A consortium led by the former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan has bought London Irish more than a year after the Premiership club was suspended from all rugby for being unable to pay its players.
The financial crisis forced the club to enter administration after suspension by the Rugby Football Union in June 2023 when Mick Crossan, who had owned the side since 2013, stated that plans to finalise a takeover from the American consortium NUE Equity had failed. The Exiles’ collapse with unpaid debts of around £30m followed in the wake of the demise of two other elite English clubs, Worcester and Wasps.
Jordan, whose Silverstone-based Jordan team raced in Formula One from 1991 to 2005, formed a consortium called the Jordan Associates the following year to buy the club, which was founded in 1898.
“The Jordan Associates team will now turn its attention to negotiating a full and sustainable return for London Irish to competitive rugby, hand-in-hand with London Irish’s supporter base,” the club said in a statement. It did not give financial details of the deal.
Eddie’s youngest son Kyle, a senior partner in the consortium, said the new owners will reach out to the global Irish diaspora to build up the club’s brand. “Our investors bring not just financial backing but a profound passion for rugby and a commitment to the community,” he said. The deal does not include ownership of the club’s Hazelwood training base, it has been reported.
London Irish, who have won the second-tier Championship title twice, moved to the home ground of the Premier League club Brentford in 2020 after the Exiles had played at Reading’s Madejski stadium for two decades.
