Relegation sends Rotherham into liquidation
Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club will go into voluntary liquidation next month due to 'unsustainable indebtedness' with Customs & Excise being one of the club's main creditors.
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The club, which was relegated from the Zurich premiership last season, is hoping that Jacksons Joliffe Cork, licensed insolvency practitioners of Wakefield and McCormack solicitors, are able to attract a new investor to keep the club running.
A date of 16 September has been set by directors for the club to enter into liquidation.
In a press release on the club’s website, directors of Rotherham RUFC claim it has been in dispute with the English Rugby League over whether it should have been relegated at the end of last season, because of ‘”irregularities” with rival Worcester Rugby Club’s compliance with the entry criteria to the Zurich Premiership’.
‘The uncertainty about their level of funding for the coming season has apparently been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the club, and has forced the directors to throw in the towel,’ the club said.
Directors at the club felt that if Rotherham could have remained in the premiership, the level of debt would have been manageable.
‘Unfortunately, some of our creditors have decided they can wait no longer for their cash, and have started proceedings to recover the money. Key among these is the Customs and Excise people, who are looking for the payment of a VAT bill,’ a director at the club said.
‘Whilst we have issued a writ against the ERL to try and establish some clarity about the whole promotion and relegation issue, it is unlikely that the matter will be resolved in time to provide us with the injection of funds we need to continue trading.’