Apr 10 -Cardiff Rugby has entered administration and will be taken over by the sport’s governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union. With echoes of the Dragons takeover in 2017 the Union stepped in to guarantee contracts, fixtures, and tickets. The WRU will be seeking a viable future for Cardiff and a return to private ownership no doubt. The WRU were left with no choice but to step in given the circumstances.
That decision was made once it became clear the club’s owner, Helford Capital, who secured an 84.5% majority stake in January 2024, was unable to meet its obligations to fund the club as it was contractually obliged to do.
Immediately following the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the administrator sold the club’s business and assets to the WRU. The arrangement covers both the professional and semi professional club playing out of Cardiff Arms Park.
The model of professional club rugby in Wales is still a combination of finance from agreements made by the WRU and revenue generated by the club together with additional investment from owners. The reduction to four clubs and the regional model has been in place since 2003 with the professional sides participating in versions of the Celtic League and now the United Rugby Championship. The latter involves criss-crossing the British Isles, Italy and South Africa. Ultimately, during this period, the performance of Welsh teams has weakened significantly and in addition they have played little or no part in the final stages of European competitions. The Welsh national team is going through its most difficult period with a losing run of seventeen matches.
Various suggestions have been made to resolve the crisis now engulfing Welsh rugby. Some argue that focussing on three or two professional teams may improve outcomes. Others say we need to return to a wider club structure as this will increase support and potentially revenue. However, the problems besetting Welsh rugby are not unique, with three English professional teams having virtually disappeared in recent years. Obligations to existing competitions mean that the WRU is committed to four teams and it is on the verge of signing a new professional agreement with the teams until 2030. The failure of Cardiff may have provided an opportunity to drop the number of teams but it is clear there is no appetite for doing this or increasing them for that matter.
The question of participation in the United Rugby Championship is an interesting one. All of the other participants see their rugby advancing or improving at club and international level with Wales the outlier. Celtic / URC rugby has not benefitted Welsh players and does not interest the Welsh public. The WRU should push for a level playing field in the URC with a genuine salary cap as in France and England. However, whatever it’s faults the URC is the only game in town. There is no immediate prospect of joining the English structure even if this would spike revenue and public interest.
The lessons from the Dragons experience may be instructive for Cardiff. Supporters of professional rugby in Newport have become used to many defeats, sometimes very plucky and the occasional victory. The Dragons have limited their spend on player contracts and have a squad of mainly younger local players they are seeking to develop. Their revenue is limited, as is their support but they do have a regular additional income from their ground share with Newport County. They will finish bottom of the table this year and finished 15th out of 16 in the previous three years. Despite their failures on the field they are likely to post a small profit this year!
The hope for Welsh professional rugby must be that the next generation of talented youngsters is just around the corner. The teams should probably accept that the chances of being successful are beyond them at present and focus on performing well and being competitive. Our stars should be allowed to play wherever they want and the WRU and teams should concentrate on developing the stars of the future, irrespective of the likelihood that results will be slow to improve.