Reds press on with academy despite money worries

Monday 21 November 2016

Jersey Reds Chairman Mark Morgan insists the club’s ambitious plans to improve their academy set-up will not be shelved, despite their recent announcement that the club is in financial trouble.

The Reds have been forced to sell their clubhouse, pitch and car park in a sale-to-lease back scheme which raised £1.5milllion – capital which was urgently needed and will allow them to complete this season in the Greene King IPA Championship, the second tier of English club rugby.

But the plans for an expansion of their highly successful academy will still go ahead according to Mr Morgan.  

The proposed Jersey Sports Academy, on an undeveloped field at the Reds’ site in St Peter, is set to include gym space, a weights room, male and female changing areas, a nutritional zone and athletes’ lounge as well as classrooms, a medical area including hypoxic chambers and a three-lane, 40-metre sprint track.

Mr Morgan, a form player who only took over as Reds chairman this summer, said: “We are in the process of setting up a Strategic Review Board which will have three principal aims. These are to ensure we continue to play at the highest level possible while not putting the future of the club at risk, to devise a plan to buy back our assets within a three-year period and to ensure that we maintain our pre-eminent status as the top community-based sports club in the Channel Islands, which specifically includes all the work done by the academy.

“The academy has around 600 youngsters involved and this is a vital, absolutely crucial part of the club. We have to nurture and cherish the academy for what it does and what it is.”

Mr Morgan said the board must report back to member in January and will comprise between 12 and 15 people, with experts in the field of law, accountancy and business.

He said: “We need a fresh set of eyes on the problems we have encountered. We did not want the same executive board members to be deciding on the financial aspects that the club faces as we want a fresh and new perspective. We also have to be pretty nimble as January is coming around very soon and the club members, understandably, want some guidance on the best way forward.”

Mr Morgan said Jersey Reds’ financial plight has to be put into context as a quarter of all the clubs competing in the Greene King IPA Championship have faced similar problems this season.

He said: “The fact is we are in the same boat as London Welsh and Cornish Pirates and speaking to other chairmen in the league, they are also facing difficulties.  

“In a nutshell, we receive around £500,000 a year from the RFU whereas in order to run a professional organisation we really need around £1.25m.

“The RFU gives the 12 clubs in the Championship a total of £6m. If they doubled it to £12m I think we would be able to cope. The RFU wants a professional second tier, but, in my opinion, they are not giving clubs enough financial backing to do that.

“The RFU made £90million out of the World Cup and said they have put £55million plus into professional rugby. That suggest to me it has gone to the Premiership, who do not need it, certainly not as much as the Championship clubs. International England players are now getting paid £20,000 per match.

“We have fairly substantial playing costs and added to these are highly professional physios, which is a must because players’ welfare is a huge priority.

“Essentially what I am saying is we need help now by the RFU and I am pretty sure every single club in the Championship would say the same. We have certainly made our thoughts respectfully known to the RFU and we now have to wait and see what their reaction is.”

Jersey Reds lost on Saturday 23-16 at Rotherham Titans, a result which sent Harvey Biljon's side down to tenth in the league, following their sixth defeat in nine matches this season.