Coventry Rugby statement: Player salaries

RFU Championship side Coventry Rugby have issued a statement after a public document ‘grossly’ overstated how much money they spend on player salaries.

The Championship is currently reeling from recent news that last season’s champions, Jersey Reds, have financially collapsed. Their demise comes after three Gallagher Premiership sides; Wasps, Worcester and London Irish, collapsed last season.

Championship sides are now threatening to withdraw their co-operation with Gallagher Premiership sides as a player pathway if the ongoing uncertainty around their funding isn’t addressed. The sides say that will  “actively review our relationships with Premiership clubs and our role in developing their young talent.”

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The sides have expressed ‘very low levels of confidence’ in the RFU.

However, it’s a document made public on the island of Jersey that has upset Coventry Rugby, who say they will take legal action if the claim made in the document around how much they spend on player salaries isn’t corrected.

“Coventry Rugby Ltd has in the last few days become aware of a ‘proposition for funding’ document put before the Jersey parliament by Deputy L.J.Farnham on October 2nd.

“This proposition is supported by a document created by Santander International which Deputy Farnham presented as a business case.

“On page 10 of the Santander document – which is now in the public domain – Coventry Rugby are stated in 2022/23 to have “an annual player salary spend of £2.5million plus.”

“This is entirely untrue and overstates our actual player salary budget by more than 200 per cent.

“We subsequently requested that a further statement is made correcting this misrepresentation but have received no response.

“We are a club that operates within its means on a prudent basis. We do this by building a team of predominantly young Midlands-based, English-qualified players who we develop through our outstanding rugby programme.

“The potential damage done to our brand and business by this irresponsible and untruthful statement is considerable.

“We confirm to our supporters, financial partners, staff and players that the statement is entirely without factual merit and should be treated as such.

“We reserve the right to pursue action against those responsible if this error is not speedily redressed.”