JERSEY RFC – the Island’s amateur rugby club – says it should be able to cope with the additional financial commitments should the Reds go under.
The amateur and professional arms of Jersey rugby split at the beginning of last season, with the amateur side owning the pitches and stadium and the Reds covering the overheads in exchange for paying no rent.
Jersey RFC chair Dan McAlister has said that the future of the club has not been thrown into doubt by the announcement that the Reds are on the brink of liquidation.
He said: “The rugby club owns the clubhouse and the land. Our relationship with the Reds was that in return for them not paying rent, they would cover the overheads – the bars, the food, the maintenance. All of a sudden they look like they are going to be our requirements.
“Thankfully, we had a home Siam Cup at the back-end of last season and we have managed to start to build up a bit of resource.
“The rugby club doesn’t have an operating company at the moment, but once we set that up we will maintain contracts with the utilities and make sure we have a business licence.
“It will incur more costs for us but in the short term I am confident we are OK. There is support from the government and Jersey Sport – we have 500 children up there on a Sunday and adult male and female sides so they are supportive but equally what we don’t want to do is be going to the government cap in hand.’
He admitted that there had not been a plan for this eventuality, and that representatives of Jersey RFC are in the process of contacting utility companies to transfer the bills.
Mr McAlister added: “If we’re honest we don’t know all the financial implications at this stage, but hopefully we are in a position to financially deal with everything. For the here and now we are touch-wood OK.”
