London Welsh will not continue to play in the Greene King IPA Championship

London Welsh will not continue to play in the Greene King IPA Championship as they did not meet the requirements set out by RFU to participate. This comes after London Welsh RFC went into liquidation on 23 December 2016. 

London Welsh Amateur RFC will not be affected and will continue to be a voting member of the RFU.

RFU chairman Andy Cosslett said “It is deeply regrettable that we should arrive at this point, but with London Welsh in liquidation and unable to satisfy conditions to compete in the Greene King IPA Championship as a professional club, participation in the competition became untenable,”  

“We know this will be an extremely disappointing day for everyone connected with London Welsh, including players, staff and supporters, and the sadness at the loss of this club from the professional ranks will be shared throughout the game.”

Rugby 1885 Limited (the Phoenix Entity) was granted a temporary licence, on the 21st of December 2016, to place of London Welsh in the Greene King IPA Championship for a couple of matches that took place on 24 December 2016 and 1 January 2017, this temporary licence expired on the 21st of January

The licence was granted to allow all those involved in the Phoenix Entity additional time to satisfy the conditions required in RFU Regulation 5 which would allow the Phoenix Entity to take over the position of London Welsh in the Championship permanently.

The deadline for these conditions was 16 January 2017, the board met the following day to review the situation and decide if they met the following criteria 

• Payment of a bond and evidence of funds to pay all rugby creditors;
• Further clarity on the Phoenix Entity’s business plan;
• A satisfactory governance structure to show separation between the Phoenix Entity and London Welsh Amateur RFC.

The board gave 2 further extensions for the criteria to be met but on the final deadline, 24 January 2017, they found that the criteria was not met and the  

Phoenix Entity will not be granted permission to participate in the Greene King IPA Championship for the remainder of the season and beyond.