'What a s**t show it has been. It is a real shame and I am gutted'

When the season kicked off earlier this month with the Premiership Cup, prop Steven Longwell was looking forward to his third season at Jersey.

But just three weeks later, the 33-year-old is without a job and scrambling about to find a future in the sport following Jersey’s demise this week.

The big prop has had a varied career has taken him from Scottish Premiership winners Ayr and stints with Verona in Italy and in the US capital with Old Glory DC before he signed up for island life in 2021.

He was a cornerstone of the pack that surprised many by winning the Championship title, but five months on and Longwell is without a job.

“What a shit show it has been. It is a real shame and I am gutted.

“I had a lot of love for the club, especially after everything we achieved last year, but it is gutwrenching.”

Longwell revealed there had been an issue with pay last month, but the players were told that was down to a bank holiday.
“There was a banking issue,” he said.

“But it was over a bank holiday. We were told there was nothing to worry about, but when you read between the lines, that doesn’t look like a coincidence.”

He also said at the end of last season, the players had been given assurances around the club’s financial position in the wake of the collapses of three Premiership sides.

“After everything that happened to Worcester, Wasps and London Irish, we had assurances from the club that we were financially secure,” he said.

His first knowledge of a serious problem was when the players were summoned to a meeting at 7.30am on Thursday morning.

“We were due to fly to Cornwall but we all got a WhatsApp message before 6am and that [chairman] Mark Morgan was coming in.
“That meeting was uncomfortable. When Mark came out with another board member and a lawyer, I think we knew then it wasn’t good news.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you but all of a sudden you are unemployed.”

Such was his disappointment at the news on Thursday, the big tighthead boarded the first flight off the island and home to Glasgow.

“There is no reason for me to be there, so I thought I would just get out.

“I live with other players and the mood yesterday wasn’t nice.

“Rugby holds a different cameraderie to most other jobs, so when something like this happens, you don’t lose colleagues, you lose best friends.

“It is a really tough pill to swallow.”

At 33, Longwell knows his days at the coalface may be numbered, but Longwell hopes he can pick up another contract after some good performances for Jersey.

“The market is even more polluted with players looking for jobs, but I hope something will get sorted soon.

“If not, I might fall back on my coaching and get into a rugby development role. It’s just a waiting game at the moment, which is difficult because I’m just in limbo at the moment.”