Ownership revelations throw Neath takeover bid into turmoil

MUNSTER’S Celtic League final opponents Neath have been thrown into turmoil following revelations that the Welsh club are not owned by whom they thought they were.

As Welsh rugby prepares to rubber-stamp a plan to halt its dire financial crisis off the field and falling standards on it with a four-province system built along Irish lines, the country's oldest club is undergoing internal strife to match the wider problems.

Mike Cuddy, Neath's chief executive and the club's main sponsor, learned of the latest obstacle as he prepared to finalise his takeover of the Welsh All Blacks last week from the Welsh Rugby Union.

However, it emerged the WRU controlled the players' contracts only, while the club's grounds and facilities at The Gnoll still belong to Neath's old committee.

When the WRU assumed control of the club in 1988 in a bid to keep it afloat, they did so without assuming the debts of the old regime and set up a company called Gowerpark.

Gowerpark, though, did not complete the purchase, leaving the old guard still in control of everything save the players. This means Cuddy, the prospective new owner, has to stop buying the club from the WRU and go back to the drawing board. A spokesman for the old Neath RFC committee said: "We can confirm that purchase of the assets of Neath RFC has not been completed by the WRU through its subsidiary, Gowerpark Ltd.

"The assets of the club remain vested with the old committee, with whom legal ownership continues. "Negotiations have been ongoing for five years and it is only in the last 10 days that the solicitors acting on behalf of the old Neath RFC committee have received a contract from the WRU solicitors for the sale of the assets and inviting the old Neath RFC committee to sign the contract. This document is being considered by the old committee who will be meeting with their legal advisors shortly."

Cuddy was philosophical at the development, saying: "I do not wish to make any further comment about the issue of ownership of Neath Rugby Club at this stage other than to say these revelations shed fresh light on Neath Rugby Club's situation.

"What I can say is that members of the old Neath committee have been through a nightmare in the last five years. They have been fighting court cases and put under immense pressures from every direction.

"Even so, they have had the goodwill to let the Neath team continue playing at The Gnoll when they had the legal right to prevent that happening. I think it would be in everyone's interests if members of the old Neath committee were to meet with (WRU chief executive) David Moffett and myself. That is the only way we are going to resolve this issue."

Neath's fans are already resigned to seeing their club merged as the WRU strives to find a way forward in the professional era. Moffett favours a four-province blueprint, whereby the Welsh All Blacks would merge with Bridgend as a West Wales outfit, or the five-team plan put forward by the other premier clubs, which would force Neath into a merger they don't want with arch-rivals Swansea. The WRU have called an EGM for February 23 to discuss the alternatives with the union's general committee, last Thursday night advancing Moffett's four-team plan for recommendation next month. At least that gave Neath chief executive Cuddy something to cheer. "It's good news," he told the BBC. "People have now got to sit down and talk about merging. People who think they can stand alone will find there is no one club bigger than three clubs in Wales.

"It's always been our preference to merge with Bridgend. It would be a very strong franchise if we got together. I think the provinces plan will get a good reception at the EGM it's the only fair way to go. The only solution is to have Llanelli/Swansea; Neath/Bridgend; Pontypridd/Cardiff and Newport/Ebbw Vale. We'll keep our tradition of 130 years, we'll just have four stronger teams to compete on the biggest stage."

Meanwhile, Neath are preparing for the big stage this weekend in what is likely to be its last time as a single entity. The club has sold 10,000 tickets with an additional 10,000 having been sold at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to Neath and Welsh fans. Together with an anticipated 15,000-20,000 from Munster, a crowd of 35,000-40,000 is expected for the match, with support split right down the middle.