Government will not provide funding for Jersey Reds

The sports minister Lucy Stephenson says providing taxpayer money to "a private business" had to be "carefully" considered

Jersey's sports minister has said the decision to stop providing money to the island's rugby club was not "taken lightly".

The Jersey Reds "ceased trading" on Wednesday, due to funding issues.

The government said it had provided the club with £575,000 of taxpayers money between 2019 and 2022.

Lucy Stephenson said it had given the club two short-term grants totalling £370,000 in the last three months, and would not be providing more funds.

'A private business'

The sports minister said: "I think the government has tried very hard to support Jersey Reds for many, many years, but at some point we do have to take a decision about how public money is spent.

"We should be very mindful when we talk about giving government money, we're talking about taxpayer's money, we're talking about public money, and any decision to provide that public money in this case to what is effectively a private business has to be taken very carefully."

Ms Stephenson said the decision to provide the short-term grants were "made under conditions related to finding a sustainable footing for professional rugby in Jersey".

She said: "This government recognising the very many people employed by the club to be really honest and the challenges it was facing, made the decision in July and August to provide two emergency grants to the club.

"That was to give the club some time to explore other potential funding options, and unfortunately I'm sad to see that's not been achieved."

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Ms Stephenson said there was "absolutely no denying" the Reds had "achieved great things on the field", and that "no decision is taken lightly not to support, but really government support is just one part of the conversation here".

However, she said her priority as sports minister was "getting local people playing sports locally, and [being] able to achieve their goals at all levels".

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