Wasps: Administration of Coventry-based club had players 'bawling their eyes out'
- Published
Six-time English champions Wasps are facing relegation from the Premiership after going into administration
The "raw emotions" of the crisis at Wasps could be seen in the tears of their players when they were told of mass redundancies at the club, says the administrator who delivered the news.
A total of 167 staff and players have lost their jobs, while Wasps will also be relegated from the Premiership.
Administrator Andrew Sheridan said it was "pretty tough" news to break.
"There were a lot of tears. A lot of men - international rugby players - bawling their eyes out," Sheridan said.
"What struck me was it's such a tight-knit family - it was like losing a family member. You could see the emotion."
Sheridan, partner at specialist business advisory firm FRP, said they are "hopeful and confident" of quickly putting forward a potential interested party who can take the club out of administration.
"Where it goes from there, it is difficult to say," he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
The Rugby Football Union is holding daily talks with the administrators and Premiership Rugby to see if "there is any possibility of a buyer taking over the club."
RFU chair Tom Ilube said: "We believe it is right to keep working with all parties to give the club the best chance of long-term survival if at all possible. We all feel for the fans, players, volunteers and everyone with a connection to the club."
And chief executive Bill Sweeney added: "The RFU and Premiership Rugby have been working for some time to develop a sustainable model for rugby to deliver long term prosperity for the sport.
"Wasps and Worcester entering administration has accelerated these plans and reinforced their importance."
Sheridan, meanwhile, also confirmed FRP are looking at the possibility of avoiding relegation on appeal, as they look to prove the insolvency event was out of the club's control.
"Already we've had the necessary criteria and forms sent to us by RFU head of legal," he said.
"It's quite a process and something we will look at applying for."
While the club - both their rugby and netball teams - explore how they may be able to come out of administration, players and staff have been left without incomes.
Wasps' demise and the mass offload of players follows the downfall of Worcester Warriors, their Premiership rivals from across the Midlands who went into administration just 21 days earlier.
'Hardest day I've had in sport'
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Wasps number eight Alfie Barbeary said "it's a bit of a scary time" as he looks for somewhere new to play - and tries to deal with how to pay the bills.
"Yesterday was very strange and probably the hardest day I've had in the sport," the 22-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Obviously there's Worcester, the market's very liquid, full of players at the moment, so there's going to be a lot of boys struggling to find new clubs.
"It's going to be a tough time for rugby."
Wasps lock Elliott Stooke said the club's collapse has been "brutal" and admits he has not "got a clue what to do now".
While the 29-year-old has instructed his agent to try find him a new club, the former Bath and Gloucester player knows opportunities will be limited.
"It was a tough, dark day," he told BBC CWR. "I wouldn't know how to get into a real-world job.
"Thankfully I have people out there looking out for me and looking for a job for me. But this has been my day-to-day job for 10 or 11 years, it's completely heartbreaking.
"The players, the backroom staff, the kit man, the chef, the cleaners, the physio, all these people that make up a great team, they are all jobless at the moment and it's absolutely devastating."
'There isn't a Wasps any more'
Wasps' most successful former owner is music mogul Chris Wright, who, at 78, is still the club's honorary life president.
Under his ownership, from 1996 to 2008, Wasps won 11 trophies in 11 seasons including their two European Cups, in 2004 and 2007, and their four Premiership titles - in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008.
Wright told the BBC Sports Desk podcast: "It's unbelievably sad that so many people have been made redundant.
"I feel really, really sorry for everyone there. I also feel sorry for all of the fans over the years, some that I partied with in car parks at Twickenham when we won European Cups and Premiership titles.
"I know how much they love the club. I know the tradition and all of the ex-players even going back to the amateur era.
Chris Wright took over Wasps in 1996, along with football club Queens Park Rangers, who he then sold in 2001
"This is all family - and it's a family that has died. And the chances are it will never be seen again because when it goes, it loses its 'P share', its right to participate at the top table of rugby. It's never going to be the same.
"There may be an amateur Wasps playing in a very minor league, but it's over.
"It's the life and the passion and tradition for so many people that has gone, including myself. We always used to say, once a Wasp, always a Wasp.
"There isn't a Wasps any more. It's terrible."