In a statement announcing the purchase, Jordan’s investment company, Strangford Ellis Ltd, claimed “the primary goal of the new ownership is to return London Irish Rugby Club to the pinnacle of international professional club rugby, aiming for a swift return to top-flight competition”, but they may have to be patient.
As an established Premiership club other than two years spent in the Championship before being condemned to administration due to £30m in unpaid tax bills, Irish have received almost £150m in funding from the RFU since 2016, leading to reluctance to allow them to join a competitor league.
The west London club ended almost two years in administration this week when they were bought by a consortium led by former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan, whose ambition is to take the Exiles into the URC, the multinational league comprised of teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and South Africa.
Irish operating junior teams within the Premiership’s Academy system while their senior team compete in the URC has also been flagged as a potential problem, not least as the RFU provides development funding.
In a comparable cross-border case in football the FA Board this month rejected a request from the four Welsh EFL clubs - Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Newport - to play in a new Welsh League Cup competition from next season that would have given them a route to European qualification.
