Re: What's happened to the money ? : Tue Jun 15, 2021 2:45 pm  

The loan repayments begin in 2 years.

Re: What's happened to the money ? : Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:29 pm  

Jack Burton wrote:

The loan repayments begin in 2 years.

Yeah - Radlinski mentioned this on the OOYL podcast.

Where the money went though - grassroots or clubs or RFL - no idea.

Re: What's happened to the money ? : Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:43 pm  

wrencat1873 wrote:

Come on chaps, The Government pledged to LOAN The RFL £16 million.
It's not a gift, it will have to be accounted for and it will have to be paid back.

It's not sitting in a brown envelope at RFL HQ waiting to be doled out at will.

Come on no one is saying the government loan is a gift and only a fool would add that to the RFL accounts but clarification is needed when you get someone bragging that they have made a profit of £25,000 when red hall has been sold for a 7 figure sum and cuts of £363,000 have been made

Re: What's happened to the money ? : Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:57 pm  

snowie wrote:

Come on no one is saying the government loan is a gift and only a fool would add that to the RFL accounts but clarification is needed when you get someone bragging that they have made a profit of £25,000 when red hall has been sold for a 7 figure sum and cuts of £363,000 have been made

Some people are so quick to demand answers, suggesting there is something wrong going on. As if the governing body, which is ridiculously leanly run, has trousered the government funding it was entrusted to administer. In the real world we know that clubs have drawn down on it and we know it's repayable from two years time.

Had you been paying attention rather than leaping in with accusations, you'd also know that the sale of Red Hall happened after the year end that we're talking about so isn't included in these figures - and would probably be an exceptional item in any event. As with all businesses badly hit by Covid, the result for the year is no doubt propped up by some serious amounts of furlough claim but it's still a sign of a tight run ship.

Re: What's happened to the money ? : Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:36 pm  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Some people are so quick to demand answers, suggesting there is something wrong going on. As if the governing body, which is ridiculously leanly run, has trousered the government funding it was entrusted to administer. In the real world we know that clubs have drawn down on it and we know it's repayable from two years time.

Had you been paying attention rather than leaping in with accusations, you'd also know that the sale of Red Hall happened after the year end that we're talking about so isn't included in these figures - and would probably be an exceptional item in any event. As with all businesses badly hit by Covid, the result for the year is no doubt propped up by some serious amounts of furlough claim but it's still a sign of a tight run ship.

right run ship my arris, explain the stupidity of the purchasing the odsal lease

Re: What's happened to the money ? : Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:32 am  

snowie wrote:

right run ship my arris, explain the stupidity of the purchasing the odsal lease

The same as when the RFL has purchased leases and freeholds of other club's grounds presumably. To help out a troubled club which was going to lose their ground, putting in place a friendly rather than a hostile landlord to give the club involved some breathing space to sort itself out.

Re: What's happened to the money ? : Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:40 am  

snowie wrote:

Come on no one is saying the government loan is a gift and only a fool would add that to the RFL accounts but clarification is needed when you get someone bragging that they have made a profit of £25,000 when red hall has been sold for a 7 figure sum and cuts of £363,000 have been made

"A loss of around £15,000 would be enough for a good portion of clubs outside Super League to encounter serious insolvency issues,” says Damian Irvine, a director at Hunslet. “Clubs at this level were already in danger from any serious revenue fluctuation prior to Covid-19. I’d wager there were around a dozen clubs that were seriously worrying about their future without this loan.”Was the RFL worried some established clubs would go under without government intervention? “In a word, yes,” says Tony Sutton, the governing body’s finance director. “There were Super League clubs in jeopardy and we went to the government with a whole-game approach. These numbers may not sound much to some sports, but just £10,000 could be life-changing for a club in our sport. It was a terrifying prospect, what the sport might look like without this loan.”

No club is immune to the precarious economics engulfing the game. Warrington are owned and financed by the multimillionaire music promoter, Simon Moran, yet even they may have to apply for a portion of the £16m loan. “We, just like other clubs, are massively reliant on income streams from our supporters,” says Karl Fitzpatrick, Warrington’s chief executive. “We’re fortunate with the benefactors we have but even their businesses are being hit by this and it’s going to take a long time for the sport to recover. I envisage we may well apply for some funding ourselves.”

The majority of professional players have agreed pay cuts until the end of June, by which time the sport hopes to have resumed playing behind closed doors. But that in itself provides challenges given how even the richest clubs cannot survive forever without supporter income. This, again, is where league’s economics are laid bare: playing without fans could cause irreversible damage, but it is a risk the sport may have to take due to its contract with Sky. “That’s where this government money must go,” Sutton says. “Any notion of salaries going straight back to the level they were before because we’ve got this money is wide of the mark. This is going to be a long-term thing for rugby league.”

The loan received by the RFL certainly shot straight back out the door to support clubs clamouring for it, even Simon Moran was grasping for a share......