London Irish: Bob Casey believes club can crack busy market with London return

London Irish are currently playing home matches at Reading's Madejski Stadium

London Irish chief executive Bob Casey believes the club can crack a busy London marketplace should they return to the capital from Reading.

Championship leaders Irish have opened discussions to groundshare at Brentford FC's proposed new Lionel Road stadium.

They are also yet to confirm where they will play their home games next season.

"Commercially, we have to move forward," Casey said. "With Premiership salaries, we have to generate more revenue to invest in the squad."

Irish have played home games at Reading's Madejski Stadium since 2000 and are contracted to continue the groundshare until 2025-26.

But, following Irish's relegation from the Premiership last season and Brentford set to move from Griffin Park to nearby Lionel Road by 2019-20, a return to the capital has gathered traction.

"We've been very upfront and honest with our members that we're looking at other options," Casey told Sky Sports during Irish's 41-17 victory against Yorkshire Carnegie on Saturday - their eighth win in eight league games.

"There's 250,000 people in the Reading area and there's 2.5 million people in the south west London area alone.

"It's a competitive area, but it's got the highest spend per capita for sports events in the whole of the UK.

"It's a good market to go into, but it all comes down to the product. If we get the team playing well like they are at the moment, we've a great chance."

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