The club's owning company, Newcastle Rugby Ltd., regularly loses more than £2M per year.GETTY IMAGES
The Scottish Rugby Union is "so keen to gain a foothold in the top flight of English club rugby that it is pursuing the possibility of buying a share" of up to 20% of Premiership Rugby side Newcastle Falcons, according to Owen Slot of the LONDON TIMES. The SRU looked at buying Worcester Warriors this season, "but it has now set its sights on Newcastle, a club where there is already a long history of Scottish players." There are "only" two professional teams in Scotland, which is why the SRU wants to expand its playing base. It also hopes that the move will help it "secure more of those players who are qualified to play for both nations." The SRU has "already begun the process of sounding out Falcons." The club's owning company, Newcastle Rugby Ltd., recorded losses of £2.6M in its last set of accounts. It "regularly" loses more than £2M ($2.8M) a year. Falcons Owner Semore Kurdi said that "no formal discussion had yet taken place." Kurdi: "What we are talking about is a marriage and we haven't even gone on our first date." Any "significant change" in ownership would require the consent of the Rugby Football Union and this would be "hard to come by." The RFU is "not in the business of helping its neighbours." The SRU would reportedly be interested in up to a 20% share. If it was to "scale back" its interest to 10% or less, according to RFU regulations, it would not require RFU consent (LONDON TIMES, 2/19).
