New Year verdict for London Irish’s London return

London Irish chief executive Bob Casey has revealed the club will discover in January if they will be allowed to ground share with Brentford at a new 20,000 stadium.
Irish, on course for an immediate return to the Aviva Premiership having gone eight games unbeaten in the Championship, have submitted plans to Hounslow council to enable the stadium to become dual use – just like their current home at the Madejski Stadium in Reading.
Irish have been based at the Madejski Stadium ground since 2000 and are contracted remain until 2026, but have made no secret of their desire to return to South-west London and have a get-out clause in the deal. They have a state-of-the-art training facility at Hazlewood near their former home at Sunbury and despite attracting five figure Premiership crowds to the Madejski there are plusses to reconnecting fully with their core support.
Casey told The Rugby Paper: “We have now submitted the application for rugby to be played at the new stadium and that will go before the council planning committee in January.
“It is a technicality to allow dual use because when Brentford submitted plans for the stadium it did not include a partner at that stage. That is why we now have to apply for rugby to be played there.
“This is our preferred option and while you have to consider different alternatives, sharing with Brentford would be the first choice. It all depends on what is agreed and this is all at an early stage, but it makes commercial sense as well. Brentford are looking to have the stadium ready for use in September 2019 which is a World Cup year.
“We have a very good relationship with Reading and they have plans of their own. They have launched plans for an exhibition centre plus a residential and shopping centre.”
With Bristol winless on their return to the Premiership and having axed Andy Robinson as director of rugby, Irish have been given a timely warning about how they must prepare for a probable immediate return to the top flight. Casey revealed Irish had talked to all the Premiership clubs who have suffered the ignominy of relegation including Harlequins and Northampton to gain a clear insight into the particular pressure created by their current situation.
He added: “We are very happy with the squad we have at the moment and believe it is stronger than last season.
“We were the oldest squad in the Premiership last season by a considerable amount and had seven players retire from rugby – not through injury – just retire. That highlights how old the squad was! We have identified areas where we would like to strengthen the squad and Nick Kennedy and Brendan Venter are working on that, but we are focused on the current players.
“We were in the relegation battle for some time last season and started conversations with Bristol, Newcastle, Quins and Saints who had all gone down. We wanted to fact-find; what were the challenges? What prepared you well for coming up? As a result we believe we have approached it in the right manner.
“It is a physical league with big sides who have good defences, but our staff and players have been incredible in the way they have approached every game and we have given the opposition and the league the respect it deserves.”
CHRIS JONES