Wasps enter new golden age as bond clears £35m mark

The club have been on the up since moving to Coventry

Wasps fans at the Ricoh Arena (GETTY IMAGES)

Everything touched by Wasps in recent weeks has turned to gold, if not something more valuable still, but Wednesday’s confirmation that their £35m retail bond had proved a major hit with investors pushed the former European champions into financial dreamland.

They are now in a position to pay down their existing debt, part of which came with their move the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, and will soon be the wealthiest club in European rugby – quite a feat for a team who were close to bankruptcy only a couple of years ago.

The bond, launched late last month, was quickly oversubscribed, although Wasps have yet to say how many individual supporters moved fast enough to beat a variety of City institutions to a piece of the action.

“The funds raised will enable us to restructure our balance sheet,” said the group chief executive David Armstrong. “We now have a solid foundation for the long-term future of the club and can look forward with confidence.”

Wasps believe they are creating a new model for a sports organisation in England, with two-thirds of their turnover being generated by events off the field – concerts, exhibitions, hotel and casino receipts. But the shop window will remain a crucial aspect of their business, and the news that well over 30,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s highly significant Premiership meeting with Leicester Tigers suggests that there is a healthy appetite for the former Londoners’ “product” in the West Midlands.

Harlequins, who have no intention of quitting the capital in search of riches in the provinces, appear to be clearing the decks in readiness for the arrival of some big-name recruits for next season.

Three internationals – the Wales tight-head prop Adam Jones, the Wallaby lock James Horwill and the Scotland wing Tim Visser – are already heading for the Twickenham Stoop, and they may well be joined by Jamie Roberts if the Lions and Wales Test centre can arrange things with his current employers, the Parisians of Racing Metro.

Asaeli Tikoirotuma, the Fijian wing, is leaving for London Irish, where he will renew contact with the Exiles’ new boss Tom Coventry, with whom he worked during his Super Rugby days in New Zealand with the Hamilton-based Chiefs.

The prop Darryl Marfo is also leaving Quins, having agreed terms with London Welsh, who are recruiting heavily in an effort to reverse this season’s relegation and make a swift return to the top flight in 2016.