Members will have been watching with interest the problems faced by Wasps and Worcester both of whom are now in administration, it is a sad time for professional rugby. No doubt those with longer memories will remember when Richmond faced similar problems in 1999 following the withdrawal of their backer, and went into administration. On that occasion Richmond were ejected from the league system altogether and had to make their way through the bottom tier of the leagues to where we are now in the Championship. As far as we know both Wasps and Worcester could be playing in the Championship next season, on the face of it this will result in a league of 14 teams and I am very optimistic Richmond will be one of them. We look forward to playing the two Premiership clubs. We are proud of being a community rugby club offering rugby excellence at the highest level we can afford. In that regard we recently registered an interest in applying for a place in the women’s Premeir15s competition commencing in September. The documents made it clear that the goal was a professional league with significant financial commitments being required. It was clear that Richmond do not have the finances to meet the terms of the bid document and with much regret we withdrew.

There has been much speculation about the future of both the Premiership and the Championship with suggestions of two leagues of eight or ten teams. Richmond has always believed that, subject to RFU reforms, there should be 14 teams in the championship providing 26 meaningful fixtures with no contrived cup competition. We have made our views clear through Peter Moore who was deputy chairman of the group of Championship clubs and sits on the RFUs transitional review group reviewing the future of the Championship. We do not know what next season looks like but we are all working hard to make sure that we remain in the Championship along with Steve Hill and Rob Powell and our talented group of players.

As members are aware the two years of Covid hit all rugby clubs hard and Richmond was no exception. We reported at the AGM that in the two years to July 21 we lost £700,000. Fortunately, due to Peter Moore's careful managing of resources we had sufficient cash reserves to see us through. Much of this reserve had been earmarked for the ground redevelopment and we will need to deal with the finances when that finally happens. In the year ended July 22, after careful management of our resources, we expect the figures to show the club broke even; the figures are currently being audited and I cannot say any more at the present time. But after two horrendous years this was a great achievement and I am grateful to all the staff involved with the running of the club and the many volunteers who make such a valuable contribution. I am also very grateful to our loyal membership most of whom have stayed with us during this very difficult time. Finally we could not survive without the contribution of our sponsors most of whom stayed loyal through the dark days of Covid with only half the expected games being played in the season ended April 2020.

During Covid we took advantage of the government loan available to Championship clubs and we borrowed £500,000 as a contingency should Covid have continued. That money remains intact in an interest earning bank account and will be repaid when we are completely sure of our future finances. I referred earlier to the long anticipated ground redevelopment and we continue to discuss with the Crown their expectations, bearing in mind the many changes which have occurred at Crown Estates in recent years. Our hope is that eventually we will redevelop the ground incorporating sports and business facilities which will enable us to generate additional revenue to fund the club.

In the meantime we took the decision to refurbish both the bars at the club. No work had been carried out on the bars for at least 20 years and the facilities were becoming increasingly distressed and difficult to let out for private and business functions. We have therefore spent some of our cash surplus on refurbishing the bars to a good standard, with the expectation that we will recover the expenditure over the next few years. I hope you like them, although there is still a little more work to be done as I'm sure the keen eyed amongst you will have noticed. We have established a prioritized list of future refurbishment which includes a rebranded catering operation and upgrading of key external areas.

Costs continue to rise and we are being very careful with our finances as we always are. I am pleased to report that, with some foresight, Jimmy Wallace entered in to a contract to fix our energy prices for the next two years.

Covid was a challenge and required us to use reserves during the two seasons that were impacted. For that reason, it remains imperative that everyone supports the club in whatever way you can.
Please come and watch the first team, buy a drink and a bite to eat on Sunday mornings, please join the 500 club and come along to events throughout the season.

We are a community club with rugby for all ages and genders. Community clubs need all their members to get involved & we are lucky that so many of you do. A club of our size cannot balance the books though membership fees alone. We need supplementary income, and that is why you see so much activity happening at the club – coming to support those events is how you can help. We are always looking for sponsors and still need a main club sponsor. If any members know of any potential sponsors I would be grateful if they could contact Jimmy Wallace or myself.

Enjoy the season and I look forward to seeing you down at the Athletic Ground.

John Heaton
Richmond Rugby Chairman