continues to remain in active discussions with the RFU as to any circumstances that may result in the suspension being lifted.'While some involved in the club were still hoping to be bailed or bought out, the sad reality is London Irish are heading down the same dark, uncertain road as Wasps and Worcester Warriors. In the space of a horrible season for English rugby, three Premiership sides went to the wall, ceased to be in their current entities and will now have to fight their way back to the top table. One or two may never get there. On Wednesday, London Irish owner Mark Crossan confirmed the club had gone into administration. He stated:
'My focus is now on working with the appointed administrator and I hope that the club will come out of administration as quickly as possible.'Football absolutely dominates the UK sporting landscape, so just imagine Arsenal, Wolves and Aston Villa all went bust, could not afford to pay salaries and debtors and were dropped from the Premier League and domestic cup competitions. There would be an uproar and MPs would be pressed to get involved to try save the day. The fact that this news was dwarfed, in the UK, by the PGA Tour deal with the Saudis and Liverpool buying Alexis Mac Allister tells you, in part, what rugby is dealing it. It also explains why clubs that could not sell out their stadiums on a regular basis could not afford to have 40+ players in their senior squad with many earning hundreds of thousands each year. Nothing against the players, it is just that rugby in England was not sustainable and three clubs have paid a dear price. More could follow. [caption id="attachment_288595" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
London Irish Head Coach, Les Kiss celebrates with Paddy Jackson after the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match against Exeter Chiefs at Gtech Community Stadium. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)[/caption]
'In arriving at this decision, the Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby acknowledge our responsibility and commitment to the core values of the game: Respect, Inclusivity and Integrity.'Jackson moved to Perpignan after his contract was revoked but stayed only one season and joined London Irish in 2019. Jack Cooke and Caolan Englefield are two other Irish players on the Exiles' books. Also looking for new opportunities in the rugby world will be Director of Rugby Declan Kidney, the former Munster and Ireland head coach, coach Les Kiss and assistant coach Declan Danaher. One must feel for the club's wider staff, too, as they face into the summer months uncertain if a career in rugby is sustainable any more. With three top clubs hitting the skids in the space of just over seven months, the job market is flooded and every other side will be watching their budgets like a hawk to avoid a similar fate.
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