David Buttress: Dragons chairman targets regional recovery

Dragons chairman David Buttress believes a £20m loan for Welsh regions will help secure the professional game's short-term survival.

The loan will be divided between the Cardiff Blues, Scarlets, Dragons and Ospreys with sides responsible for repayments over five years.

There are no indications when crowds will return when the new Pro14 season starts on 2 October.

Buttress says the emphasis needs to be placed on recovery.

"It is going to be extraordinarily financially difficult for us but I think less about the survival, because we now have the loan in place," said Buttress.

"I'm thinking more about how we grow and recover and nobody should underestimate our challenge.

"It's going to be a tough 12-18 months to firstly manage and get through this Covid period and try to come out the other end and rebuild.

"I don't underestimate that and it is the same across professional rugby and sport."

Continued games behind closed doors will raise questions about whether professional sporting sides can survive.

"It's going to be difficult but we're pretty resourceful at regional rugby level if you look over the years," said Buttress.

"We'll find ways to navigate through it and we have the loan nearly in place now for the next six to 12 months, in effect what is a Covid loan.

"That will enable us to stabilise and get through the next season although we know loans have to be repaid.

"We're going to have to be thoughtful about how as four regional chairmen and the Welsh Rugby Union, we work closely together so we help each other off the field financially to recover from this period.

"We're going to have to try and do more than survive. We're going to have to then recover and we're going to need that support over the next two years.

"Regional rugby is no different to any business. We're all hopeful and relatively confident we've got a sensible plan to recover and get through in a stable way."

Dragons chairman David Buttress appointed Dean Ryan (left) as director of rugby in May 2019

Buttress has though already had to oversee departures from his region.

"I'm afraid rugby's been hit like everyone else," said Buttress.

"We've had to make a handful of people redundant, it's relatively a small team off the field, so it has been extraordinarily difficult and a very unpleasant experience."

Covid-19 has also paused the plan to bring Dragons back into private ownership after the WRU took over the region in 2017 to save the side.

"I'm a little bit heartbroken about that," said Buttress.

"I was excited because I've been working closely with a small group over the last year about taking the Dragons private.

"If you'd said to me, two and a bit years ago when I got involved, you're going to end up owning a professional rugby team, I would say you were crazy.

"But I've got to know a group of people in the community who genuinely feel strongly and passionately about an opportunity to build a successful professional sports organisation, hopefully over the next three to five years.

"We had real momentum in that process (private ownership) before Covid came.

"From a personal perspective it was too much financial risk for me to take as a private individual, so we've had to pause the discussions.

"We've had an open dialogue with the WRU and there's a desire to still do it. That passion is alive and kicking.

"As soon we have this clarity and visibility about when the world of professional rugby in Wales is going to return to some kind of normality, we will be even more driven by the frustration of not having it done yet.

"It makes sense the Dragons becomes private and independent over time and goes back into the same ownership model as the other three regions."