Mid-season madness
Bristol plans to take over London Scottish
Posted: Monday January 11, 1999 01:20 PM
| |
A takeover could leave many of the London Scottish players (in red and blue) on the sidelines John Gichigi/Allsport |
BRISTOL, England (AP) -- Second division leader Bristol is threatening to cause chaos in English rugby by buying out Premiership club London Scottish and taking over its games for the rest of the season.
The move would effectively put Scottish out of business and leave many of its players with no one to play for.
According to Bristol's chief executive, Nick de Scossa, the club has made the unprecedented move because the governing body, the English Rugby Football Union, and the clubs' organization, English First Division Rugby (EFDR), have refused to guarantee it promotion to the top flight.
"We are holding a loaded shotgun to the heads of these organizations and we're ready to fire it," he said.
"We would be buying a 100 percent shareholding in a limited company, and we hope to do this during the coming week.
"It will put us at the EFDR negotiating table, and we will take over the other club's fixtures immediately. It is up to [Bristol's rugby director] Bob Dwyer to decide which [London Scottish] players he keeps and which ones he doesn't."
De Scossa said that, if the deal went through, another club would take Bristol's place at the top of division two.
London Scottish president Ken Scobie said he did not know of any discussions on a takeover.
"There has been no discussion amongst all the shareholders on such a transaction and there has been no meeting among the directors to even contemplate such a transaction, far less the deal that appears to have been announced by Bristol," he said.
The RFU issued a brief statement saying it would begin an inquiry into Bristol's takeover plans.
"We will be discussing the matter today and making the relevant enquiries," the statement said.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
