WASPS SET FOR RANGERS
RETURN
From the Hammersmith Times 10 September 2003
Zurich Premiership Champions Wasps are set to return to Loftus Road next year
to fill the gap created when Fulham return to Craven Cottage.
Cash-strapped QPR are desperate to find new tenants when the Fulham move goes
ahead and the easiest option would be the return of Chris Wright and his rugby
boys who have been exiled in Wycombe for the past year.
Wasps signed an eight-year groundsharing deal with QPR just two years ago, but
when Fulham stepped in and offered Rangers more money, the rugby club was
forced to look elsewhere. However with Fulham set to leave the move back to
London would also benefit Wasps. For a start, Wasps' deal at
Loftus Road
is cheaper than the one they have at Wycombe's newly-named Causeway Stadium.
Secondly with Wasps having achieved so much on the field in the last year,
they feel that the 10,000 capacity at Wycombe may not be enough and the 19,000
that Loftus Road holds is a more attractive proposition.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, if Wasps do not return to London then
they are likely to be faced with a compensation claim from Rangers if they
can't find new tenants in time for the start of next season.
The decision by Fulham to return to the Cottage has caught Wasps owner and
former QPR chairman Chris Wright by surprise.
"It's something we haven't seriously considered because of my belief that
Fulham would stay beyond this season. Now it looks like the long-term decision
will have to be made in the short term", he said.
"We now need the various people involved to work out what the future's going
to be. That decision is likely to be made sooner rather than later, before the
end of this season or even the end of this year."
QPR's financial future is not dependent on Wasps return to the fold, but it
will play an important part as the club continues to miss out on a new buyer.
One source confirmed that a fresh buyer was looking to invest a substantial
amount of money in the club and wanted a very hands-on role at the club.
However, after a meeting with club officials, he seems to have been put off by
their responses and also by the huge loan of £10 million at 11 per cent
interest which the current board took out to come out of administration.
It is this loan which seems now to be a millstone around the neck of the club
and unless it can be renegotiated, then it may put off any potential buyer.
With the loan in place the cost of actually buying the club and getting it on
an even keel is something like £19 million - and that is before any real
investment has been made in the club's future.
A former potential buyer, who withdrew his interest after problems with the
board, is said to be considering renewing his involvement at QPR, but once
again he will not make a move while the loan is in its current state.